Category Archives: USCG

Great War NYC COTP Days

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Check out this great image of what looks like circa 1910s U.S. Marines in landing party marching order including packs, leggings, web gear, and M1903 Springfields complete with long M1905 bayonets.

Only, they aren’t Marines, or even Blue Jackets, but, rather, U.S. Coast Guardsmen– you can even make out the surfman’s badge on the collar of the man to the left. The location? Manhattan’s Battery Park, circa 1918.

USCG Photo 210210-G-G0000-1007

The above are from the battalion-sized light infantry force under the command of the NYC Captain of the Port, a USCG unit under Temp. Capt. Godfrey Lynet Carden, which became a familiar sight as it drilled and patrolled along the city’s docks and parks during the Great War.

As detailed by the USCG Historian’s Office:

During WWI, the Coast Guard continued to enforce rules and regulations that governed the anchorage and movements of vessels in American harbors. The Espionage Act, passed in June 1917, gave the Coast Guard further power to protect merchant shipping from sabotage. This act included the safeguarding of waterfront property, supervision of vessel movements, establishment of anchorages and restricted areas, and the right to control and remove people aboard ships. The tremendous increase in munitions shipments, particularly in New York, required an increase in personnel to oversee this activity.

The term “captain of the port” (COTP) was first used in New York, and Captain Godfrey L. Carden was the first to hold that title. As COTP, he was charged with supervising the safe loading of explosives. During the war, a similar post was established in other U.S. ports. However, the majority of the nation’s munitions shipments abroad left through New York. For a period of 1-1/2 years, more than 1,600 vessels, carrying more than 345 million tons of explosives, sailed from this port. In 1918, Carden’s division was the largest single command in the Coast Guard. It consisted of more than 1,400 officers and men, four Corps of Engineers tugboats, and five harbor cutters.

The Coast Guard augmented the Navy with its 223 commissioned officers, more than 4,500 enlisted men, 47 vessels of all types, and 279 stations scattered along the entire U.S. coastline.

As for Carden, he was born in Siam in 1866, the son of a Presbyterian missionary, and attended Annapolis with the class of ’84, although did not graduate.

Rather, on 4 June 1886, he was appointed a cadet in the U.S. Revenue Marine Service and, following two years as a mid in that service, including serval cruises aboard the Revenue Cutter Chase, Mr. Carden was commissioned a 3rd lieutenant in the service.

Over the next decade, he would serve on the cutters Bibb, Manhattan, McLane, Morrill, and Grant.

2nd LT Godfrey L. Carden instructing a 6-pounder gun crew aboard the Revenue Cutter Morill in South Carolina waters, circa 1892. Note the rarely-seen USRSC officer’s sword. USCGH Photo 210210-G-G0000-1002

After combat aboard Manning during the Spanish-American War– during which Carden was in charge of the cutter’s two 4-inch and two 6-pounder guns– he became a go-to ordnance officer for the service and spent much of the next several years on detached duty touring manufacturers, hosting gunnery exhibits on large public events (St. Louis World’s Fair, etc) and would go on to return to Manning in 1910 as her skipper.

He then commanded the cutters Seminole and Mohawk in turn before his assignment as the COTP in New York.

Captain Godfrey L. Carden, as COTP NYC 1917-19

Following the close of hostilities, on 20 December 1918, Carden mustered the remaining men under his command– at the time still over 900– and marched from Washington Square through Fifth Avenue to the 9th Regimental Armory where they were inspected by the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (Leo Rowe), USCG Commandant Ellsworth Bertholf, and Byron Newton, the Collector of Customs.

Note Carden at the front. USCG Photo 210210-G-G0000-1006

The COTP position endured until August 1919, when the Coast Guard transferred back to the Treasury Department, and Carden, who had reverted to his peacetime rank of LCDR, was relieved that October.

After service with the U.S. Shipping Board, Carden requested to retire in August 1921, capping a 35-year career when he moved to the retired list that same December.

He passed in 1965, aged 98, and is buried at Arlington.

Meanwhile, the COTP concept has become standard since then. 

60 Years of Getting it Done

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The 71-member crew of 210-foot U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Reliance (WMEC 615) returned to their homeport at Pensacola– where the aging class is being collected– on Saturday following a 57-day counterdrug patrol that ranged into the Eastern Pacific Ocean under 4th Fleet/JIATF-South control.

And the 59-year-old (not a misprint) cutter bagged a narco sub, which continues to be a thing in those waters.

The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Reliance (WMEC 615) interdicts a low-profile vessel carrying more than $5 million in illicit narcotics in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, on Feb. 15, 2024. Patrolling in support of Joint Interagency Task Force-South, the Reliance crew stopped two drug trafficking ventures, detaining six suspected traffickers and preventing nearly 4,000 pounds of cocaine and 5,400 pounds of marijuana, worth more than $57 million, from entering the United States. (U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy of Reliance)

Commissioned in Galveston in 1964 Reliance is the leader of her 16-ship class, of which four have been retired in recent years– only to see those old hulls transferred to overseas allies.

This black and white photo shows newly the commissioned Reliance (WMEC-615) in the mid-1960s with an HH-52 Sea Guard helicopter landing on its pad and davits down with one of its small boats deployed. Notice the lack of smokestack and paint scheme pre-dating the Racing Stripe or “U.S. Coast Guard” paint schemes. She has a 3″/50 forward as well as 20mm cannons for AAA work and weight and space for ASW Mousetraps, a towed sonar, and Mk.32 ASW tubes, although they were never fitted. U.S. Coast Guard photo.

As noted by the USCG:

In addition, the cutter made port calls in Ecuador, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Panama for the first time in the ship’s 59-year history. The cutter also crossed into the Southern Hemisphere, prompting a time-honored equatorial crossing tradition for the Reliance crew. Before returning to Pensacola, the crew conducted aviation training with aircraft from Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile and steamed in formation with Coast Guard Cutter Diligence (WMEC 616) to commemorate the cutters’ upcoming 60th anniversaries this summer.

More background surfaces on 11 January Dhow incident

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There is much more color that has been added to the tragic 11 January boarding, search, and seizure of the stateless dhow of the Somali coast, reportedly packed with Iranian rocket and missile components headed for the Houthi. The boarding resulted in the deaths at sea of two SEALs, Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Christopher J. Chambers, 37, and Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Nathan Gage Ingram, 27.

Chambers and Ingram were declared lost at sea on 22 January after being missing for 11 days

The information comes from an odd source, the DOJ, which indicted four foreign nationals this week who were members of the crew of the dhow– Muhammad Pahlawan, Mohammad Mazhar, Ghufran Ullah, and Izhar Muhammad– who made their initial appearance via teleconference before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Richmond, Virginia. Ten other crewmembers are being held as material witnesses but are not charged.

The 31-page complaint makes some interesting reading. 

The boarding was accomplished by members of a West Coast-based Navy SEAL team and USCG MSST elements operating from the 100,000-ton sea base, USS Lewis B. Puller, supported by helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles. Once the VBSS team was aboard (sadly, after losing Chambers and Ingram in the process) they confirmed it was a stateless vessel and proceeded with the search. Although the crew at first said that they had been fishing for the past six days, there were no fish aboard and no fishing equipment in use. The crew said they were unaware of any cargo on the dhow.

What the VBSS team turned up were a series of warhead, and propulsion and guidance components for MRBMs and anti-ship cruise missiles, all “packaged without markings, labels, or identification in compartments near the front of the dhow.”

“The military’s belief that the weapons are Iranian is based in part on labels on various components, the recovery of similar exploded or destroyed missiles and destructive devices from other Houthi attacks in the region around the time of the seizure, and comparison of seized weapons to known information about Iranian manufactured missiles and rockets.”

The rocket and missile parts were found hidden in culvert piping and net float buoys and the 14-member crew transferred to the Puller, which then became a floating brig. The dhow was sunk by the Navy afterward as it was deemed “no longer safe or seaworthy.”

Several of the crew had Pakistani identification cards and in interviews, some said the dhow came from Pakistan and they didn’t know what the cargo was, while others said it came directly from Iran. One, Pahlawan, who told the rest of the crew to only refer to him as a refrigeration mechanic, was in charge. Pahlawan said he had been in Iran for two years and that he began working on the dhow 10-15 days before it left Konarak, Iran, where it had been inspected by the Iranian Navy an hour before it departed. Once they left Konarak, they took on diesel at night at Chah Bahar, a known base of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy.

