Category Archives: USCG

Tossing ASW back on the 378s

Posted on by One comment

USCGC Mellon (WHEC 717) sits in full dress at the pier before a decommissioning ceremony in Seattle on Aug. 20, 2020. USCGC Mellon was a High Endurance Cutter homeported in Seattle and served as an asset in completing Coast Guard missions around the world for 52 years. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Clark)

The Hamilton class of Coast Guard cutters served the USCG well for over 50 years, including most working the Market Time gun line off Vietnam as well as standing toe-to-toe with the Soviet Navy in the Cold War.

Equipped from the beginning as a patrol frigate, they entered service starting in 1967 with a 5″/38 DP mount and an ASW suite that included the AN/SQS-38 sonar and Mk32 torpedo tubes for launching lightweight ASW torpedoes, first the Mk44, then the Mk46. They had to requal for both surface warfare and ASW every year and often bird-dogged Russki subs, especially off New England and in Alaska waters.

1972 Hamilton-class USCGC Boutwell (WHEC-719) close aboard a Soviet Submarine. USCG Historian’s Office. 230802-G-G0000-102.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s the Hamiltons a FRAM program that replaced the 5″/38 gun with the MK 75 76mm OTO, upgraded the MK 32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes to Mod 7, installed MK 36 SRBOC launchers and the AN/SLQ-32 electronic warfare suite, added a CIWS and Harpoon capability, and upgraded the cutters’ air and surface search radars. This came in tandem with the ability to operate a Navy LAMPS I (Sea Sprite) helicopter should they need to clock in as convoy escorts.

Then, in 1996, the USCG got out of the ASW biz, pulling its tubes and sonar suites. Everyone figured it would never be needed again. After all, the world was at peace and sub-busting was so WWII.

In recent years, the Coast Guard retired all 13 of its long-serving Hamiltons and Uncle Sam has since gifted them to overseas allies. This included three sent to the Philippines– the former USCGC Hamilton (WHEC-715), renamed BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF-15); USCGC Dallas (WHEC-716) renamed BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PF-16), and USCGC Boutwell (WHEC-719) as BRP Andres Bonifacio (FF-17).

Two Gregorio del Pilar-class frigates (former Hamilton-class cutters) of the Philippine Navy during naval exercises with the US Navy 

And, it seems the Philippine Navy is fitting them for ASW once more, with ELAC SONAR GmbH, a German supplier of hydroacoustic systems, announcing recently that it completed sea acceptance tests of the HUNTER 2.0 hull-mounted sonar for the class.

The company notes:

HUNTER 2.0 is a hull-mounted sonar carrying out anti-submarine warfare (ASW) in active and passive modes in shallow and deep waters for panoramic detection of submarines and other objects.

As for teeth, the PI last year contacted with the UK SEA firm for its Torpedo Launcher System (TLS) for a class of corvettes being built in South Korea. It is not a stretch they could add a few more to the contract for the old Hamiltons, and in fact, the presser at the time said clearly: “The contract follows the successful delivery of SEA’s TLS for the Philippine Navy’s frigates.”

SEA’s TLS is a weapon-agnostic, close range and rapid-reaction system capable of firing a variety of NATO-compatible standard light weight torpedoes, including the US Mk44, Mk46 and Mk54 torpedoes, UK Sting Ray, Italian A244S, French MU90 and the Korean Blue Shark.

Marine Dets as Oil Tanker Shipriders in Persian Gulf?

Posted on by One comment

So Iran, or specifically the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, keeps getting increasingly rowdy, something that is cyclical (see Operations Earnest Will and Praying Mantis in 1987-1988 besides more modern incidents).

Most recently, the Aegis destroyer USS McFaul (DDG 74), supported by land-based MQ-9 Reaper drones and Navy P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, chased off two back-to-back Iranian attempts at shanghaiing the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker TRF Moss and Bahamian-flagged oil tanker Richmond Voyager in international waters in the Gulf of Oman.

This has seen a surge in assets to the region including an additional destroyer (the newly commissioned USS Thomas Hudner, DDG-116) as well as USAF F-35 and F-16 fighters to help monitor the Strait of Hormuz.

Why no carrier?

