2608. (large panoramic photo) U. S. Coast Guard Cutter Beal CG-9 (1912-1934) c.1926. Large panoramic photo shows the cutter moored at Boston on November 17, 1926. Photo by J. C. Crosby. Naval Photographer, Boston. Sepia photo measures a full 10” by 24” and shows a close view from the port side as a few crew members on board stand watching. USS Beale, a 742-ton Paulding class destroyer built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was commissioned in late August 1912. She served with the Atlantic Fleet during the next three years, with participation in the 1914 occupation of Vera Cruz providing a break from routine training and exercises. In early 1916 Beale began neutrality patrols along the East Coast and continued operations in that area after the United States entered World War I in April 1917. Beale crossed the Atlantic to the European war zone early in 1918. Based at Queenstown, Ireland, she was assigned to anti-submarine patrol and convoy escort duties for the rest of the conflict. Returning to the U.S. in late 1918, she served in Atlantic Coast waters until decommissioned in October 1919. She was transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard in 1924. As USCGC Beale (CG-9), the destroyer helped enforce prohibition laws until October 1930, when she was returned to the Navy and placed in reserve at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. USS Beale was stricken from the register of U.S. Naval vessels in July 1934 and scrapped later in that year. USS Beale was named in honor of Brigadier General Edward F. Beale, U.S. Volunteers, (1822-1893), who, as a U.S. Navy Midshipman, played an important role in the war with Mexico. Photo is as originally rolled, with a few cracks to the emulsion due to the rolling, but would still be striking matted and framed. Extremely rare to find these large early portrait photos of cutters. (G+). 174.