Pahlawan said he was instructed by the owner and captain of the vessel– neither of which embarked– on what heading to take toward the Somali coast and was given a sat phone to communicate with an individual through a series of calls that the FBI traced back to an individual known to be affiliated with the IRGC.

Of note, Pahlawan also had a personal cell phone and was active on Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok. You gotta stay on top of things, after all.

As noted by the DOJ:

Pahlawan faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if convicted of unlawfully transporting a warhead, and all four defendants face a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted of the false statements offense. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Not a bad looking 40 year old

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How about this great image during the magic hour?

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Tampa (WMEC 902) transits the Florida Straits, on Feb. 4, 2024, while supporting Operation Vigilant Sentry. Tampa is homeported in Portsmouth, Virginia. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Senior Chief Petty Officer Brodie MacDonald)

Tampa, a 270-foot Famous (Bear)-class cutter, was commissioned on 16 March 1984 putting her within striking distance of the big four-oh. Of note, her class is the last in U.S. service to carry the classic 1970s MK75 OTO Melera 76mm/62 cal mount.

She recently returned home Tuesday, following a 77-day maritime safety and security patrol in the Florida Straits.

“CGC Tampa has gracefully completed a multitude of missions throughout her 40 years of service,” said Cmdr. Walter Krolman, commanding officer of Tampa. “From mass migration rescues to participating in multi-nation military exercises and conducting counterdrug operations, Tampa continues to prove her motto, “Thy way is the sea, thy path in the great waters.”

Warship Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024: Moscow on the Hudson

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Here at LSOZI, we take off every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1833-1954 period and will profile a different ship each week. These ships have a life, a tale all their own, which sometimes takes them to the strangest places.- Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024: Moscow on the Hudson

U.S. Navy Photo donated by Charlotte Koch, whose husband, Richard Koch, was a Navy P2V pilot who served in Antarctica in the 1950s, via the National Science Foundation’s U.S. Antarctic Program archives.

Above we see the well-traveled Wind-class “battle icebreaker” USS Staten Island (AGB-5) hanging out with the locals and breaking a channel into McMurdo Sound on 11 February 1959, some 65 years ago this week. Staten Island served in three different fleets across 30 years and had an interesting tale to tell.

How the “Winds” came to blow

When World War II started, the U.S. Navy was up to the proverbial frozen creek as far as icebreaking went. While some foreign powers (the Soviets) really liked the specialized ships, Uncle Sam did not share the same opinion. However, this soon changed in 1941 when the U.S., even before Pearl Harbor, accepted Greenland and Iceland to their list of protected areas. Now, tasked with having to keep the Nazis out of the frozen extreme North Atlantic/Arctic and the Japanese out of the equally chilly North Pac/Arctic region (anyone heard of the Aleutians?), the Navy needed ice-capable ships yesterday.

The old (read= broken down) 6,000-ton British-built Soviet icebreaker Krassin was studied in Bremerton Washington by the Navy and Coast Guard. Although dating back to the Tsar, she was still at the time the most powerful icebreaker in the world.

The 10,000-ton. 323-foot Russian icebreaker Krassin, seen here in the Panama Canal, was studied by the USCG stateside for several months in 1941, with her design teaching the service many lessons

After looking at this ship and the Swedish icebreaker Ymer, the U.S. began work on the Wind-class, the first U.S. ships designed and built specifically as icebreakers.

Set up with an extremely thick (over an inch and a half) steel hull, these ships could endure repeated ramming against hard-pack ice. Just in case the hull did break, there were 15 inches of cork behind it, followed by a second inner hull. Now that is serious business. These ships were so hardy that one, USCGC Westwind (WAGB 281), almost 30 years after she joined the fleet, was heavily damaged by ice in the Antarctic’s Weddell Sea but still made it back. About 120 feet of the port-side hull was gashed when brash ice forced the ship against a 100-foot sheer ice shelf. The gash was two to three feet wide and was six feet above the waterline. The crew patched the side, there were no injuries, and the breaker returned home under her own power.

At over 6,000 tons, these ships were bulky for their short, 269-foot hulls. They were also bathtub-shaped, with a 63-foot beam. For those following along at home, that’s a 1:4 length-to-beam ratio. Power came from a half-dozen mammoth Fairbanks-Morse 10-cylinder diesel engines that both gave the ship a lot of power on demand, but also an almost unmatched 32,000-mile range (not a misprint, that is 32-thousand). For an idea of how much that is, a Wind-class icebreaker could sail at an economical 11 knots from New York to Antarctica, and back, on the same load of diesel…twice.

A photo of USCGC Eastwind, circa 1944. Note how beamy these ships were. The twin 5-inch mounts on such a short hull make her seem extremely well-armed. USCG Photo

To help them break the ice, the ship had a complicated system of water ballasting, capable of moving hundreds of tons of water from one side of the ship to the other in seconds, which could rock the vessel from side to side in addition to her thick hull and powerful engines. A bow-mounted propeller helped chew up loose ice and pull the ship along if needed.

With a war being on, they just weren’t about murdering ice, but being able to take the fight to polar-bound Axis ships and weather detachments as well. For this, they were given a pair of twin 5″/38 turrets, a dozen 40mm Bofors AAA guns, a half dozen 20mm Oerlikons, as well as depth charge racks and various projectors, plus the newfangled Hedgehog device to slay U-boats and His Imperial Japanese Majesty’s I-boats. Weight and space were also reserved for a catapult-launched and crane-recovered seaplane. Space for an extensive small arms locker, to equip landing parties engaged in searching remote frozen islands and fjords for radio stations and observation posts, rounded out the design.

Two of the class, Eastwind and Southwind, operated against teams of German scientists and military personnel who attempted to establish weather stations in remote areas of Greenland late in the war.

As noted by the USCG Historian’s Office in this chapter of “The Weather War,”:

On 4 October 1944 Eastwind captured a German weather station on Little Koldewey Island and 12 German personnel. On 15 October 1944 Eastwind captured the German trawler Externsteine and took 17 prisoners. The trawler was renamed East Breeze and a prize crew sailed her to Boston.

The tender was so specific and intricate that only a single shipbuilder submitted a bid, the Western Pipe & Steel (WPS) Corporation of Los Angeles, the yard that would build all eight members of the class.

Meet Staten Island, or…well, we’ll get to it

Laid down on 9 June 1942 at WPS as Yard No. CG-96 for a contract price of $9,880,037, our icebreaker would be the first Northwind (more on that below) but that was just a placeholder as from the outset it was intended to Lend Lease this first ship of the class to the Soviets, who desperately needed it to keep the country’s chimney at Murmansk and Archangel (Arkhangelsk) open during ice season– and to repay the loan of Krassin, whose design helped influence the Winds.

As such, she shipped out without radar, some of the more sensitive commo gear that her sisters had, and a simplified armament (four 3″/50 singles, 8x40mm Bofors, 6x20mm Oerlikon, and two depth charge racks).

“Hull #96 Launching Dec. 28, 1942 – #63.”; Note her forward screw shaft under a huge overhanging bow, augmenting two shafts on her stern. Photo by “Dick” Whittington Photography, Los Angeles, CA via USCG Historian’s Office.

Hull CR96 [sic, CG96] 3/4 Bow view – San Pedro Harbor; Western Pipe & Steel Co. Shipyard. 10 February 1942. Note her two 3″/50s forward, Bofors singles under her wheelhouse windows, and magazine-less 20mm Orlikons on the roof. Also, note that she has no radar fit. Photo No. 42-69-92 by “Dick” Whittington Photography, Los Angeles, CA via USCG Historian’s Office.

Launched 28 December 1942, she commissioned 26 February 1944– 80 years ago this month– with a placeholder Coast Guard crew and USCG hull number (WAG-278) but was turned over to a waiting Russian crew almost immediately, with the Coasties only riding along as far as Seattle, which the Northwind left on 9 March headed for the Motherland with a red flag flying.

Russki Days

In total, three of the eight Wind-class icebreakers were lent to the Soviets: our Northwind (renamed Severnyy Veter= North Wind), Southwind (Admiral Makarov), and Westwind (Severnyy Polyus= North Pole).

