page_title: Missions of the United States Coast Guard
section_title: International
hierarchical_section_title: Missions of the United States Coast Guard / Maritime safety / Ice operations / International
caption_attribution_description: English: A Coast Guard C-130 aircraft overflies an iceberg during patrol in the Arctic Ocean. Français&#160;: Un avion C-130 des garde-côtes des Etats-Unis survole un iceberg au cours d'une patrouille dans l'Océan Artique.
context_page_description: The United States Coast Guard is the coastal defense, search and rescue, and maritime law enforcement branch of the United States Armed Forces[6] and one of the country's eight uniformed services. It carries out three basic roles, which are further subdivided into eleven statutory missions. The three roles are:
  Maritime safety
  Maritime security
  Maritime stewardship
  The eleven statutory missions as defined by law are divided into homeland security missions and non-homeland security missions. Non-homeland security missions include: Marine safety, search and rescue, aids to navigation, living marine resources, marine environmental protection, and ice operations Homeland security missions include: Ports, waterways, and coastal security; drug interdiction; migrant interdiction; defense readiness; and other law enforcement.
  A given unit within the Coast Guard may be carrying out several missions at once. For example, a 25-foot RHIB assigned to maritime security may also watch for out-of-place or missing aids to navigation, pollution, and unsafe boating practices.
context_section_description: Icebergs off the Grand Banks have always posed a problem for shipping. In 1833, the Lady of the Lake struck an iceberg and sank with the loss of 70 lives. Between 1882 and 1890, four more cargo vessels were sunk and 40 more damaged.
  Following the sinking of the RMS Titanic in April 1912, an international conference of major Atlantic maritime powers agreed to fund USCG patrols to locate and report icebergs in the North Atlantic, in particular off the Grand Banks. The International Ice Patrol was founded as a result of this conference.
  The first ships for the International Ice Patrol were the U.S. Navy cruisers USS Chester and USS Birmingham, which were dispatched for the remainder of the 1912 season. The Navy could not spare ships for these patrols in 1913, and the Revenue Cutter Service assigned USRC Seneca and USRC Miami to patrol. The Revenue Cutter Service was tasked with maintaining the IIP on February 7, 1914.
  The IIP was continued into 1941, during the World War II, to allow the United States a legal pretext to sail to Greenland.  In 1946, the IIP resumed operations flying three modified B-17 bombers and using cutters such as the USCGC Tampa.  Today, this mission is carried out by Coast Guard HC-130 aircraft from CGAS Elizabeth City, North Carolina, forward-deployed to Gander, Newfoundland. These aircraft report sightings to the International Ice Patrol headquarters in Groton, Connecticut. Officers assigned to the IIP are required to hold not only a security clearance, but possess at least a master's degree in Marine science.
caption: A Coast Guard C-130 on International Ice Patrol in the Arctic Ocean
exif: {"Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "90", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "1999:02:08 00:00:00", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "1999:02:08 00:00:00", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated"}