Alcohol, Boat Chases, and Shootouts: How the U.S. Coast Guard and Customs Fought Rum Smugglers and Pirates

In the 1920s and early 1930s, the government imposed strict laws against transporting and selling alcohol. This was known as Prohibition. To meet the demand for alcohol, a massive fleet of cargo ships, speedboats, and airplanes smuggled liquor into the US. The Coast Guard and Customs faced the daunting challenge of stopping this never-ending flow of booze without much popular support. Much like the bootleggers and gangsters on land, rum smugglers were well-armed and very violent. To make matters worse, pirates saw the rum ships as easy targets and thought nothing of hijacking the ships and killing those aboard. Ideologically, the nation was torn in two. Half of Americans were pressuring the government to crack down on bootleggers and rum smugglers, while the other half were going to speakeasies and guzzling large amounts of alcohol daily. In this book are true stories of the violence, conspiracies, and corruption that plagued America during what became known as the Rum War.