In Soviet service, Northwind/Severnyy Veter was placed under the direction of the state-owned Arkhangelsk Arctic Shipping Company (GUSMP), based in Murmansk, but had to get there first. She was assigned to the Navy List of the list of vessels of the Main Northern Sea Route on 4 March and, leaving Seattle five days later, arrived at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on 25 March where she temporarily became part of the Vladivostok Arctic Shipping Company, spending the rest of the year escorting ships and patrolling waters in the Russian Far East before making the trip along the country’s Arctic coast– the Northern Sea Route– arriving in Arkhangelsk in December 1944.

Northwind/Severnyy Veter spent the rest of the Great Patriotic War conducting ice escorts of ships and allied convoys in the White Sea. As for her two sisters that were transferred– Southwind/Admiral Makarov and Westwind/Severnyy Polyus— they were only turned over to the Soviets in February and March 1945, respectively.

When the wartime commander of the GUSMP, Captain 1st Rank Mikhail Prokofievich Belousov, a proper Hero of the Soviet Union, passed away in 1946, Northwind/Severnyy Veter was renamed Kapitan Belousov in his honor.

Belousov, a trained polar navigator who had in the 1930s commanded the old icebreaker Krassin– which the U.S. Navy had studied before designing the Wind class– had crossed the roof of the world several times along the great Northern Sea Route, come to the rescue of the disabled icebreaker Georgy Sedov, and had supervised Soviet maritime transport in the Arctic during WWII.

Repatriation

Her time under the Red Banner over, her Soviet crew sailed Kapitan Belousov to Bremerhaven in West Germany where she was met by a party from the U.S. Navy, and the ship was unceremoniously transferred back to American custody there on 19 December 1951. As with other Allied ships returned from the Russians in this era, she was reportedly in very rough shape and filthy, no doubt done on purpose.

After six weeks of cleaning and repair at Bremerhaven, she was commissioned there as USS Northwind (AGB-5) on 31 January 1952, with CDR John Boynton Davenport, USN (USNA 1941), in command. Arriving at Boston after a slow Atlantic crossing, she needed a further four months to bring her back up to Navy standards.

USN Days

In the eight years that Northwind/Severnyy Veter was loaned to Uncle Joe and the gang, the Coast Guard had picked up a second USCGC Northwind (WAGB-282), which was commissioned in July 1945. Thus, to keep from confusing the two, the original Northwind/Severnyy Veter was renamed USS Staten Island (AGB-5) on 25 February 1952—the only Navy vessel to carry that name.

Her Russian-era armament landed, and she picked up her first 5-incher, a sole 5”/38 DP in a Mark 30 enclosed single mount, as well as an SPS-6 radar set and lots of new commo gear.

Now haze gray and underway, Staten Island‘s first Navy deployment from Boston was to Frobisher Bay, where she conducted ice reconnaissance from July through September. The next year she notably became the first Navy ship to cut through the Davis Strait from Thule Air Base to the Alert station on Ellesmere Island, just 435 miles from the North Pole.

She was a key vessel in Project Mushrat and sortied 14 Rockoons (balloon-assisted stratosphere sounding rockets) carrying instruments for the Naval Research Laboratory and Iowa State University.

An 11-foot long/200-pound Deacon sounding rocket is shown being towed by a Skyhook balloon in a combination known as “Rockoon”. It was launched from the icebreaker USS Staten Island during the Arctic expedition of 1953. The rocket was wrapped in plastic to avoid freezing at altitude. (via Stratocat)

As detailed by the Navy:

This project, known as Project Mushrat, is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research with the assistance of the Bureau of Aeronautics and the Military Sea Transportation Service – Atomic Energy Commission Joint Program of Basic Research in Nuclear Physics, and the Naval Research Laboratory Program of Upper Atmosphere Research. Because of the widespread interest in the project, and particularly in the balloon-rocket technique, several observers from the three military services will accompany the expedition. The Balloon-Rocket Technique, commonly referred to as Balloon Assisted Take-Off (BATO) or Rockoon, was developed by Dr. James A. Van Allen at Iowa State University and used on board the USCGC Eastwind during the summer of 1952. This method makes it possible to reach high altitudes by small, inexpensive rockets. During the summer of 1952, one of the balloon rocket flights launched from Eastwind and achieved a peak altitude of about 295,000 feet.

Mushrat: The U.S. Navy icebreaker USS Staten Island (AGB-5) with a group of civilian and naval scientists onboard left Boston, Massachusetts, on July 18, 1953, for the North Geomagnetic Pole. They will make a comprehensive series of high-altitude observations of the primary cosmic radiation and the pressure, temperature, and density of the atmosphere in the northern latitudes. 330-PS-6008 (USN 483600)

Mushrat: “Navy Testing Cosmic Radiation at North Geomagnetic Pole. USS Staten Island (AGB-5) is shown reflecting in the water. Photograph released June 28, 1953.” 330-PS-6008 (USN 483601)

Coverage of Staten Island and Mushrat in the December 1953 All Hands:

In all, while stationed in Boston, Staten Island conducted six ice-breaking operations in northern waters between 1952 and 15 December 1954.

She then transferred to the Pacific in May 1955 and, joining her classmate icebreakers of Service Squadron 1 at Seattle, would shift to resupplying the new Distant Early Warning (DEW) radar stations in the Arctic, a role that would endure for a decade. It was during these trips that Staten Island was used as a Rockoon platform, launching a further 26 aloft in 1955 and 14 in 1958.

Northwind, I presume? Navy icebreaker Staten Island (AGB-5)/ex-Northwind (WAGB-278) approaching sistership, USCGC Northwind (WAGB-288), off Icy Cape, Alaska. 30 July 1955. Note her 5″/38 forward and her twin Bofors on the bridge wings. She also carries LCVPs. USCG Photo No. 07-30-55 (06) via USCG Historian’s Office.

She also started clocking in on regular Operation Deep Freeze runs to Antarctica’s Byrd Station and the later McMurdo Station.

USS Staten Island (AGB-5) temporarily stalled by pressure ice in the Ross Sea, during Antarctic operations, on 9 December 1958. Note Adelie penguins in the foreground. NH 99297

The above image of USS Staten Island (AGB-5) was used as the cover for the 15 July 1959 edition of Our Navy

Icebreaker USS Staten Island, AGB-5, and transport USS Calvert APA-32

USS Staten Island AGB-5 in the Amundsen Sea, 21 September 1960. Note the stacked LCVPs. U.S. Navy photo via USAP

14 November 1962 Staten Island (AGB-5) follows a lead in the ice of McMurdo Sound. U.S. Navy photo via USAP

25 November 1962. Steaming past Antarctica’s only known active volcano, Mount Erebus, the Seattle-based icebreaker USS Staten Island (AGB-5) widens a channel in McMurdo Sound for trailing cargo ships en route to McMurdo Station Antarctica. U.S. Navy photo via USAP

USNS Chattahoochee off-loads fuel into drums on a sled to be towed to McMurdo Station 13 miles away. The ice breaker Staten Island (AGB-5) is the center ship. The USNS Mirfak (T-AK-271) is a cargo ship to the far left. U.S. Navy Photo

In addition to paving the way to install and resupply Arctic DEW stations and Antarctic bases, Staten Island often embarked scientists directly, such as a 1963 U. S. Antarctic Research Program expedition to the Palmer Peninsula and South Shetland Islands. The expedition, led by Dr. Waldo LaSalle Schmitt from the Smithsonian, directed the icebreaker to call at 26 remote points between 18 January and 5 March, and her botanists and biologists harvested 27,000 specimens.

The U.S. Navy icebreaker USS Staten Island (AGB-5) with a HUL-1 helicopter on board approaches the Palmer Peninsula during Antarctic operations in early 1963.

1964: Navy Icebreaker AGB-5 USS Staten Island at McMurdo Station Antarctica. Note that her 5-incher has been removed

Operation Deep Freeze 1965: Fifty crewmembers of the USS Staten Island haul a damaged LH-34D helicopter across three miles of fast ice to the ship where it will be on-loaded

A USS Staten Island (AGB-5) postcard, seen late in her Navy career

Coast Guard Days

By agreement with the Coast Guard, our girl– and all other Navy icebreakers– was placed out of commission on 1 February 1966, struck from the Navy list, and recommissioned as USCGC Staten Island (W-AGB-278), thus starting her third life.

