during the Cold War, at a time when the Soviet Union had attempted to jam portions of the network. The Courier contained the most powerful communications radio transmitter ever installed on board a ship, an RCA BT-105 150-kilowatt mediumwave transmitter, as well as two Collins 207B1 type 35-kilowatt shortwave transmitters as well as a Collins Radio Company 51J-type receiver. President Harry S. Truman visited the Courier on March 4, 1952, when the ship docked in Washington, D.C. and he used the occasion to broadcast a major policy speech beamed at Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. On April 18, 1952, during the Courier's shakedown cruise to the Panama Canal Zone, using the call sign KU2XAJ, tests were performed at 1700–2300 on 6110 and 9690 kc. shortwave (35 kW), and 1510 kc. medium wave (150 kW). The broadcasts closed with the playing of the Panamanian National Anthem and the Star Spangled Banner. The Courier initially used a $18,000 35' × 69' barrage balloon that held the medium wave antennae aloft. The Courier carried 5 of these balloons, but on more than one occasion the balloon broke free. Eventually it was decided to replace the balloon with a mast-supported wire antenna. The Courier also held the record for longest deployment overseas - from 17 July 1952 to 13 August 1964, she spent no time in United States territorial waters being stationed instead off the island of Rhodes, Greece during that time. Courier was decommissioned on 25 August 1964 upon her return to Yorktown, Virginia and turned over to the Coast Guard Reserve Training Center at Yorktown, Virginia. Placed in "out of commission, in Reserve" status, beginning July 1, 1965, Courier provided dockside training in merchant marine safety and dangerous cargo handling for the next year. USCGC Courier WTR-410 (1966–1972) The USCGC Courier WTR-410 was recommissioned into the Coast Guard at Yorktown, Virginia on 30 April 1966. Here the Courier's mission was to serve as a mobile operational training platform with qualified personnel attached and to aid by giving guidance during operational Port Security training at various sites during two week active duty for training periods. The Courier's area of operation covered the East Coast, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Great Lakes. In June 1970 the suffered damage to her bow after colliding with the Courier, who also suffered bow damage in the Chesapeake Bay. The Courier's homeport remained the Reserve Training