Nautical Research Journal 75


3. A rare image of Yocona’s crew in 1925 shows the black enlisted men and white offi cers and non-commissioned offi cers on board the cutter. (Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard)


such other work as properly may come with the purview of the service.”


Of the three “river cutters” funded by Congress, only two were completed. T ese were the cutters Yocona and Kankakee, constructed in Dubuque, Iowa. T e Service commissioned them both on October 19, 1919, and stationed Kankakee on the Ohio River at Evansville, Indiana and Yocona on the Mississippi River at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Kankakee took up its station on March 20, 1920, and Yocona took up its station earlier that year, on January 18. As the earliest river cutter to take up its duties, Yocona became the fi rst Coast Guard cutter of any kind to operate on the nation’s inland rivers.


Designed as fl ood response command ships, Yocona


and Kankakee incorporated the latest riverine technology. T ese 182-foot steel-hulled riverboats were powered by a stern paddlewheel specifi cally for river navigation and carried a complement of thirty- fi ve offi cers and men. Drawing only three-and-a-half feet when fully loaded, Yocona’s fl at hull was ideal for reaching narrow and shallow waters. T e cutters were also equipped with dual searchlights, powerful pumps, advanced radio equipment and spacious cabins to house fl ood victims. And, in the event of a fl ood, they could support a fl otilla of small boats and river craſt used to rescue and transport disaster victims.


In addition to this specialized design, Yocona proved unique in the nation’s history of racial desegregation.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100