As used in this title, the term “Secretary” means the Secretary of the respective department in which the Coast Guard is operating.

(Aug. 4, 1949, ch. 393, 63 Stat. 497.)

This section is definitive and is included to obviate the necessity of spelling out in detail in each section of the bill where the Secretary is referred to, “the Secretary of the Treasury when the Coast Guard is operating in the Treasury Department and the Secretary of the Navy when the Coast Guard is operating as a service in the Navy.” 81st Congress, House Report No. 557.