the subject of the intelligence memo they had been made aware of earlier. When he finished examining the papers and charts, he faced the master and announced: “You will consider yourself seized.” Duke then ordered the master to raise his anchor, get underway, and proceed to anchorage near the Statue of Liberty for further investigation. While making the turn, the Grey Point strayed outside the channel and grounded. Duke then shouted to BMC Madsen to take CG-2327, which had no radio installed, back to base to fetch backup. After his boat departed, Duke noticed a large, offshore-type motorboat with three or four occupants suddenly appear and begin slowly circling the grounded Economy. He asked Bower if the boat was there to meet him. Although Bower denied any knowledge of the boat, Duke decided it was time to increase the security of his position by clearing all crew from the bridge and weather decks. As he herded the master and bridge crew along the main deck at gunpoint, collecting crewmen as they went, some instinct prompted him to look to his rear.
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He was startled to see a crewman running up on him, shouting “Treat him good!” Duke clubbed him to the deck with his pistol and shouted: “Why you G-- D--skunk, who are you trying to fix!” The crewman explained that he wasn’t trying anything, he just wanted Duke to know the master was a good fellow and to not put him in irons. After successfully confining the 22man crew below decks, Duke settled in for a wait of several hours before his backup arrived, which would include a tug to free the Economy from the mud and tow her to anchorage. Ultimately, the charges against the Grey Point and her master were expanded to include: unauthorized name change, entering the territorial waters of the US with a cargo of intoxicating liquor, obstructing an officer of the US Coast Guard, operating at night in New York Harbor without navigation lights; and violation of US quarantine laws. The value of 70,000 gallons of contraband alcohol—worth about $500,000 at the time—would be the largest single-handed seizure by the Coast Guard during Prohibition.
Later that month, Ensign Duke was awarded a Headquarters Commendation for his actions during the seizure. He received an early promotion to lieutenant (junior grade) the next month and went on to perform subsequent assignments both ashore and afloat, including tours aboard the cutters McCall and Downes. In 1934, after nine years of service in the Coast Guard and with the end of Prohibition, he resigned from active duty and accepted a commission in the US Naval Reserve, rising to the rank of commander by 1946. The Coast Guard’s efforts against smuggling would continue past the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, but Duke’s record for a single-handed seizure would remain unbroken. Daniel A. Laliberte served as an intelligence officer, maritime law enforcement officer, and a cutterman for more than thirty years in the United States Coast Guard. He holds a master’s degree in strategic intelligence from the Defense Intelligence College. His articles have appeared in Sea History, Naval History, Nautical Research Journal, American History, and Proceedings.
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