Frederick Chamberlayne Billard (22 September 1873 – 17 May 1932) served as the sixth commandant of the United States Coast Guard for an unprecedented three terms from 1924 until his death in 1932. Rear Admiral Billard died of pneumonia in May 1932 shortly after starting his third term. There were major changes to the organization during his career. The U.S. Revenue-Marine that was established on 4 August 1790 became the Revenue Cutter Service in 1894, the same year he enlisted. The Revenue Cutter Service that he had entered in 1894 merged with the United States Life-Saving Service to form the United States Coast Guard on 28 January 1915.
Billard's career began with his appointment to the School of Instruction of the Revenue Cutter Service in 1894. He served as an aide to two commandants, was the superintendent of the United States Coast Guard Academy twice, and commanded several cutters. He was promoted to the rank of rear admiral when he was appointed to the position of Coast Guard Commandant in January 1924.
His leadership of the Coast Guard during the Prohibition era required careful planning and use of available resources to accomplish the mission while making sure that other required missions were not slighted.
He was very involved in the training of his officers as a superintendent of the United States Coast Guard Academy, and he was responsible for the purchase of the permanent location of the academy at New London, Connecticut.
While he was commandant, he emphasized training, formalized coursework for enlisted personnel, and standardized the testing procedures for advancement in rating. Billard supported newly available technology such as aircraft and radio communication to accomplish the mission. The Coast Guard's involvement in oceanography was instituted during his tenure. He emphasized integrity in the Coast Guard's dealings with the public, and expected his officers and enlisted men to be honest in order to preserve the image of the Coast Guard.
Composed by U.S. Coast Guard Captain Francis Saltus Van Boskerck in 1927, Semper Paratus became the official song of the U.S. Coast Guard in 1928. During the run of A Girl in Every Port (1928 film) at the Fox Theater in Washington D.C., a detachment of 50 Coast Guard officers appeared at the theater for the debut of "Semper Paratus", the official song of the U.S. Coast Guard. The officers appeared at each performance during the playing of the song.
Early life and education Billard was born in Washington, D.C., on 22 September 1873. A graduate of the college prep (high) school, Baltimore City College, on 11 January 1894, he was appointed a cadet from Maryland in the United States Revenue Cutter Service."Frederick C. Billard, 1924–1932". Biographies of Coast Guard Commandants. U.S. Coast GuardNoble, p 5 Cadets of the School of Instruction of that era trained aboard the barque, USRC Salmon P. Chase. The Chase had been newly modified to accommodate the first class of cadets trained after the school had closed temporarily in 1890. Billard was one of twelve cadets in the class during the summer of 1894 to train aboard Chase.Kroll, pp 32–33King, p 166 He graduated from the School of Instruction 27 April 1896, and was commissioned a third lieutenant.
Career Billard was promoted to the temporary rank of second lieutenant on 11 August 1897; this was made permanent 14 January 1898. In 1898, he reported for duty aboard USRC Corwin which was a part of the Bering Sea Patrol. After the Corwin was sold on 14 February 1900, he returned to the Chase as an instructor and navigator.Canney, pp 44–45 Billard was promoted on 21 October 1904 to temporary first lieutenant; the promotion became permanent on 29 December 1904. In 1906, the Chief of the Revenue Cutter Service, Captain Worth G. Ross appointed Billard as his aide. He remained in this position until Ross's retirement in 1911. On 1 June 1914, he became the Superintendent of the United States Revenue Cutter Academy and the commanding officer of the cadet training cutter, USRC Itasca.King, p 183King, p 186Kroll, p 104Record of Movements, p 557 One year later, the name was changed to the United States Coast Guard Academy, when the United States Life-Saving Service was merged with the Revenue Cutter Service to form the U.S. Coast Guard.
World War I
In 1918, Billard was assigned to as her commanding officer. During his tour as commanding officer, Aphrodite operated in the European war zone and was the first American warship to transit the Kiel Canal after the World War I armistice was signed.Larzelere, p 123 In recognition of his services as commanding officer of Aphrodite, Billard was awarded the Navy Cross.
From 1919 to 1921, he served as aide to Commandant William E. Reynolds. Billard was the Superintendent of the United States Coast Guard Academy at Fort Trumbull near New London, Connecticut. from 1921 until his appointment as Commandant.
