Auxiliary in WW2
In his article "The Long Blue Line: Coast Guard's “Corsair Fleet” of World War II," published on the U.S. Coast Guard's MyCG website, retired Captain Bob Desh details the critical role of the civilian Auxiliary. In the earliest days of World War II, as the German U-boat threat escalated, the Coast Guard leaned heavily on its new Auxiliary. Its rapidly growing flotillas, boats, and personnel became a critical resource for a military stretched thin.
The article explains that the "Corsair Fleet," officially the Coast Guard Reserve Coastal Picket Force (CPF), was a direct extension of this Auxiliary concept. When the U.S. military, under intense pressure to stop the U-boat onslaught, finally authorized the use of civilian vessels, the Coast Guard was the logical service to manage them precisely because of its existing experience with the Auxiliary.
The Auxiliary's structure provided the model for rapidly inducting civilian boaters and their vessels. An amendment to the Coast Guard Reserve and Auxiliary Act allowed the service to quickly enroll these civilian volunteers—often skilled yachtsmen, fishermen, and the boats' owners themselves—as temporary members of the Reserve. These Auxiliarists and new reservists were the backbone of the Corsair Fleet, manning their own sailing yachts and motorboats, which had been painted "haze gray" and pressed into service to hunt for submarines on the front lines of the Battle of the Atlantic, right off the U.S. coast.
Please note that now, weapons, except those worn by certified law enforcement officers in accordance with Federal, State, and local laws and regulations and required by their agency policy, may not be worn, carried, or held by any Auxiliarist or guest of the Auxiliary while attending an approved Auxiliary function or participating in an authorized Auxiliary activity, including regularly scheduled detachment, flotilla, or division meetings.
Citation
Desh, B. (2023, August 25). The Long Blue Line: Coast Guard's “Corsair Fleet” of World War II. MyCG. https://www.mycg.uscg.mil/News/Article/3504969/the-long-blue-line-coast-guards-corsair-fleet-of-world-war-ii/