noun. An enforcer of maritime law, in charge of policing the seas within territorial waters

noun. a military service responsible for the safety of maritime traffic in coastal waters

"We don't really have a problem with maritime smuggling in the UK, the USA does, hence why their Coast Guard, which is really more of a "guard of the coast" than what we associate with the term coastguard here, is a small navy and ours is a small government agency that supplements RNLI and RAF rescue efforts."

armed service  military service  service  

u. s. coast guard  united states coast guard  us coast guard  

coast-guard  fortresslike  heavily-armed  inter-island  light-draught