She was painted white and upgraded, including strengthening her flight deck and hangar to permit her to operate with the new generation of HH-52 helicopters in a telescoping hangar, and her engineering plant was upgraded. By this time, she carried an SPS-10B and SPS-53A radar set in addition to her circa 1956 SPS-6C.

Wind Class Icebreaker USCGC Staten Island pictured c1968 with Navy Sea Sprite 9021 from Guam-based HC-5. 

Meanwhile, in Coast Guard service her main guns had already been removed, and she spent the rest of her career with a few machine guns (four M2 .50 cals) and her small arms locker.

Staten Island at a Navy pier with her hangar fully extended. 31 July 1967; Photographer unknown. Photo No. 073167-49 via USCG Historian’s Office.

Staten Island. 14 August 1967; Note the large ice launch on her davits and telescoping hangar. Photographer unknown. USCG Photo No. 278-081467-63 via USCG Historian’s Office.

USCGC Staten Island (WAGB-278), a United States Coast Guard Wind-class icebreaker, makes its way to McMurdo Station in this undated photo. NSF photo via USAP archives.

Staten Island ice rescue team retrieving mail drop in Bering Sea. 1 March 1969; Photo No. 2780021169-23A; photographer unknown. via USCG Historian’s Office.

In late 1969, she navigated the Northwest Passage, escorting the Esso-chartered oil tanker SS Manhattan eastward from Seattle to New York, in concert while in Canuk waters with the smaller Canadian icebreaker Sir John A. MacDonald.

Original Kodachrome of the Staten Island (lead) and Canadian icebreaker CCGS John A. MacDonald (red hull) escort the tanker SS Manhattan (where the photographer is standing) through the Northwest Passage, September through December of 1969. Via USCG Historian’s Office

As detailed by the USCG Historian’s Office:

She rendezvoused with Manhattan and CCGS John A. MacDonald on 20 September 1969 and departed the next day. The convoy searched out heavy ice on the trip. Manhattan was testing its unique ice-breaking bow and searching for routes that merchant ships might use to transport oil from the oil fields of Alaska’s North Slope to the East Coast. By 1 October 1969, the convoy had broken through the heaviest ice in Prince of Wales Strait and Viscount Melville Sound. Staten Island assisted Manhattan “with evaluation project, photo, and ice helicopter reconnaissance, diving operations, dental treatment of Manhattan personnel and ice-breaking assistance.”

The convoy arrived in New York on 9 November 1969. On 9 December 1969, she returned to Seattle after becoming the fourth American ship in history to make the voyage around the North American continent. The others had been the cutters Storis, Bramble, and Spar in 1957. By the time she arrived back at Seattle, Staten Island had traveled 23,000 miles, stopping at New York City, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Acapulco, Mexico after transiting the Panama Canal.

When in the Arctic, she often tracked Soviet shipping, as noted by Crewman Ronald Lange, from the files of the USCG Historian’s Office of her 1970 Alaska cruise:

Our ship operated west of the Alaskan Straits to identify and track Russian merchant ships moving down towards the Straits bound mostly Vietnam. Our 2 helicopters identified ships and we were on the bridge and CIC group (I was in CIC. an RD3) documented. We identified different types of ships using mixed drinks for keywords (Martini for a freighter, whiskey sour for a tanker, etc.)…There were several Russian corvette-type escort ships and a Russian icebreaker as well. The captain of the Russian vessel came over by helicopter and saluted Captain Putzke, who was on the wing of the bridge…We were generally left alone by the Russians, except when one of our helicopters got into Russian air space near one of their early warning radar stations in the fog.

“269-ft. USCG C Staten Island (WAGB-278) masking trails through ice-paved [sic] for deliveries.”; 29 December 1970; no photo number; photo by PH3 D. H. Walker, USCG. via USCG Historian’s Office.

Deep Freeze ’71 saw Staten Island accomplish the feat of circumnavigating Antarctica, she transported a U.N. inspection mission around to the different international outposts on the continent– including the Russian bases– to ensure weapons-free treaty compliance.

U.S. Navy aerial photo of Hut Point Peninsula taken in February 1971 when the fuel tanker USNS Maumee arrived to off-load fuel (Feb 12-14). The smaller vessel to the outside is the USCGC Staten Island (WAGB-278). A careful examination of the photo will reveal the roof of British explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s 1902 Discovery Hut. The other building and fuel storage tanks have been removed since this photo was taken. Photo via USAP

13 February 1971: McMurdo Station Antarctica. Ships moored in Winter Quarters Bay. Present are USNS Maumee (T-AO-149), USNS Wyandot (T-AK-283), USCGC Staten Island (WAGB-278), and USCGC Burton Island (WAGB-283). National Archives. K-88755

Five ships in Winter Quarters Bay on 13 February 1971. In the foreground is HMNZS Endeavour (A184), across the right is USNS Wyandot (T-AKA-92) and USCGC Burton Island (WAGB-283), across the left, is USNS Maumee (T-AO-149) and USCGC Staten Island (WAGB-278). Along the shoreline, work is underway to repair and install facing an Elliott Quay – a steel-and-timber reinforcement barrier to protect the shoreline from erosion. Photo by Carl Norton, via USAP

On 9 January 1971, one of Staten Island’s embarked HH-52A Sea Guards (#1404) crashed while some 12,000 feet high into the side of Mount Erebus while on a Deep Freeze mission. The crew, uninjured, was rescued and returned to McMurdo. The helo had already suffered a near-catastrophic water landing earlier on the deployment.

As detailed by Lange:

“After the Arctic West trip of 1970, we were assigned to Operation Deepfreeze. Our ports of call on the outward leg of our trip were Hawaii. Suva, Fiji, and Wellington, New Zealand. Our air element came from Mobile, Alabama along with 2 HH-52 helos. Our trip through Fiji was uneventful, but while conducting air operations (SAR) drills, one the helos (#1404) experienced a total electrical failure at approximately 500 feet altitude and autorotated onto the ocean. No one was injured and the helo was hauled aboard with only slight damage to its hull. The copter was repaired, and electrical components were changed out on our way to McMurdo station.

We conducted ice-breaking operations along with the Burton Island in McMurdo Sound while the air element assisted ashore with cargo operations. In January 1971, while transporting base personnel around Mount Erebus, our HH-52 (#1404), experienced a severe downdraft and crashed near the summit of the mountain. It took several hours to find the aircraft as our choppers then were mostly white against a snowy background.

Staten Island also kept up her long-running knack for linking up with the Russkies.

For two weeks in February-March 1973, Staten Island met 475 miles north of Adak Island with the Soviet Far Eastern Shipping Company research vessel Priboy for a series of joint meteorological experiments in the Bering Strait. They were assisted by a NASA flying laboratory aboard an American Conveyor 990 aircraft out of Kodiak and a Soviet Il-18 operating from Cape Schmidt. The joint sea and ice study was code-named “Bering Sea Experiment” or Project BESEX, which surely inspired no shortage of Mad Magazine-level humor among all those involved.

USCGC 278 Staten Island, Pier 91 Seattle, 1972

She then spent a month (7 March to 3 April 1973) under the operational control of COMSUBPAC involved in supporting ICEX 1-73, the long-running U.S. Navy submarine exercise in the Arctic, which led to the ship earning the Coast Guard Unit Commendation with Operational Distinguishing Device. She added it to a CGUC she already picked up in 1969 for the SS Manhattan mission through the Northwest Passage and a Meritorious Unit Commendation she received in 1971 for her circumnavigation around Antarctica.

Then came, what turned out to be, Staten Island’s final Deep Freeze deployment down south.

The red-hulled USCGC Staten Island (WAGB-278) late in her career seen underway departing San Diego Bay, on 16 November 1973 after completing Fleet Readiness Training and was en route to Antarctica for Deep Freeze 74. Marine Photos and Publishing Co. canceled postcard via the NYPL collection (NYPL_b15279351-105169).

Returning to Seattle one final time, Staten Island was decommissioned on 15 November 1974 and soon afterward sold for scrap.

In all, she had counted no less than 22 skippers– 6 Soviet, 10 USN, and 6 USCG– across her 30 years of service.

Further, as far as I can tell, she was the only ship to pull off the polar hattrick of navigating the Northern Sea Route over the top of Asia and Europe (1944), the Northwest Passage over the top of North America (1969) and circumnavigating the continent of Antarctica (1971).

