USCGC Courier ( WAGR - 410 ) The USCGC " Courier " ( WAGR / WTR - 410 ) was a cutter in the United States Coast Guard converted from the " M / V Coastal Messenger " a Maritime Commission C1 - M - AV1 Type vessel . M / V Coastal Messenger ( 1945 – 1952 ) . Originally launched in 1945 as the M / V " Coastal Messenger " , the ship was to be originally named " Doddridge " but was changed prior to acceptance by the Maritime Administration . The ship was originally designed as an inter - island shuttle for military and naval cargoes . She was designed to receive cargo from much larger Victory and Liberty ship s and then deliver it to U . S . forces on small outlying islands but was actually never used for that purpose due to the end of World War II . In the late - 1940s , the M / V " Coastal Messenger " was operated by both the Standard Fruit & Steamship Company and Grace Line , Inc . , primarily along the coasts to northern South America . On a trip to South America she ran aground at La Salina on Lake Maracaibo , Venezuela but was freed after 11 days with extensive , though minor , damage . She was then mothballed with the reserve fleet and transferred to the control of the Department of State in 1952 . USCGC Courier WAGR - 410 ( 1952 – 1964 ) . The United States Coast Guard Cutter " Courier " was acquired as part of a joint operation between the United States Department of State and the United States Coast Guard to become a mobile transmitting facility for the U . S . Information Agency ' s " Voice of America " program . In response to an initiative , code - named " Operation Vagabond , " that was approved by President Harry S . Truman and the Joint Chiefs of Staff and announced by the Department of State in April , 1951 , the operation was designed to provide a ship - borne radio relay station to transmit Voice of America programs behind the " Iron Curtain . " Such a vessel could move to any areas of trouble quickly , could serve as a temporary relay station as needed , and permit the use of a station where it was impractical to build a shore station . To ease political sensitivities , it was decided that the Coast Guard should operate the vessels , which in the planning stages were to have been a total of six vessels . Excessive costs kept the operation to a single vessel . Commissioned on February 15 , 1952 in Hoboken , New Jersey , " Courier ' s " call - sign call sign was “ Vagabond - Able " . For twelve years during the 1950s and 1960s , she served as a portion of the Voice of America radio network during the Cold War , at a time when the Soviet Union had attempted to jam portions of the network . The " Courier " contained the most powerful communications radio transmitter ever installed on board a ship , an RCA BT - 105 150 - kilowatt mediumwave transmitter , as well as two Collins 207B1 type 35 - kilowatt shortwave transmitters as well as a Collins Radio Company 51J - type receiver . President Harry S . Truman visited the " Courier " on March 4 , 1952 , when the ship docked in Washington , D . C . and he used the occasion to broadcast a major policy speech beamed at Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union . On April 18 , 1952 , during the " Courier ' s " shakedown cruise to the Panama Canal Zone , using the call sign KU2XAJ , tests were performed at 1700 – 2300 on 6110 and 9690 kc . shortwave ( 35 kW ) , and 1510 kc . medium wave ( 150 kW ) . The broadcasts closed with the playing of the Panamanian National Anthem and the Star Spangled Banner . The " Courier " initially used a $ 18 , 000 35 ' × 69 ' barrage balloon that held the medium wave antennae aloft . The " Courier " carried 5 of these balloons , but on more than one occasion the balloon broke free . Eventually it was decided to replace the balloon with a mast - supported wire antenna . The " Courier " also held the record for longest deployment overseas - from 17 July 1952 to 13 August 1964 , she spent no time in United States territorial waters being stationed instead off the island of Rhodes , Greece during that time . " Courier " was decommissioned on 25 August 1964 upon her return to Yorktown , Virginia and turned over to the Coast Guard Reserve Training Center at Yorktown , Virginia . Placed in " out of commission , in Reserve " status , beginning July 1 , 1965 , " Courier " provided dockside training in merchant marine safety and dangerous cargo handling for the next year . USCGC Courier WTR - 410 ( 1966 – 1972 ) . The USCGC Courier WTR - 410 was recommissioned into the Coast Guard at Yorktown , Virginia on 30 April 1966 . Here the " Courier ' s " mission was to serve as a mobile operational training platform with qualified personnel attached and to aid by giving guidance during operational Port Security training at various sites during two week active duty for training periods . The " Courier ' s " area of operation covered the East Coast , the Gulf of Mexico , and the Great Lakes . In June 1970 the " USS Pocono " ( AGC - 16 ) suffered damage to her bow after colliding with the " USCGC Courier " , who also suffered bow damage in the Chesapeake Bay . The " Courier ' s " homeport remained the Reserve Training Center in Yorktown and she finished her Coast Guard career as a training vessel for reservists . She carried accommodations for 220 trainees , patrol boats , and communication equipment . Her small boats were used to train reservists in harbor patrols while her cargo handling equipment was employed to train reservists in handling dangerous cargoes . Pirate radio inspiration . It has sometimes been claimed that the " Courier ' s " offshore broadcasts directly inspired such offshore pirate radio stations as Radio Mercur and Radio Caroline . A balloon - raised antenna similar to that used by the " USCGC Courier " was also attempted by the pirate Laser 558 in 1984 , with similar results .