The US Coast Guard Cutter Dexter

I don't normally do posts with pictures that I don't take but this was too cool of a story not to pass on.  Since the principle vessels in the story no longer exist, I am forced to use other people's pictures.  All of these pictures come from navsource.org except for the last one which comes from a website called newfoundlandshipwrecks.com.

 I'm a member of the U.S. Naval Institute which means I get a monthly copy of "Proceedings" and I also signed up to get the bi-monthly magazine "Naval History".    In this month's copy of "Naval History" was an article about the sinking of a rumrunner in 1929.  One of the principle vessels in the operation was the US Coast Guard Cutter Dexter which is in the above picture as she was being launched from Defoe Shipyards in Bay City, MI  in 1925 (which is the cool part of the story).

The rumrunner she sank was the Schooner I'm Alone which was sailing under a British flag but owned by an American syndicate.  At the time she was sunk, she was captained by Jack Randell.  He served in the Royal Canadian Artillery during the Boer War and the Royal Navy during World War I.  He would be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by the British and the Croix De Guerre During that War.    In 1922, he started in the rumrunning business and thought he was out in 1927.  In that same year, he was approached by the Canadian Government to help dredge Churchill Harbor.  Then in 1928, he was offered command of the schooner I'm Alone.  He was reluctant at first but he was told it would be different this time because the schooner was owned by Americans and there would be signals of who he was supposed to meet.  One of these was the use of torn dollar bills.  If the halves matched, he had the right contact.

He was a fairly successful rumrunner at this point and because this, he and his ship would be a target for the Coast Guard operating in his area.  He had a few brushes with the Coast Guard Cutter Wolcott and the Dexter but he managed to evade them.

Then on March 20, 1929, as he was carrying over 3,000 cases of liquor (worth over $60,000), he was sighted by the Wolcott.  Before chasing the schooner, the Wolcott made sure that he was within the territorial waters of the United States.  Captain Paul of the Wolcott ordered the I'm Alone to Heave to and prepare to be boarded, to which Captain Randell said, "No".  The Wolcott began the chase and was able to board the schooner after some point.  After this it was decided that the I'm Alone would be seized.  This chase would last for 2 more days.

It was on March 22, 1929, that the Dexter appeared on scene.  The Dexter fired two saluting rounds to give the schooner a chance to heave to.  The schooner did not and the Dexter opened fire with live rounds.  The I'm Alone sank at 0903 on that date.  The Dexter and Wolcott began to rescue crew members of the schooner shortly after that.  However, they were not able to save one person, Leon Mainguy who was a French citizen.

Captain Randell and his crew were confined in New Orleans until they were released on a bond posted by the British Consul.  Charges against the men were later dropped because the US wanted bigger fish, the owners of the vessel.

Because of the circumstances of the incident and the fact that the vessel sank in international waters, this quickly became an international incident.  Originally, the Canadian government asked for $350,000 in damages but because the ship was owned by an American, that sum was greatly reduced.  The Canadian government would receive $25,000 and an apology.   Another $25,000 was awarded to Jack Randell and his crew.  Jack Randell returned to Newfoundland, served briefly in World War II, retired and passed away in 1944.  The captain of the Dexter would also serve in World War II, he was burned on the USS Wakefield and retired in 1944.  He would later die in 1980.

 In 1936, the Dexter would be transferred to the Navy where she became the YP63.  In 1946, she left the US Navy.  She would go through a number of owners.

 In 1994, she ended up in Chicago where she became the party boat the Buccaneer.  She would serve in this role until 2010.

 In 2010, she was sunk to become a dive attraction.  It's kind of sad that someone didn't grab her to restore her but based on this picture it would have taken a significant amount of work to do so.

And a picture of the schooner.