Well, of the 11 in the Navy’s inventory, one, USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74), has been in a four-year Refueling and Complex Overhaul since 2021, another, the troubled USS George Washington (CVN-73), is just coming back online after her RCOH, and a third, USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) is in the middle of a PIA that will take several more months. USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) is set to undergo maintenance until December.

Of the remaining seven, four are in port in varying lesser maintenance/workup stages, and just three are underway. These include the Japan-based Reagan CSG in exercises with the America ARG along with the Australians and company in the West Pac, the Vinson CSG working up off the West Coast, and the Ford on her first “real” deployment to the Sixth Fleet where she is increasingly being used in conjunction with the Bataan ARG to apply pressure to the Russians via Syria et. al.

However, the Bataan’s embarked 26th MEU(SOC) has been cross-decking and moving ashore to CENTCOM in “distributed operations” in the region while part of the Marine force will remain on Sixth Fleet orders in European waters aboard USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19). The Marines, along with Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team Company Central (FASTCENT), have been training in Bahrain “for potential shipboard roles protecting oil tankers and other commercial ships from Iranian aggression.”

NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY BAHRAIN (July 03, 2023) – A U.S. Marine assigned to Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team Company Central (FASTCENT) leads a team during close-quarters battle training at the U.S. Coast Guard Patrol Forces Southwest Asia Maritime Engagement Team training facility aboard Naval Support Activity Bahrain, July 03. FASTCENT provides expeditionary anti-terrorism and security forces to embassies, consulates, and other vital national assets throughout the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Angela Wilcox)

Stars and Stripes confirmed the plans for the shiprider program:

Marines newly deployed to the Middle East already are training for shipboard roles protecting oil tankers and other commercial ships from Iranian aggression, news that comes a day after U.S. officials told some media outlets they were considering the possibility of such a plan.

About 100 Marines have been training in Bahrain for specialized defensive teams that would travel briefly with commercial ships through and near the Strait of Hormuz, said a U.S. official speaking on the condition of anonymity with Stars and Stripes because they were not authorized to speak on the matter.

This reminds me of the unsung OIF Guardian Mariner shiprider program that protected the civilian mariner-crewed MSC cargo ships in the region back in 2003.

MSC crews owed thanks to the fleet force protection teams and the Guardian Mariner program for defending MSC ships against potential terrorist attacks from small boats. As the buildup for OIF began in January 2003, force protection teams from primarily the Army and Marine Corps provided shipboard protection for MSC ships. The first team was from the First Marine Expeditionary Force and reported aboard USNS Antares in late January. This was an interim solution for force protection until the Guardian Mariner program came into full operation.

Under the Guardian Mariner program, more than 1,300 Army reservists were activated to provide force protection and security aboard MSC ships sailing to and from Southwest Asia. The soldiers, from the Puerto Rico National Guard Unit 92nd Separate Infantry Brigade, were organized into 110, 12-person teams. They began reporting aboard MSC ships on 19 March 2003. In all, around 70 fleet force protection teams and 75 Guardian Mariner teams were used aboard MSC ships during OIF.

Point Brown, is that you?

Posted on by 4 comments

USCGC Point Swift (WPB-82312) likely off Florida in the 1980s, note the 50 cals

The 79 assorted 82-foot Point class patrol boats largely held the line in the Cold War for the Coast Guard, especially in the 1960s and 1970s, with some serving as late as 2003.

A whole batch of 26 served in Market Time operations off Vietnam, fighting it out with NVA armed trawlers and VC sappers.

USCGC Point Grey (WPB-82324) off Vietnam. Note her M2/81mm piggyback forward, at least three M2s over the stern, and nearly a dozen Coasties on deck preparing the away boat

Very few of these craft survive, and there is one, formerly USCGC Point Brown (WPB 82362), that is up for grabs in excellent condition. Plus, she is only $70K and would make a great little museum ship, especially for any of the dozens of coastal towns that based these 82s back in the day.

Via the ad:

Selling a unique vessel, an ex-US coast guard 82’ patrol/ rescue boat. Built in 1967 by the US coast guard as a point class cutter to serve until 1991, research online the history of these great ships. This was formerly WPB82362 Point Brown, after her service she was repurposed as a training ship at a college in RI. In 2000 she was purchased by a former USCG Commander, he bought her and had her for 20 years as a liveaboard, after 9/11 she was put back into Auxiliary CG service and patrolled NY waters.

