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Coast Guard Station New London is a United States Coast Guard station located in New London, Connecticut. The station is a unit of Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound, the sector overseeing Coast Guard stations in the Long Island Sound region. The station is located next to Fort Trumbull.
In 1775, the first fort was constructed on the site. In 1798, State of Connecticut ceded the property to the federal government. Since that time, the site has housed military buildings.
Stone buildings near Fort Trumbull began to house the Revenue Cutter Service School of Commissioned Officers in 1910. In 1915, the Revenue Cutter Service was merged with the United States Life-Saving Service to form the United States Coast Guard, and the School of Commissioned Officers became the United States Coast Guard Academy. In 1932, the Academy move to a new site, its present-day campus, also in New London. The old campus became Coast Guard Operating Base Fort Trumbull.
The base was important during the Prohibition era and World War II. At the beginning of Prohibition, the Coast Guard was a small force; starting in 1924, it was greatly enlarged in order to intercept rumrunning ships, and within two years, New London became the nation's largest Coast Guard base.
In 1948, the Coast Guard transferred 13.62 acres of Fort Trumbull buildings to the Department of the Navy, but retained buildings 45 and 12 and pier 2 as a Navy tenant.
The 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) recommended that the New London Detachment of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center be disestablished, and that after the closure, the facility be transferred to the Coast Guard, except for Pier 87, which was recommended to be transferred to the Naval Submarine Base New London). This recommendation was adopted, and in April 1997, after the New London detachment closed, these locations were returned to the Coast Guard. The Navy Submarine Base, New London, Magnetic Silencing Facility remains at the station as a tenant of the Coast Guard.
Today, Station New London is part of Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound within the First Coast Guard District. Units housed at the station conduct search and rescue, recreational boating safety, maritime law enforcement, military readiness, pollution response, and port security activities (including enforcement of two permanent security zones established along the Thames River). The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Chinook is based at the station. The unit personnel complement is one officer, 45 active duty enlisted personnel, 13 Coast Guard reservists and 10 Coast Guard Auxiliary volunteers (auxiliarists).
