HE HOOLIGAN NAVY — THE LITTLE SHIPS THAT STOOD WATCH

THE HOOLIGAN NAVY — THE LITTLE SHIPS THAT STOOD WATCH

During World War II, German U-boats brought the war to America’s Atlantic and Gulf coasts, attacking merchant ships and threatening the nation’s coastal waters.

In 1942, the Coast Guard organized the Coastal Picket Patrol, using privately owned yachts, fishing boats, and motorboats to help defend the American coastline. The force became popularly known as the “Hooligan Navy” and the “Corsair Fleet.”

These were not battleships.

They were ordinary American boats—many owned and operated by yachtsmen, fishermen and other civilian volunteers—sent to sea as part of the wartime coastal defense effort. They carried radios and weapons, and some carried machine guns and depth charges. Their missions included watching for enemy submarines, reporting sightings, conducting anti-submarine patrols, and rescuing survivors from ships attacked by U-boats.

They patrolled from the Atlantic coast into the Gulf of Mexico, standing watch during the Battle of the Atlantic.

The men of the Hooligan Navy were sometimes too old, too young, or otherwise unable to serve in the regular Navy or Coast Guard. Yet when their country needed small boats and willing sailors, they answered the call.

This ballad tells their story.

They were called Hooligans.
They sailed small boats.
They stood watch when the enemy came to America’s shores.
And they served.

This is the story of the Hooligan Navy of World War II.

Based on the documented history of the U.S. Coast Guard Coastal Picket Patrol, popularly known as the Hooligan Navy or Corsair Fleet.