A Dog’s Life: Parachute Jumps & Sinking Subs
Spar, a two-year-old Boston Bull pooch, was born for the sea. She shipped out as a wee pup and has served the Coast Guard well as mascot on the Coast Guard Combat Cutter Spencer at the time is sank a German sub in battle on the North Atlantic. An adventurer who likes action at sea and in waterfront beverage emporiums, Spar once bailed out of a crippled airplane over Newfoundland in the arms of her master, Coast Guard Coxswain Harold L. Mottard, of Boston, Mass. Here, Spar wears her dress blues, complete with first-class yeoman rating, campaign ribbons (earned), and wings for the plane jump. She’s going ashore between voyages.
National Archives Identifier 205583224, Local Identifier 26-G-08-22-44(1)
26-G-1517: Sinking of German submarine U-175, April 1943. The submarine was sunk off south-west of Ireland by USCGC Spencer (WPG-36) on April 17, 1943. Official Caption: “COAST GUARD CUTTER SINKS SUB: Coast Guardsmen on the deck of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter USCGC SPENCER (WPG-36) watch the explosion of a depth charge which blasted a Nazi U-Boat’s hope of breaking into the center of a large convoy. The depth charge tossed from the 327-foot cutter blew the submarine to the surface, where it was engaged by Coast Guardsmen. Ships of the convoy may be seen in the background.” Date: 17 April 1943. Official U.S. Coast Guard Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. (2017/09/05).