Michael A. Healy

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Michael A. Healy

Michael A. Healy (born September 22, 1839 near Macon, Georgia , † August 30, 1904 in San Francisco ) was an officer in the Revenue Cutter Service . The icebreaker USCGC Healy is named after him.

Life

Healy was born as one of 10 children to Irish-born plantation owner Michael Morris Healy and the black slave girl Eliza. He showed little interest in his schooling and was hired as a cabin boy on a merchant ship in 1855. In March 1865 he joined the Revenue Cutter Service as Third Lieutenant. In the same year he married Mary Jane Roach, who later often accompanied him on his travels. He received his first command of a ship in 1877. In October 1882, as commander of the USRC Thomas Corwin, he was involved in the shelling of the village of Angoon , whose residents had previously taken two members of the Northwest Trading Company hostage. In March 1883 he was promoted to captain.

In February 1886 Healy took command of the USRC Bear , which he held until 1895. “Hell Roaring Mike”, as he was nicknamed, sailed the waters around Alaska and was given far-reaching powers as a government representative. He pursued smugglers, resolved legal disputes at sea and in the sparsely populated coastal areas, came to the aid of ships in distress and supplied remote towns with supplies. Between 1892 and 1895, he transported reindeer to Alaska, which served as a source of food for the population after the whale and seal populations had declined sharply as a result of intensive hunting.

In June 1896, Healy was found guilty on a court martial of alcoholic bullying and putting his ship in danger. He was then suspended for four years without pay. In 1900 he was able to take over command again and led several ships until his retirement in September 1903. He died of a heart attack at the age of 64.

His life is the subject of the documentary The Odyssey of Captain Healy (USA 1999).

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personal data
SURNAME Healy, Michael A.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Revenue Cutter Service officer
DATE OF BIRTH September 22, 1839
PLACE OF BIRTH near Macon (Georgia)
DATE OF DEATH August 30, 1904
Place of death San Francisco