The Historical Precedent

A short history of HM Coastguard can be found here.

The story of HM Coastguard begins in 1809 with the establishment of the preventive Water Guard, a Coast Watching service intended to look out for smugglers.

In 1820 a committee was appointed by the Prince Regent to examine the preventive services and offer advice on streamlining them. In 1822 His Majesty’s Coast Guard was established, bringing together the preventive Water Guard and the Customs and Excise cutters under the control of the board of Customs. From the earliest days Coast Guards were employed at shipwrecks to save lives and prevent looting.

During the Crimean war, 3000 Coast Guardsmen were drafted into the Royal Navy, where they were employed to man the tenders attached to the naval force at the Crimea. In 1856, the Admiralty took complete control of the Coast Guard, much to the chagrin of the board of Customs, with the aim of making the Coast Guard a reserve for the Navy in addition to its preventive and lifesaving work. Sometimes Coast Guard cutters were used for fishery protection duties. Having lost control of the Coast Guard, the board of Customs retained some of its own cutters for preventive work, re-establishing its own Water Guard in 1891.

During the first world war, Coast Guards were initially mobilised and sent to sea in warships, but that left gaps in coast watching, and the Coast Guards were soon returned to their normal stations where they were employed in signalling warships and watching for mines.

By the early 20th Century, smuggling had reduced and with it the need to watch the coast. As a result the Admiralty had closed many stations to reduce costs. However the great war had delayed any systemic reform. A committee was set up in 1922 with the following terms of reference: "To enquire and report what establishment is necessary for carrying out the civil duties and revenue protection, lifesaving, coast watching, etc., what arrangements should be made for a division of responsibility and cost between the departments concerned and what economies consistent with the maintenance of the necessary national services can be effected.” It was determined that continuous watch over the coast for smugglers was no longer required, and the outcome of this was to put the Coastguard (now one word) under the control of the board of trade and dedicate it to lifesaving. The board of Customs was now solely responsible for smuggling prevention, and its Water Guard and fleet of Customs cutters formed what became the UK Border Force in 2012.

Curiously, having divested themselves of the Coastguard in 1922, the Admiralty created their own mine-watching service in 1952, which evolved into the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service. This service was disbanded in 1994 during post-Cold War defence cuts.

Our proposal would reunite the Customs (now Border Force) cutter fleet with HM Coastguard and return the Coastguard to its roots as a preventive service, while maintaining and enhancing its live-saving mission.