Army Signal Corps, and added powered lifeboats. Lighthouses be- 

 gan to burn acetylene and electricity, and some were made automatic. 



All these bureaus, services, establishments, and miscellaneous mari- 

 time programs boomed into the 20th century, proliferating, over- 

 lapping, and growing as turbulently as America's economic and 

 industrial might. 



The Motorboat Act of 1910 set up required safety standards for 

 vessels 65 feet or less in length, which covered virtually all the pleasure 

 boats being built in increasing nmnbers, as well as commercial craft 

 too small to come under the steamboat inspection laws. The Cutter 

 Service had the job of enforcement, and boating accidents dropped 

 to a fraction of what they had been. 



The world beyond the oceans moved in upon us with international 

 responsibilities. There was an international conference on mari- 

 time safety; 32 nations signed the convention for protection of sub- 

 marine cables. Wireless was made standard equipment aboard ship. 



The United States, Russia, Great Britain, and Japan signed an 

 agreement to protect the vanishing fur seals and sea otters in 1911, 

 and the Bering Sea Patrol was created. 



The Tifani-c rammed an iceberg and sank in 1912 and the Interna- 

 tional Ice Patrol was formed 2 years later, with the Revenue Cutters 

 playing an important part. Operational airplanes and the First 

 "World War were just over the horizon. As the seagoing Revenue 

 Cutter Service grew, so did the shore-based U.S. Lifesaving Service. 

 Recognizing their similarities and complementary aspects. Congress 

 in 1915 amalgamated them under the name of the United States Coast 

 Guard. The new service had a total of 255 officers and 3,900 warrant 

 officers and enlisted men. It manned a Washington headquarters, 

 17 regional commands, 4 depots, an academy, 25 cruising cutters, 20 



