One Fence Down

Trespassers in U.S. waters have become so scarce that the Navy is pulling down its picket fence. In the first broad demobilization of equipment since the war began, more than half the 2,200 fishing and pleasure craft converted for emergency antisub patrol early in the war have now been returned to their private owners.

After July only a few will be left in service.

The reserve vessels were taken on chiefly as an eye-and-ear auxiliary for regular Coast Guard ships. Only lightly armed, they sometimes went against orders and engaged in singlehanded scuffles with the enemy, emerging more sorry than successful. They proved worthier for port security, training, rescue missions in offshore disasters.

Priorities on repairs have prevented the Coast Guard from returning ships in their pre-service condition, according to contract. Instead, cash settlements are being made. Except for a few whose yachts have been stripped of expensive gingerbread, few of the owners have balked. But many would just as soon have had the Coast Guard keep their boats for the duration. Restrictions on fuel and places to go are so tight that a pleasure boat is nothing but a liability.

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