I bought her in 2020 and my plans for use have changed due to other ships I have. All details would be better discussed to those of serious interest. Do some research, she’s a great ship, in full operation, ole faithful Cummin diesels VT12-900M, twin 2-71 Det gens. Full galley, mess. 2 heads, accommodations. My plans have changed with her, hauled April 2022 for bottom job, docked on Staten Island. Too many details to list. Negotiable open to offers. Thank you

NOLA Jayhawk ( Nee Oceanhawk)

Posted on by Leave a comment

While bopping around the Gulfport harbor as I often do last week, I saw this bad boy spinning down in the public parking lot next to USCG Station Gulfport, the one typically full of boat trailers on the weekend.

Not that typical…

On closer look, it is an MH-60T Jayhawk, the Coast Guard’s big SAR bird. As only 42 are around, they are pretty rare compared to the more commonly encountered MH-65 Dolphin.

Getting closer still, she sports a “New Orleans” assignment banner on her cowling as well as a gold Fleur de Lis and “Alvin Callender Field” homebase on her hatch. Her number is 6047.

Of interest, of the 42 MH-60Ts on the USCG’s inventory, 39 are converted HH-60J Jayhawk rescue birds, and three are former Navy SH-60F Oceanhawks that were given to the Coast Guard to cover attrition.

Speaking of which, the big Sikorsky we see above was SN 70-1804/ Bu.No 164615, an S-70B-4 (SH-60F) built in 1995. She was seen extensively in HS-11 “Dragonslayers” livery (code AB-612) over the years including deployments with USS Enterprise and USS Theodore Rosevelt until she was converted and refreshed in 2016 to a Jayhawk.

As for U.S. Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans, which was established in 1955 to help close the gap between Mobile and Houston after the old USCG seaplane base at Biloxi was shut down, they have been an all-Dolphin unit for some 35 years. In fact, they were the first operational HH-65 unit in the Coast Guard, and had as many as five of them assigned, putting in amazing work during Katrina.

U.S. Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans sign leaning against a building after hurricane Katrina made landfall in August 2005. 231117-G-M0101-2001

6047 is the NOLA’s first MH-65 as the air station last year began transitioning from the MH-65D Dolphin to the Jayhawk, “which will improve the Coast Guard’s operational capabilities along the Gulf Coast in support of Search and Rescue (SAR), Catastrophic Incident SAR, Marine Transportation System, and the offshore maritime environment.”

It’s a Wrap: USCG PSUs End 21-Year Run at GTMO

Posted on by One comment

As part of the GWOT/Operation Enduring Freedom, in 2002, the Navy tapped Coast Guard Reserve Port Security Units to step up the waterside security abord Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. This was later augmented by USCG Maritime Safety and Security Teams performing anti-terrorism force protection with the combined team termed the Maritime Security Detachment (MARSECDET) as part of Joint Task Force 160, later JTF-GTMO.

The Coast Guard’s eight PSUs, consisting of 120-150 people comprising 12 boat crews, three security squads, and command, logistics, communications, and engineering departments, would typically rotate into Cuba for six or nine-month tours every four-five years or so, maintaining a persistent presence while not burning out the small boat guys too much. Otherwise, they could continue their normal annual 2-week ADT along with monthly IDT weekends.

Coast Guardsmen from Port Security Unit 305 aboard a 32-foot Transportable Port Security Boat patrol the waters off the coast of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew S. Masaschi

A Coast Guardsman with Port Security Unit 305 stands the watch in a battle position at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, July 19, 2017. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew S. Masaschi

Fittingly, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia-based PSU 305 was the first unit to deploy to GTMO in 2002 and just wrapped up its fifth unit deployment to the base and they will be the last, at least for now. PSU just cased their colors and are headed back home. 

Like the Navy, they are shedding as much of the old missions from the GWOT era and pivoting to the Pacific. 

U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan and Cmdr. James Lovenstein, Port Security Unit (PSU) 305’s commanding officer, rolls the unit guidon as Master Chief Petty Officer Thomas Lepage, PSU 305’s command master chief, extends it during the unit’s casing of the colors decommissioning ceremony at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, June 13, 2023. PSU 305, based in Fort Eustis, Va., was the first unit in 2002 to begin the Coast Guard’s mission with Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay and is the last to complete it. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Valerie Higdon)

Per USCG PAO:

There have been 39 unit rotations to Guantanamo Bay since the Coast Guard began supporting the mission. The men and women assigned to the MARSECDET collectively provided over 200,000 underway hours conducting around-the-clock waterside patrols and over 50,000 hours of shoreside anti-terrorism and force protection defense security to Department of Defense assets and personnel at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.