From patrolling for U-boats at Murmansk to supplying Byrd Station and launching Rocktoons into the stratosphere, if it was cold, Northwind I/Severnyy Veter/Station Island got it done.

Epilogue

Her plans and a few logbooks from her time as a Navy icebreaker have been digitized in the National Archives.

Meanwhile, hundreds of preserved scientific specimens in the Smithsonian’s collection were gathered along the Palmer Peninsula and South Shetland in 1963 by the USARP Expedition working from Staten Island’s decks.

HH-52 Sea Guard #1404, lost by Staten Island in 1971, remains on Mt. Erebus and is often visited by NSF staff.

Photo by Michael Carroll and Rosaly Lopes, NSF, 24 December 2016

A second Sea Guard from Staten Island is one of the few of the type that is preserved and on display, donated to Seattle’s Museum of Flight in 1988 and put on display in its standard livery in 2011. 

The Russians still remember her as well. A detailed scale model of Northwind/Severnyy Veter is in a place of honor at the Museum of the Murmansk Shipping Company, the successor to GUSMP.

While the Navy has not commissioned another Staten Island, the Coast Guard perpetuated the name in the 45th 110-foot Island-class patrol cutter, WPB 1345, which joined the fleet in 2000.

21 October 1999. U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Staten Island (WPB 1345) is underway from Washington, DC. The cutter is returning to its homeport in North Carolina. USCG photo by PA3 Bridget Hieronymus.

She served until 2014 and was transferred to the former Russian Republic of Georgia, where she currently patrols the Black Sea as Ochamchire (P 23)-– where she will no doubt continue to cause heartburn to the Russians for years to come.

Ships are more than steel
and wood
And heart of burning coal,
For those who sail upon
them know
That some ships have a
soul.

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Steadfast, departing

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The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast (WMEC 623), the 9th Reliance-class 210-foot cutter built, had a very long career.

Laid down in the midwest at the American Ship Building Company of Lorain, Ohio, on 2 May 1966, she commissioned 7 October 1968– the same year as the Tet Offensive.

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast side-launched at the American Shipbuilding Company, Lorain 1967

Following an extensive refit in 1994 that aimed to add another 20-25 years to her service, she made it an additional 30 and was just decommissioned over the weekend.

The crew aboard U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast (WMEC-623) stands in formation on the ship’s flight deck while underway off the coast of Central America Memorial Day, 2022. An embarked MH-65 Dolphin helicopter detachment crew from Air Station Port Angeles hovered overhead for the photo in recognition of the day of remembrance. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Seaman Brad O’Brien)

Originally home-ported in St. Petersburg, Florida for her first 24 years, she shifted to Astoria, Oregon for the second half of her career.

The service put her to bed on Saturday. 

Five prior Commanding Officers of USCGC Steadfast (WMEC 623) attended the ceremony over the weekend

As noted by the service:

Since commissioning in 1968, she has completed over 340 Search and Rescue cases, interdicted over 1.6 million pounds of marijuana and 164,000 pounds of cocaine, seized over 80 vessels, and stopped over 3,500 undocumented migrants from entering the United States. Steadfast was the first and is one of only two cutters, awarded the gold marijuana leaf, symbolizing one million pounds of marijuana seized. Legend holds Steadfast was named “El Tiburon Blanco” (Spanish for “The White Shark”) by Caribbean drug smugglers in the 1970s for being such a nemesis to their illegal drug operations. To this day, the crew uses the symbol of “El Tiburon Blanco” as one of their logos to epitomize Steadfast’s assertive law enforcement posture.

Steadfast is a multi-mission platform and is under the Operational Command of the Coast Guard Pacific Area Commander. As a Coast Guard resource, Steadfast deploys in support of Coast Guard Districts 11 and 13 as well as Joint Inter-Agency Task Force South (JIATF-S). During deployments, Steadfast patrols along the western seaboard of the United States, Mexico, and North and Central America conducting search and rescue, maritime law enforcement, living marine resource protection, and Homeland Defense operations.

In her years of service, Steadfast has been awarded the Coast Guard Special Operations Service Ribbons for Campaign Caper Focus and for Operation Martillo, 8 Coast Guard Excellence Ribbons, 5 Coast Guard Unit Commendation Awards, and 4 Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendations. In July 2019, Steadfast broke the record for the most cocaine seized during a single deployment among all 15 cutters of her same class and size.

In all, Steadfast served 55 years, 3 months, and 26 days. Not a bad run.

She is the fourth of 16 Reliance class cutters to get the ax, and will probably be sent overseas as military aid as two of her sisters have already been.

A view of the Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast at sunrise off the coast of San Diego, California., Dec. 2, 2019. The crew of the Steadfast was transiting north to their homeport of Astoria, Oregon, following a 60-day patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Jonathan O’Connor.)

Propping up the popgun

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How about this great image of a U.S. Coast Guardsman in winter blues on an unidentified cutter alongside a stern 6-pounder 57mm deck gun circa 1916-1920s. Note the Portland Shipbuilding Company Spar Yard sign in the background, an outfit in Portland, Oregon that operated along the west bank of the Willamette River for 70 years.

USCG Historian’s Office 220211-G-G0000-032

The humble 6-pounder, of which the Navy had over 700 examples (of 13 types) on hand in 1901, was a common anti-torpedo boat gun designed in the 1880s originally by Hotchkiss then surpassed by competing designs by Driggs-Schroeder and Nordenfeldt.

They were a ready standby of the Spanish-American War era. 

USS Newark. Electrician 1/c Sullivan with one of the ship’s six-pounder guns, in 1898. NH 80783

It was rapidly replaced during and immediately after the Great War in U.S. Navy service on all but local patrol craft, minesweepers, and auxiliaries with something larger or more effective — typically 3″/23s or 3″50s– although some models with decent elevation attributes were retained for a while as “balloon busters” and for use as saluting guns. 

Nonetheless, the little gun endured with the Coast Guard.

A simple and light mount, typically less than 900 pounds without its shield installed, it did not penetrate the deck and required no electricity or hoists to move it or its handy 6-pound shells. Still, capable of being fired at rates of up to 20 shells per minute if the crew was well-drilled and, with a range of 8,700 yards, it could still bark.

2nd LT Godfrey L. Carden instructing a 6-pounder gun crew aboard the Revenue Cutter Morill in South Carolina waters, circa 1892. Note the rarely-seen USRSC officer’s sword. Carden would become the COTP for New York City in the Great War. USCGH Photo 210210-G-G0000-1002

For a service that, in peacetime, only needed a popgun to fire shots across the bow of smugglers and poachers and to poke holes in floating derelicts that posed a hazard to navigation, the QF 6 remained a viable option, appearing on several cutters well into the start of WWII and cutters so equipped practiced against moving targets (at a range of 750 yards) at least twice a year. 

US Navy 6 pdr Service (left) and Target (right) ammunition via USN 1943 OP-4 Ord Manual

In the early 1940s, the large 240-foot cruising cutters Haida, Modoc, Mojave, and Tampa, as well as the smaller 165-foot Tallapoosa and Ossippee, along with the five new 327-foot Bibb (Treasury) class and 10 1920s construction 250-foot Cayuga (Lake) class cutters– some 21 ships in total– all still carried a couple of old 6-pounders in addition to their regular armament, with 55 service rounds and 110 “Navy” blanks per gun (the odd number as they were packed in 11-round wooden cases as all-up complete shells).
 

Manning a 5 gun on a Coast Guard Cutter, August 27, 1931. By 1940, the USCG had at least 19 large cutters that carried big (for the service) 5″/51s, and trained with them regularly. However, they were considered “war service” mounts only. NARA 026-g-046-014-001

This is because the more modern 3″/23s, 3″50s, and 5″/51s also carried by these ships were considered reserved for “war use” and were not to be used on normal patrols “unless circumstances of the case render such use highly advisable.” 
 
From the USCG 1938 Ordnance manual: 
 
 
In addition, the 6-pounders could be used for line throwing, more accurately and to longer distances than the standard Lyle gun (which was heavy and typically used ashore) and Trapdoor Springfields that were typically dedicated to the task, making them useful for rescues in high seas or from wrecks on reefs.

