Coast Guard Cutter Tackle

Promoting the safe passage of inland waterways is one of the many missions of the U.S. Coast Guard. When winter strikes Rockland, Maine and its surrounding rivers and harbors, the Coast Guard Cutter Tackle sets out to do what it does best: crush ice.

The USCG Cutter Tackle is the fourth of 15 original harbor tugs in the Coast Guard Fleet. Its area of responsibility encompasses the greater Penobscot Bay region. This area includes regular patrols of the Penobscot and Kennebec rivers, where USCG Cutter Tackle users her muscle to break up the stubborn ice floes that threaten to choke off transit and commerce. With its steel bow and the resolve of an even steelier crew, the Tackle clears these waterways—while also assisting with flood control measures. In addition to its expertise in chewing up ice, the crew of the Tackle maintains 34 aids to navigation, including four lighthouses.

This challenge coin salutes the intrepid crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Tackle, who courageously navigate ice-choked waters to keep their fellow sailors safe. The obverse features a vivid rendering of the black-hulled Tackle superimposed on a map of the Maine coastline that she patrols. The official Coast Guard emblem is minted in a nickel antique on the reverse of this coin.