Commandant
On 11 January 1924, Billard was promoted to the rank of rear admiral, and succeeded Rear Admiral William E. Reynolds as Commandant.Johnson, p 79
Prohibition As a result of the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Volstead Act, which went into effect 16 January 1920, placed the responsibility for enforcement of prohibition of the manufacture, sale, import, or export of intoxicating beverages under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Treasury. Secretary of the Treasury David F. Houston created a Prohibition Unit within the Bureau of Internal Revenue to deal with violation of the act, but his directive did not include the Coast Guard in the new unit. As a result, the Coast Guard did not initially enforce the act even though many liquor-laden vessels congregated on "Rum Row" just outside the three-mile limit near major cities on Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Since the Coast Guard was not specifically tasked with enforcement and funds were limited, few seizures of prohibited cargo occurred unless the seizure was incidental to other law enforcement duties. The first important enforcement did not occur until September 1921, with the seizure of the British registered schooner Henry L. Marshall by the cutter .Johnson, p 79-80
In 1923, Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon recommended in a budget request that the Coast Guard obtain twenty new cutters, 200 cabin cruisers and 91 motorboats with an additional 3,535 officers and men at a cost of $28,500,000 for the enforcement of prohibition. At the time the total annual budget for the Coast Guard was less than ten million dollars and Congress did not agree with the request. On 2 April 1924, a bill was signed into law that provided the Coast Guard a little over twelve million dollars to fund the renovation of twenty Navy destroyers and two minesweepers for prohibition enforcement as well as 223 cabin cruisers and 100 smaller motor boats. The law also provided for the addition of 149 commissioned officers, 418 warrant officers and 3,789 enlisted men but some of the officers provided under the law were only given temporary promotions and no increase in pay.Johnson, p 81 As the Coast Guard prepared for changes in operations caused by the new law, Billard addressed the commissioned officers of the service in a printed circular:
Recruiting manpower for the enlarged "Rum Patrol" operation was simplified somewhat by high unemployment in some sections of the United States at the time. Training of new enlisted personnel was arranged by Billard through the Navy at Newport, Rhode Island and Hampton Roads, Virginia. Temporary commissions were offered to engineering college graduates and the class of 1925 of the Coast Guard Academy was graduated several months early to help fill much of the officer requirement.Johnson, p 82
The twenty destroyers that the Navy was to transfer under the 1924 budget legislation included some of the Navy's oldest destroyers, which had been built between 1910 and 1916 and seen service in World War I. They had been stored at the Philadelphia Navy Yard since the end of the war without extensive preservation and were not ready for immediate service. Boilers, turbines, condensers and auxiliary machinery had to be inspected and reconditioned where necessary. The 3-inch gun batteries, torpedo tubes and depth charge racks were deemed unnecessary for the prohibition mission and were removed and a one pounder was mounted forward to fire a warning shot at boats that might attempt to flee a boarding. Much of the reconditioning work was done by newly graduated recruits and the work went slow; the first destroyer out of the yard was not ready until late summer and the last was not commissioned until 1925.Johnson, p 83
In addition to the small craft that had been authorized, the service supplemented their small boat requirements with seized craft that were often faster than the original complement. These faster boats were often used by smugglers to ferry contraband liquor from "Rum Row" to the shore and often could outrun the service's vessels.Johnson, p 89
One of Billard's concerns during the prohibition period was that the number of court cases would cause the service harm by taking personnel off patrol duties to testify in court cases, as well as the negative publicity that could occur if it was necessary to fire on a vessel to enforce the law. He was assisted somewhat by various treaties made with foreign countries allowing a twelve-mile limit for search of contraband aboard foreign vessels.Johnson, pp 85-86
As Commandant during the Prohibition Era, Billard established the Coast Guard's first intelligence center, designed to collect, evaluate, and disseminate information relating to smuggling practices and plans. The use of radio codes increased by both the service and the smugglers so the Coast Guard had to develop cryptanalysis skills to keep ahead of the smugglers."Cryptology, Elizebeth Friedman and the United States Coast Guard Thwart the Rumrunners". Cryptologic Heritage: Publications, National Security Agency Radio direction finding equipment was installed on several Coast Guard vessels in late 1930.Johnson, pp 89-90 The original twenty destroyers were ending their expected service lives by 1930 and were replaced by newer craft that had been requested in 1926. Billard first used borrowed Navy aircraft in 1925 to track smugglers; this proved successful and in his 1926 budget requests he included the need for five aircraft at a cost of $152,000. With each improvement in detection and method of interdiction that the Coast Guard introduced, the smugglers would always find a different method of introducing contraband into the United States.Johnson, pp 91-92 Billard was concerned that Coast Guardsmen would succumb to enticements offered by the rum runners through either offers of liquor or cash, and there were several instances of this happening. Some service personnel were convicted at courts-martial of accepting bribes or improperly assisting liquor smugglers.Johnson, p 107
Education and morale