Coast Guard cutter Manning (1898-1930) preparing to shoot a tow line to a disabled schooner from her 6-pounder

USCGC Mojave. 11 May 1929. “Coast Guardsmen firing the Camden line-throwing a projectile from the 6-pounder. This line and gun are used in extremely bad weather, where the shoulder line-throwing gun is inadequate.” USCG Image. National Archives Identifier 205580631

For this, the service’s gunners mates made special “impulse” rounds, a much lighter charge that the regular Navy issue blank (which was typically used for salutes and “shots across the bow.”) The impulse round, containing 6 ounces of black powder, was sufficient to heave the line throwing projectile 300 yards or more with the gun elevated to 30 degrees. Of note, the standard Navy saluting/blank load for a 6-pounder used a 12-ounce charge of black shell powder, double the USCG impulse load. 
 

6-pounder and 3-pounder line throwing projectiles, via OP 4 (1943)

 
Using 6 pounder 57mm gun for line throwing USCG Ordnance manual 1938:
 

A reoccurring theme

Similarly, the Coast Guard continued to use the old WWII-era 5″/38 and 3″/50 guns, only retiring them in the late 1990s long after the Navy was done with them.

Last USCG 5 inch 38 being cut at RTC Yorktown 1993 or 1994

Last USCG 5 inch 38 being cut RTC Yorktown 1993 or 1994

Today the USCG is the final American user of the OTO Melera MK 75 76mm gun in U.S. service and has been since 2015.

That mount is likely to be retired in US service sometime in the 2030s when the final 270-foot Bear class cutters are put to pasture after 50 years of service.

The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Northland conducts a live firing of the MK 75 76mm weapons system while underway, on September 20, 2020, in the Atlantic Ocean. The cutter returned to its homeport of Portsmouth, Virginia, Wednesday after a 47-day patrol conducting counter-drug and migrant interdiction operations in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. (U.S. Coast Guard courtesy photo)

One day, they will probably be the last user of the Bofors 57mm MK 110.

Coasties Swatting Vals on the Cape

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As a follow-up to our coverage of the 80th passing of the Cape Gloucester operations that saw the 1st Marine Division hit the beaches on the day after Chrismas 1943, we touched on the fact that a lot of the Gators used in the op were Coast Guard-manned.

In fact, as detailed by the Foundation for Coast Guard History:

Landings at Cape Gloucester were conducted by Coast Guard-manned LSTs 18, 22, 66, 67, 68, 168, 202, 204, and 206.

LST-22 shot down a Japanese “Val” dive bomber while LST-66 was officially credited with downing three enemy aircraft. Two of her crew were killed by near misses. LST-67 brought down one Japanese dive bomber while LST-204 shot down two and the gunners aboard LST-68 claimed another. LST-202 claimed three enemy planes shot down.

USS LST-66 gunners shot down three Japanese bombers in the battle off Cape Gloucester, New Britain on 25-27 December 1943 and they are justly proud of their marksmanship. They call their LST the “Little Joe,” in honor of a Coast Guard shipmate who was killed in that battle. Left to right; S1/c Cleo Kidd, Perkins, Oklahoma, RM2/c Kenneth Gundling, West New York, N.J. MMoM2/c Julio Pascuito, Hyde Park, Mass., and F1/c John Langston Newport, Arkansas. (US National Archives Identifier 205584225, Local Identifier 26-G-2108, US Coast Guard photo # 2108 by Coast Guard Photographer Halscher.)

Aboard USS LST-66 Coast Guardsman Rudolph Broker, coxswain, examines the hole pierced in an armored gun shield by a Japanese bomb fragment during an air attack, 25-27 December 1943 off Cape Gloucester, New Britain. The fragment wounded Broeker slightly, but he stuck to his gun post and helped knock out one of the attacking Japanese bombers. Two others were bagged by the Coast Guard gunners. Twice attacked by enemy aircraft, four near misses caused minor damage, with two killed and seven wounded. The ship’s gunners shot down three enemy aircraft. (US National Archives LST-66 War Diary, Identifier 78270636, Local Identifier 26-G-2112, US Coast Guard photo 2112 by Coast Guard photographer Halscher.)

During WWII, the Coast Guard lost 1,918 men— 574 in combat– while under Navy service before they were returned to the Treasury Department on 1 January 1946.

Warship Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023: Battlebarge Unimaktica

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Here at LSOZI, we take off every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1833-1954 period and will profile a different ship each week. These ships have a life, a tale all their own, which sometimes takes them to the strangest places. – Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023: Battlebarge Unimaktica

Above we see the 5″/38 DP Mk 12 forward mount of the 311-foot Casco-class high endurance cutter Unimak (WHEC-379) going loud sometime between 1982 and 1985. A WWII Battle of the Atlantic veteran, at the time of the above snapshot she was the last of her class in U.S. maritime service, four decades after joining the fleet, and still had a couple more years to go. The mighty Unimak began her journey 80 years ago this month.

The Barnegats

Back in the days before helicopters, the fleets of the world used seaplanes and floatplanes for search and rescue, scouting, long-distance naval gunfire artillery spotting, and general duties such as running mail and high-value passengers from ship to shore. Large seaplanes such as PBYs and PBMs could be forward deployed to any shallow water calm bay or atoll where a tender would support them.

Originally seaplane tenders were converted destroyers or large transport-type ships, but in 1938 the Navy sought out a purpose-built “small seaplane tender” (AVP) class, the Barnegats, who could support a squadron of flying boats while forward deployed and provide fuel (storage for 80,000 gallons of Avgas), bombs, depth charges, repairs, and general depot tasks for both the planes and their crews while being capable of surviving in a mildly hostile environment.

The United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender USS Timbalier (AVP-54) with two Martin PBM-3D Mariner flying boats from the Pelicans of Patrol Squadron 45 in the late 1948. Timbaler´s quadruple 40mm gun mount on the fantail was added in around 1948. National Archives #80-G-483681

The United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender USS Timbalier (AVP-54) with two Martin PBM-3D Mariner flying boats from the Pelicans of Patrol Squadron 45 in late 1948. Timber’s quadruple 40mm gun mount on the fantail was added around 1948. National Archives #80-G-483681

The 41 planned Barnegats were 2,500-ton, 311-foot long-legged auxiliaries capable of floating in 12 feet of water. They had room for not only seaplane stores but also 150 aviators and aircrew. Their diesel suite wasn’t fast, but they could travel 8,000 miles at 15.6 knots.

Barnegat class tender plans

Originally designed for two 5-inch/38-caliber guns, this could be doubled if needed (and often was) which complemented a decent AAA armament helped out by radar and even depth charges and sonar for busting subs.

All pretty sweet for an auxiliary.

We’ve covered them in the past including the horse-trading and gun-running USS Orca, the former “Queen of the Little White Fleet” USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38), and the 60-year career of USS Chincoteague (AVP-24), but don’t worry, they have lots of great stories.

Meet Unimak

Laid down on 15 February 1942 at Harbor Island, near Seattle by Associated Shipbuilders (one of at least four of her class constructed at the yard), our tender would carry on the “Bay” naming convention of the rest of the Barnegats by being the first U.S. Navy ship named in honor of the bay on the southern side of windswept volcanic Unimak Island, in the Aleutians.

Unimak Island, Shishaldin Volcano. Part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Photo by Vernon Barnes, USFWS.

The future USS Unimak was christened at Seattle, Washington, on 29 May 1942. The sponsor was Mrs. H. B. Berry. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. NHHC 19-N-58542

USS Unimak (AVP-31) was commissioned on 31 December 1943, CDR Hilfort Craft Owen, USN (USNA 1927), in command.

USS Unimak (AVP-31) At Seattle, Washington, on 31 January 1944 shortly after her delivery. Note her camouflage, two forward 5-inch mounts, and radar fit although it does seem as if some of her gun directors have been airbrushed out. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Catalog #: 19-N-61152

War!

Although built in the Pacific Northwest, it was deemed Unimak was needed in the Atlantic and, following shakedown and running supplies to seaplane bases on the Pacific coast of Central America including Santa Elena Bay, Ecuador, and at Aeolian Bay, Battra Island, in Galapagos group, she crossed the Ditch into the Caribbean in April 1944.

