The United States Coast Guard saved more than 1 million lives since its founding more than 200 years ago.

During a ceremony this weekend in Grand Haven, Mich., in honor of its 217th birthday, the U.S.C.G. announced that 1,109,310 lives have been saved since its establishment in 1790.   

"When things are at their worst, America's Coast Guard is at its best," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a released statement. "What began as a revenue enforcement agency with a fleet of 10 cutters established by Alexander Hamilton more than 200 years ago has evolved into the world's premier multi-mission, maritime and military service.”

The Coast Guard is one of America's five armed forces and traces its founding to Aug. 4, 1790, when the first Congress authorized the construction of 10 vessels to enforce tariff and trade laws, prevent smuggling and protect the collection of the federal revenue.

Responsibilities added over the years included humanitarian duties such as aiding mariners in distress and the service received its present name in 1915 when the Revenue Cutter Service merged with the US Life-Saving Service to form a single maritime service dedicated to saving life at sea and enforcing the nation's maritime laws.

The number of lives saved was calculated by the Coast Guard historian's office through research of logs and records from the Coast Guard, the Revenue Cutter Service, the U.S. Life-Saving Service, the Lighthouse Service and other agencies that ultimately became the modern Coast Guard.</td><//td><//td></tr><//tr><//tr>