PSU 305 departs GTMO after 21 years with an escort from an AS Clearwater H60 (U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater)

Holy Pith Helmets, Batman

Posted on by Leave a comment

How about this great group shot of the officers of the brand new 191-foot U.S. Revenue Cutter Tahoma, dressed in their tropical whites, complete with sun helmets.

U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office photo 201210-G-G0000-001

As detailed, the above include: CAPT Johnstone Quinan, Commanding (second row, seated second from left) 1st LT Charles Satterlee, Executive Officer (second row, far left) 2nd LT Edward S. Addison 2nd LT Archibald H. Scally, 2nd LT Russell R. Waesche (front row, center) 1st LT of Engineers Harry M. Hepburn, 3rd LT of Engineers Frank E. Bagger, Passed Assistant Surgeon J. S. Boggess, USPHS. Observe, the ranks are based on U.S. Army tables rather than U.S. Navy.

Of note, the future ADM Russell Randolph Waesche, shown as a young USRCS 2nd LT above, would be the WWII-era commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard.

From his bio:

He also presided over the greatest expansion of the USCG in its history and made sure the service maintained its separate identity while it was under the administrative control of the U.S. Navy. Admiral Waesche saw his small peacetime fleet swell with Coast Guardsmen manning more than 750 cutters, 3,500 miscellaneous smaller craft, 290 Navy vessels, and 255 Army vessels. The Coast Guard participated in every major amphibious operation.

No word on if he did sometimes put the old pith helmet back on.

As for his ride, she had an interesting tale of her own.

Commissioned on 25 March 1909, the 1,215-ton cutter Tahoma, armed with four 6-pounders, still had fresh paint in the above image. Her crew, including the young Mr. Waesche, soon became globetrotters, taking her from her builders at the New York Shipbuilding Company of Camden, New Jersey to her homeport in the Pacific Northwest, via the long way around.

To get to her cruising ground she made the long journey to the Pacific coast via the Suez Canal, setting sail from Baltimore on 17 April 1909. She visited St. Michaels, Azores to obtain coal before arriving at Gibraltar on 3 May 1909. Ordered to proceed as quickly as possible to Alexandrette [now known as Iskenderun, Turkey] by the Treasury Department, she departed Gibraltar, stopping in Malta, before arriving at Alexandrette on 12 May 1909. The U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, had requested a U.S. warship to calm American expatriate nerves during civil unrest in the Empire. The Tahoma remained off the Turkish coast for 13 more days before being ordered to resume her course to the Pacific. She visited Port Said and then transited the Suez Canal. Then it was on to Aden, Colombo, and arrived at Singapore on 30 June 1909. She then sailed for Manila arriving there on 8 July and made a port call at Yokohama on 21 July. She arrived at her new station in Port Townsend on 23 August 1909.

USRC Tahoma off Alaska; scanned from original in Satterlee Collection, U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office Special Collections.

Coast Guard Welcomes Back an Old Name, Retires Another

Posted on by One comment

One thing I like about the USCG is that they ditch a lot of the political rhetoric when it comes to cutter naming conventions, and make sure they salute their heroes and storied past vessels.

For instance, the first flight of 11 new 360-foot Offshore Patrol Cutters, large OPVs that will surely be sent into harm’s way several times at some point in their likely 50-year careers, all will carry the recycled names of traditional cutters that fought in the War of 1812, the Quasi-War, WWII, Vietnam, and the Great War.

One of the pending OPCs will honor USCGC Icarus (WPC-110) the famed 165-foot “B”-Class cutter that sank one of the first Nazi U-boats, U-352, in 1942 just after U.S. entry into World War II.

A great retelling of that lopsided David v Goliath sea clash, in which the German submarine had superior speed, surface and subsurface armament, is retold in Hickam’s Torpedo Junction.

In the book, Hickam spends a whole chapter on the humble Icarus— a gunboat that didn’t even have a sonar range finder– commanded by 52-year-old LT Maurice David Jester, a life-long Coastie enlisted in the service as a surfman in 1917, and its epic combat against Kptln. Helmutt Rathke’s U-352.

