As shipping traffic increased along the east coast of the United States, the U.S. government appropriated funds to increase the life-saving infrastructure along the coast and in 1878 the service became known as the U.S. Life-Saving Service. The surfmen of the U.S. Life-Saving Service saved countless lives as they helped those in peril upon the seas. In 1915, the U.S. Life-Saving Service became the U.S. Coast Guard.