Following a trip carrying men and supplies to Barranquilla, Colombia, she escorted the converted Lykes steamer SS Genevieve Lykes— then USS Valencia (AKA-81) — to Panama, from where she would continue west to take part in the invasion of Okinawa.

Unimak then spent the rest of 1944 at the disposal of Fleet Air Wing Three (FAW-3) out of NAS Coco Solo in the Canal Zone which at the time included PBM-3 Mariner flying boats of VPB-74, VPB-201, VPB-206, VPB-207, VPB-209, and VPB-215 and the PB2Y-3 Coronados of VPB-1 and VPB-15, PV-1 Ventura of VB-141, and the PBY-5A Catalinas of VPB-84.

Notable incidents during this period included three in July 1944– coming to the aid of the torpedoed T2-SE-A2 tanker SS Kittanning (which had been hit by U-539 under Kplt Hans-Jürgen Lauterbach-Emden), the search for lost Navy blimp K-53, and the recovery of a crewman from a lost FAW-3 aircraft. She helped nurse the still-afloat Kittanning into Panama, collected nine crew from K-53 and sank her floating wreckage with 40mm shells, and recovered the severely burned FAW-3 aviator, photographing his remains for further possible identification, and consigning him to the deep with full honors.

After being relieved on duty to FAW-3 by one of her sisters in December 1944, Unimak shipped up the East Coast and spent Christmas at Boston Navy Yard under refit. She would remain there until April 1945 when she crossed the Atlantic to bring back men and equipment from England.

On a second trip post-VE-Day, VPB-103 and VP-105, after flying their PB4Y-1s across the Atlantic from Europe, had their ground staff and cargo sent across aboard the Unimak, sailing from Bristol, England on 4 June 1945 and arriving at Norfolk on the 14th.

Then came Pacific service, Unimak chopped to the authority of FAW-4 out of Adak, Alaska– passing her namesake bay– on 13 September 1945 after a trip to pick up military personnel from the outposts at far-flung Palmyra (22 August) and Johnston Island (25 August) then dropping them at Pearl Harbor (27 August) where she observed VJ-Day. While serving with the frozen flying boats of FAW-4, she called at Massacre Bay on Attu (21 September), the Soviet Pacific Fleet base at Petropavlovsk in Siberia (25 September) and back to U.S. waters at Kodiak (30 September), shuttling aircrews and ground personnel back home.

Wrapping up her post-war clean-ups, Unimak was decommissioned on 26 July 1946. Records do not indicate she was eligible for any battlestars. A shame.

Likewise, her sisters were lucky, and none of the 35 completed (30 as seaplane tenders, four as PT boat tenders, and one as a catapult training ship) were lost in WWII.

Jane’s 1946 listing for the Barnegat class, note Unimak.

White Hull Days

With the Coast Guard losing many of their large pre-war cutters during the conflict (the 10 Lake class 240-foot vessels given as part of the “Destroyers for Bases” deal, the new 327-foot Treasury-class cutter Alexander Hamilton sunk by U-132 while patrolling the Icelandic coast in 1942, and the USCGC Escanaba blown up on convoy duty in 1943), and a new series of Ocean Stations established immediately following the war, the service needed more big hulls. The Lakes were meant to be replaced by the downright roly-poly 255-foot Oswego class gunboat/cutters, but it was thought that the Navy’s excess 311-foot Barnegats could help on Ocean Station duty at least for a while.

Between April 1946 and November 1949, the Navy would transfer no less than 18 surplus Barnegats to its eternally cash-strapped sister service. In USCG parlance, they became known as the “311” class after their overall length, or the Casco-class, after USS Casco (AVP-12), which was loaned to the U.S. Coast Guard on 19 April 1949.

As noted by the USCG Historian’s Office:

The fact that the class was very seaworthy, had good habitability, and long-range made them well suited to ocean-station duty. In fact, an assessment made by the Coast Guard on the suitability of these vessels for Coast Guard service noted:

“The workmanship on the vessel is generally quite superior to that observed on other vessels constructed during the war. The vessel has ample space for stores, living accommodations, ships, offices, and recreational facilities. The main engine system is excellent. The performance of the vessel in moderate to heavy seas is definitely superior to that of any other cutter. This vessel can be operated at higher speed without storm damage than other Coast Guard vessels.” [Memo, CDR W. C. Hogan, Commanding Officer, CGC MC CULLOCH to Commandant “SUBJ; CGC MC CULLOCH, Suitability [sic] for use as CG Cutter.,” 12 February 1947; copy in 311-Class Cutter File, USCG Historian’s Office.]

Once they were accepted into Coast Guard service, a number of changes were made in these ships to prepare them for ocean-station duty. A balloon shelter was added aft; there were spaces devoted to oceanographic equipment and a hydrographic winch as well as an oceanographic winch were added.

They would (eventually) land most of their wartime armament and sensors, retaining just the forward 5″38 DP single, but pick up a Mk 11 Mousetrap ASW device, SQS-1 sonar, and SPS-23 (later SPS-29A/B/D) radar in case they were needed for convoy escorts in a war with the Russians. Some also later gained a pair of Mk 32 Mod 5 ASW torpedo tubes.

In Coast Guard service, they became WAVPs at first– although the service did not typically operate their seaplanes in an expeditionary fashion, starting with hull number 370 to not step on any existing USCG pennant numbers. Also, in most cases, the former Navy name was retained. However, three (USS Wachapreague, USS Biscayne, and USS Willoughby) would inherit the name of traditional past cutters (becoming USCGC McCollough, USCGC Dexter, and USCGC Gresham, respectively).

Thus, the decommissioned USS Unimak (AVP-31) became USCGC Unimak (WAVP-379) on 3 January 1949. Likewise, her 18 now-Casco-class sisters all carried hull numbers ranging between WAVP-370 and WAVP-387.

For the Coast Guard, at the time the name Unimak was very symbolic. The service had lost five men at the Scotch Cap Lighthouse on the island to a tsunami in 1946 when a freak 130-foot wave struck the lighthouse. Scotch Cap had been the location of the first manned U.S. lighthouse along the Bering Sea in 1903.

Scotch Cap Lighthouse on Unimak Island. It was wiped out by a Tsunami, on April 1, 1946, killing 5 USCG members

“From ocean stations to drug busts, the 311-foot ships were among the most popular large cutters in the Coast Guard,” wrote Dr. Robert L. Scheina, the former USCG Historian in 1990. “Their reputation as fine sea boats was probably exceeded only by the 327-foot cutters.”

USCGC Unimak (WHEC-379). Note her installed Mousetrap ASW device behind her forward mount, open and ready to go. Courtesy of the Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Museum

Speaking of ocean stations, Unimak was very busy on these, stationed out of Boston from January 1949 to September 1956, she served during this period twice each on OS Easy, OS Delta, and OS Coca in the North Atlantic.

Coast Guardsmen work on breaking the ice that coats the deck of USCG Unimak in February 1955, while on Ocean Station Coca in the North Atlantic

Then came a shift to New Jersey.

Unimak, Coast Guard Photo Number 5771, July 1957. [CDR William Wilson provided the following information regarding the cutter and the photo: “It was taken in July 1957 when she was homeported in Cape May. Where it was taken, I cannot remember, possibly off Wildwood, NJ as we did a lot of day ops just offshore. FYI, I am the sailor standing alone just forward of the three men on the starboard side of the 5″-38. I was in charge of the anchor detail when taken. I was a DC-2 at the time.”

Shifting to Cape May, New Jersey– home of the USCG’s basic training center– from September 1956 until August 1972, during this period Unimak often embarked young enlistees and strikers on training cruises ranging from Brazil and Nova Scotia. While at sea on these, the school ship was still very much a working cutter.

As noted by the USCG Historian, her rescues while working out of Cape May included:

  • 7 March 1967: rescued six Cuban refugees in the Yucatan Channel.
  • 10 March 1967: rescued survivors from F/V Bunkie III in Florida waters.
  • 15 March 1967: rescued 12 Cuban refugees who were stranded on an island.
  • 29 May 1969: towed the disabled F/V Sirocco 35 miles east of Fort Pierce, FL, to safety.
  • 3 April 1970: stood by the grounded M/V Vassiliki near Mayaguana Island until a commercial tug arrived.

Unimak and her kind were largely redesignated as high endurance cutters (with Unimak becoming WHEC-379) on 1 May 1966. Unimak was then re-rated to a training cutter (WTR-379 in 1969).