In the end, it came down to a surface action in which the cutter used all of its weapons, including Tommy guns, against the German, sending the sub to the bottom.

Then, in typical Coast Guard fashion, they saved 33 of her crew, including Rathke, and took them ashore to POW captivity for the duration.

Before steaming for Charleston, Jester transmitted: 

“Contacted submarine Destroyed same. Lat 34°12 ½” Long 76° 35″. Have 33 of her crew members on board. Proceeding Charleston with survivors.” 

Man, she looks short! USS Icarus, CG arriving at Charleston Navy Yard after its epic battle with U-352, photo dated 10 May 1942.

Coast Guard Cutter Icarus drawn in profile. (Coast Guard Collection)

The wreck site of the U-352 as it appears today. (Courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

Jester was the first Coast Guardsman to receive the Navy Cross and one of only six service members to receive it during the war.

He retired in 1944 with the rank of full commander, capping 27 years of service that spanned the First World War, Prohibition, and the Second World War.

He is interred at Arlington.

In a fitting salute to the hard-charging commander of the Icarus, the Coast Guard late last week commissioned USCGC Maurice Jester (WPC-1152), a new 154-foot Sentinel-class fast response cutter. Fittingly, she also carries the WPC designation as Icarus and is only 11 feet shorter.

The fast response cutter’s motto is “Against All Odds”.

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Maurice Jester (WPC 1152), dressed overall during its commissioning ceremony in Newport, Rhode Island, June 2, 2023. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Lyric Jackson) . (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Lyric Jackson)

Farewell, Bayberry

As Jester comes to life, the Coast Guard is putting one of its longest-serving cutters to pasture.

Originally commissioned in 1954 just as Buoy Boat CG-65400-D, the USCGC Bayberry (WLI 65400) picked up her name a few years later when the service authorized naming vessels 65 feet long or larger.

Captained by a senior chief petty officer and crewed by seven other enlisted, she had been working hard from San Francisco to Washington to Oak Island where she has been stationed since 2009. The “Keeper of Cape Fear” was just decommissioned after 69 years of service.

The Cutter Bayberry sits at a pier at Station Oak Island, N.C. Jun. 7, 2023, before its special status ceremony to signify the beginning of it being decommissioned after 69 years of active Coast Guard service. The Bayberry was built by Reliable Welding Works in Olympia, Washington. U.S. Coast Guard Photo by Petty Officer 2nd class Katie Lipe.

As noted by the USCG:

The Bayberry’s recent accomplishments include post-hurricane Dorian operations, where the crew led a waterways reconstitution mission, completed a complex voyage correcting 40 aids to navigation discrepancies, enabling the rapid resumption of ferry service, and facilitating the delivery of emergency supplies to 700 residents stranded on Ocracoke Island.

In typical Coast Guard fashion, Bayberry is to be replaced by the rather stalled 35-vessel Waterways Commerce Cutter program, which is far from its first delivery.

West Pac Coasties

Posted on by One comment

As covered in detail in the past few years, the Coast Guard has been pumping up its assets in the Pacific and extensively putting them to use West of Hawaii.

A few new updates came across the wires to this overall strategy recently that underline that.

First, the big frigate-sized 418-foot national security cutter USCGC Stratton (WMSL 752) is currently operating as part of Commander, Task Force (CTF) 71, U.S. 7th Fleet’s principal surface force, deployed in the Indo-Pacific. She recently called at Singapore and operated with Indonesian and Singapore naval assets.

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stratton (WMSL 752) conducts passing exercises with the Indonesian Maritime Security Agency patrol boat KN Belut Laut-406 and the Republic of Singapore Navy MSRV Bastion on May 22, 2023. Stratton deployed to the Western Pacific to conduct engagements with regional allies and partner nations, reinforcing rules-based order in the maritime domain. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer Brett Cote)

Meanwhile, on the ground in the PI, San Diego-based USCG Maritime Security Response Team West (MSRT West) personnel participated in Balikatan 23, the growing multi-week annual combined-joint military exercise between the Philippines and the U.S.

Sure, it is just a handful of guys, but this is how connections are made.

