Michael A. Healy

commands = USRC RushUSRC CorwinUSRC BearUSRC McCullochUSRC Thetis battles = awards = alma_mater = College of the Holy Cross (AB) other_work =

Michael Augustine Healy (September 22, 1839 – August 30, 1904) was an American career officer with the United States Revenue Cutter Service (predecessor of the United States Coast Guard), reaching the rank of captain. He has been recognized since the late 20th century as the first man of African-American descent to command a ship of the United States government.

He commanded several vessels within the territory of the Alaskan coastline. Nicknamed "Hell Roaring Mike", Healy was the fifth of 10 children of the Healy family of Georgia, known for their achievements in the North after being born into slavery. Their parents were an Irish-born planter and an enslaved woman of mixed race. His father arranged for the children to be formally educated at boarding schools in the North. Predominately European in ancestry, they identified as Irish Catholics. USCGC Healy, commissioned in 1999, was named in his honor. Healy defended his actions as an effort to quell a mutiny, and the charge was eventually dismissed. Healy replied stating that he "pledge to you by all I hold most sacred that while I live never to touch intoxicants of any kind or description....One thing I will hate and that is to give up my command of the Bear. I love the ship, tho [it is] hard work." During visits to Siberia, across the Bering Sea from the Alaskan coast, Healy observed that the Chukchi people had domesticated caribou (reindeer), and used them for food, travel, and clothing.

Personal life In 1865, Healy married Mary Jane Roach, the daughter of Irish immigrants. She was a supportive wife who traveled with her husband. Despite 18 pregnancies, she had only one child who survived, a son named Frederick who was born in 1870. He established his life in northern California, married and had a family.

Legacy Over a century later, Healy's Coast Guard successors conduct missions reminiscent of his groundbreaking work: protecting the natural resources of the region, suppressing illegal trade, resupply of remote outposts, enforcement of the law, and search and rescue. Even in the early days of Arctic operations, science was an important part of the mission. Healy is now known as the first African-American to command a ship of the United States government. Commissioned in 1999, the research icebreaker USCGC Healy was named in his honor.

To commemorate the entire family's achievements, the former site in Jones County, Georgia of the Healy plantation is called Healy Point. The area is the location of the Healy Point Country Club.