Beginning in 1934, the Coast Guard began using a specially designed "flying lifeboat" -- equipped with specialized equipment and capabilities for search and rescue duties and capable of operating up to 1,000 miles from base and taking off and landing in rough seas. During World War II these aircraft conducted anti-submarine and search and rescue patrols along the coast and saw considerable action during the Germans' "Operation Drumbeat" U-boat attacks in the spring and summer of 1942, particularly off the coast of North Carolina. They were decommissioned in 1944.