While most of her sisters in Coast Guard service were soon sent to Vietnam waters (with seven transferred to the South Vietnam Navy in 1972) she was reassigned from Cape May on 7 August 1972 to Reserve Training Center Yorktown, Virginia, to serve as a school ship for Coast Guard reservists.

Unimak at sea, Sept 1970

Guantanamo 1971. 311-foot Casco class cutter likely USCGC Unimak (although I’m not sure about the aft mast radar fit), passing Bibb

In this, she was the first cutter to take female officer candidates to sea.

Original caption: “9 May 1973 Boston — COMING INTO PORT aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Unimak are five women officer candidates training for the first time alongside their male counterparts. The stopover in Boston is part of a two-week training cruise designed to give students at the Coast Guard Officer Candidate School in Yorktown, Virginia, a taste of life at sea. Shown are Officer Candidates (from left to right) Lynn W. Smith, Sue E. Jennings, Bonnijill McGhee, Sheila E. Denison, and Margaret R. Riley.” USCG photo 210429-G-G0000

By early 1973, all 18 of the Cascos save for two– including Unimak— had been either returned to the Navy or given to the doomed Saigon regime.

Unimak and sistership Gresham (ex-USS Willoughby) in the 1973 Jane’s. At this point, Gresham was an unarmed weather ship (WAGW) while Unimak was still a WTR assigned to Yorktown.

After Gresham was formally decommissioned on 25 April 1973 and sold for scrap to a Dutch breaker that fall, Unimak was the last of her type in U.S. service.

Finally, her number came up and Unimak was decommissioned on 29 May 1975 and laid up at the USCG Yard at Curtis Bay, Maryland.

However, after just 28 months in mothballs, the operational needs to stem the time of Cuban refugees and drugs heading across the Caribbean left the Coast Guard pressing everything from old icebreakers to tugboats in service on the southern line.

This left Unimak ready for her second recommissioning, on 22 August 1977, returning once again as a high endurance cutter (WHEC-379).

Unimak 311 Casco/Barnegat WHEC 379, wearing her glad rags

While her Mousetrap had long been removed, her 5-incher still worked. Added to this were six mounts for M2 .50 cal Brownings, and two M29 81mm mortars on the 01 deck forward of the bridge for use in firing illumination rounds.

USCGC UNIMAK somewhere in the York River 1979

USCG Base Boston UNIMAK and the larger 378-foot USCGC CHASE Circa 1979

USCGC 379 UNIMAK Cutter

UNIMAK at RTC Yorktown Circa 1980

Unimak, WHEC-379 8 June 1987, USCG Historians Office

Stationed out of New Bedford, Massachusetts, it was intended that she be used for fisheries patrol, freeing up more modern cutters for the trip down to Florida.

However, she did make her LE patrols down to the Straits, scoring some notable counter-drug busts:

  • 6 October 1980: seized M/V Janeth 340 miles southeast of Miami carrying 500 bales of marijuana.
  • 14 October 1980: seized P/C Rescue carrying 500 bales of marijuana and P/C Snail with two tons of marijuana in the Gulf of Mexico.
  • 17 October 1980: seized M/V Amalaka southwest of Key West with 1,000 bales of marijuana.
  • 19 October 1980: seized F/V Wright’s Pride southwest of Key West, carrying 30 tons of marijuana.
  • March 1981: intercepted M/V Mayo with 40 tons of marijuana.
  • 30 November 1984: seized the sailboat Lola 100 miles north of Barranquilla carrying 1.5 tons of marijuana.
  • 2 November 1985: seized tugboat Zeus 3 and a barge 200 miles south of the Dominican Republic carrying 40 tons of marijuana.

And of course, she came to more rescues in her second stint with the Coast Guard:

  • 9 December 1982: towed the disabled F/V Sacred Heart away from Daid Banks, 45 miles east of Cape Cod, in 30-foot seas. As noted by QMCM Ronald D. Meyer, USGC, ret: “It was horrific, seas over 30 feet, constantly, wind extremely strong. Ever seen a 300-foot ship tossed like a play toy until the steel hull cracks the ladders outside bend. I thought we were ALL going to die, no exaggeration. I was the one guy on board who knew for real because I knew where we were, and it was what I thought. Truth is the Captain struggled with the same thought as well. Only a handful of men were even capable of doing their jobs, which were critically needed. A handful of over 100 men were even able to function.”
  • 27/28 February 1983: she towed the dismasted Wandering Star to Mathew Town, Great Iguana.
  • 3 March 1983: towed the disabled M/V Yadrina to Mathew Town.

During her long USCG service, Unimak was nicknamed at one time or another:

“The Lone Ranger”; “Battlebarge Unimaktica”; “Unibarge”; “Unisub”; “RONC The Long Ranger”; “Uni-rust”; “Fast Attack Missile Sponge” (coined from the numerous missile hit drills from REFTRE in Gtmo); “New Bedford’s Virgin Girl” (based on her call sign NBVG); “Runamuck”; and the “Big Mac Attack.”

This was largely due to the practice of Coast Guard cutters that were assigned to or visited Nantucket playing the “Ring Game” with the famed Nantucket Angler’s Club for “ownership” of the cutter. Should the skipper lose, the NAC becomes the cutter’s “owner,” and a RONC (“Republic of Nantucket Cutter”) moniker is assigned. Key West has a similar and much better-publicized relationship with the Coast Guard and the whole Conch Republic thing.

Finally, with the new 270-foot Bear class cutters entering service, the Coast Guard no longer needed the 45-year-old Unimak, and she was decommissioned for the third and final time on 29 April 1988. Returned to the U.S. Navy for disposal, she was eventually stripped and sunk for use as a reef off the Virginia coast.

She had been commanded by three Navy officers in WWII and 23 Coast Guard officers between 1949-75 and 1977-88.

Epilogue

I cannot find any details about the location of the Unimak reef.

A veteran’s group was online between 2005 and 2018 but has since gone dormant. Some reunion videos and pictures are still on YT.

Unimak’s Coast Guard and Navy deck logs are in the National Archives as are her plans. 

Neither service has commissioned a second Unimak.

There are some period postcards that remain in circulation of her service, showing her shifting Coast Guard livery over the years. 

When it comes to the Barnegat class, they have all gone on to the breakers or been reefed with the final class member afloat, ex-Chincoteague (AVP-24/WHEC-375)/Ly Thuong Kiet (HQ-16)/Andres Bonifacio (PF-7) scrapped in the Philippines in 2003. None remain above water.

Ships are more than steel
and wood
And heart of burning coal,
For those who sail upon
them know
That some ships have a
soul.

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A Quiet Tropical Cruise

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80 years ago today. First Marine Division Marines are seen boarding USS LCI-340 at Oro Bay, New Guinea on the day before Christmas, 1943. 

Photographed by Brenner, USMC Photo 72064, via the NHHC

Note the newly-issued M-1 Garand rifles carried by most men, as well as a telescope-equipped M1903 Springfield rifle at left. The fourth Marine on the ramp has a rifle grenade attachment on his Garand while the sixth and seventh Devils tote the 20-pound (unloaded) M1918 BAR. 

Inset of the above.

The Marines shown above would spend the holiday afloat and, the day after Christmas, they landed at Cape Gloucester on Japanese-occupied New Britain Island.

United States Coast Guard-manned LST (the USCG manned 61 Navy LSTs in WWII as well as 28 LCIs), beaching at Cape Gloucester, New Britain, Bismarck Islands, Dec 1943

The Marines Land. Marines hit three feet of rough water as they leave their LST to take the beach at Cape Gloucester, December 26, 1943

Marines wade ashore from a Coast Guard-manned LST beached at Cape Gloucester, New Britain, circa 26 December 1943. Note the nickname “The Ace in the Hole” on the shield of a 105mm gun being towed ashore by a bulldozer. These men are armed with M-1 Garand Rifles, M-1 Carbines, and Thompson submachine guns. National Archives Catalog #: 80-G-44428

Marines and Coast Guardsmen landing on Cape Gloucester, New Britain, circa 26 December 1943. An LVT (1) leads the way as some men carry stretchers and others push a jeep toward the beach. National Archives Catalog #: 26-G-3046

The cost to the Marines for the resulting four-month campaign was 478 killed and 982 wounded.

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