Michael Healy

Short Biography

Michael Augustine Healy (September 22, 1839 – August 30, 1904) was a career officer with the United States Revenue Cutter Service (predecessor of the United States Coast Guard), reaching the rank of captain. He commanded several vessels with territory of the Alaskan coastline.Following U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward's Alaska purchase of the vast region in 1867, Healy patrolled the 20, 000 miles (32, 000 km) of Alaskan coastline for more than 20 years, earning great respect from the natives and seafarers alike. After commercial fishing had depleted the whale and seal populations, his assistance with introduction of Siberian reindeer helped prevent starvation among the native Alaskans. The author Jack London was inspired by Healy's command of the renowned USRC Bear. It was a thick wooden hulled, steam-and-sail powered proto-icebreaker, which had been put into service as a cutter, in 1884.Nicknamed "Hell Roaring Mike, " Healy was the fifth of 10 children of Healy family of Georgia, known for their achievements in the North after being born into slavery. Their parents were an Irish-born planter and his African-American mixed-race slave, with whom he had a common-law marriage. His father arranged for the children to be formally educated at boarding schools in the North, and they identified as Irish Catholics. Healy has also been recognized since the late 20th century as the first man of African-American descent to command a ship of the United States government. The USCGC Healy, commissioned in 1999, was named in his honor