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Coast Guard Captain of Port ID card

henryjg

I have a "Captain of Port" ID card for Biloxi, Mississippi, that belonged to my great-grandfather. His name was William Gray Slay, Sr. It was issued by the U.S. Coast Guard. It's signed by W.C. Rheingans, C.Q.M. It gives occupation as mail carrier. I'd like to find out when this was issued--looks like around 1920s maybe. Would there be other records available relating to him?

  • 0

     

    Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

    The personnel records of enlisted men/women who were in the US Coast Guard and separated from service after 1898 are at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, MO. The address is the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO 63138-1002. Please note that access to more recent records requires permission from the veteran or next-of-kin. The request can also be started online at https://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records however; you will be prompted to print out a signature form to mail/fax into that facility.

    For more information relating to the Captain of the Port please review the handout found on the Department of Defense website: https://media.defense.gov/2017/Jun/27/2001769153/-1/-1/0/COTP.PDF

    The personnel records found at the National Personnel Records Center will be the most consolidated form of records relating to your great-grandfather. In the meantime we have conducted a search for the records you seek, but we have been unable to locate any responsive records. Other information—if it exists—may be dispersed elsewhere among the records but identifying all potential records will require more detailed research than we are staffed to provide. For more information on the type of records that can be found at the National Archives please visit our website at: https://catalog.archives.gov/

    We regret that we cannot assist you further and wish you luck in your research!

    Sincerely,
    Archives 1 Reference Branch (RR1R)
    [RR1R-24-25653-LR]

  • 0 in reply to A1 Reference Branch

    Captain of the Port cards were issued as ID's for those people who had regular business along the waterfront during World War II.

    It doesn't mean your great-grandfather was IN the Coast Guard, just that they gave him an ID card to do his job as a "mail carrier" along the Biloxi waterfront.

    There should be an "issued date" on the back of the card.  The person who signed it was a Chief Quartermaster in the CG.

    These cards were replaced by "Port Security Cards"  (AKA "Z-cards") in the 1950's and post 9/11 by the TWIC card.

  • 0 in reply to M.E. Nygren

    Thanks--I had kind of pieced that together but it's good to have it confirmed. Unfortunately there's no date on the back of the card. Is there any way to tell what years Rheingans name would have appeared on cards as C.Q.M.?

  • 0 in reply to henryjg

    There is a Coast Guard web that says Air Station Biloxi was commissioned in 1935; decommissioned in 1966.

    The general place to search is https://www.history.uscg.mil