Armed Forces of the Philippines Naval Special Warfare Operators pose for a photo with members of U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Security Response Team West (MSRT West) after conducting close-quarters training during Balikatan 23 near El Nido, Philippines, April 13. 2023. MSRT West personnel operated in multiple locations throughout the Philippines, and provided maritime interdiction operations training alongside other U.S. and Philippine armed forces. (U.S. Coast Guard courtesy photo).

Dig that tiger stripe camo and the M203! Armed Forces of the Philippines Naval Special Warfare Operators conduct close-quarters training with members of U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Security Response Team West (MSRT West) members as part of Balikatan 23 near El Nido, Philippines, April 14. 2023. MSRT West personnel operated in multiple locations throughout the Philippines and provided maritime interdiction operations training alongside other U.S. and Philippine armed forces. (U.S. Coast Guard courtesy photo).

Via USCG PAO, emphasis mine:

During the exercise, MSRT West personnel trained, operated, and lived alongside partner agencies in the Philippines, including the Philippine National Police Maritime Group, the Philippine Coast Guard Special Operations Forces, the Philippine Force Reconnaissance Group, and the Philippine Naval Special Operations Unit.

The deployed MSRT West personnel participated in the exercise’s opening ceremonies, integrated with command-and-control elements, conducted close-quarters combat training, shared tactical shipboarding skills, maritime operational planning, littoral and maritime target analysis, static hook and climb training, basic tropical environment survival training, and law enforcement case package preparation exchanges.

Finally, some 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) ODAs recently teamed up with Coast Guard reservists from Port Security Unit 308 to train to “clear and re-take a vessel overrun by adversaries,” with the subject vessel being the USCGC Walnut, a 225-foot buoy tender.

Sure, 3rd Group is tasked with Africa deployments, but the takeaway here is all of the Coast Guard’s PSUs are worldwide deployable, and VBSS-style ship takedowns are a bit past what they were traditionally trained for. Such skills could be very useful in a white hull vs blue hull struggle in the South China Sea.

Of note, the Philippine coastguard recently anchored five navigational buoys carrying national flags in several locations including the Whitsun Reef, where China has routinely moored hundreds of Chinese Maritime Militia “little blue men” vessels since 2021.

Happy 101st, Mr. Miskelly

Posted on by One comment

U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Southwest recently saluted the 101st birthday of a WWII-era Coastie, Lewis Miskelly Jr.

Born in Pennsylvania in 1922, he studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts prior to the conflict and volunteered for the Coast Guard just after Pearl Harbor. While not an official war artist, he painted what he saw while in Atlantic convoy duty on the Coast Guard Cutter Mojave (WPG-47), a 240-foot Tampa-class cutter.

Shown here is the ‘Tampa’ class gunboat type cutter USCG Mojave (WPG-47), 1942, operating amid ice floes off Greenland.

As noted by the USCG Historian’s Office during that period:

Mojave was assigned to the Greenland patrol in 1942, where she took part in convoy escort and rescue operations. While acting as escort for the slow group of Convoy SG–6 which had departed Sydney, Nova Scotia 25 August, she assisted in the rescue of 570 men from the torpedoed army transport Chatham. The escort and antisubmarine accomplishments of the cutters were truly vital to the winning of the Battle of the Atlantic.

Miskelly’s paintings: 

And in the Pacific while on the the Coast Guard-manned General G. O. Squier-class troop transport USS General R. L. Howze (AP-134).

USS General R.L. Howze (AP-134) anchored off Manus Island, Marshall Islands, circa 1944-45.

Commissioned in early 1944, Howze completed 11 voyages to the combat areas of the Pacific, before returning to San Francisco 15 October 1945, carrying troops and supplies to New Guinea, Guadalcanal, Manus, Eniwetok, and “many other islands as the rising tide of the Navy’s amphibious offensive swept toward Japan.”

As for Miskelly, in a recent profile by The Press Democrat:

When he was 52, he learned how to surf. He cruised the waves of Pacifica and Santa Cruz until he was 85. He does tai chi everyday and still loves biking and driving his car.

For most of his life, he worked as a structural engineer and naval architect, which took he, his late wife June and four kids from Marconi to Petaluma in 1963. He worked until he was 75.

Thank you for your service, and your work, Mr. Miskelly.

G-Town 87s and TPSBs

Posted on by Leave a comment

Took my dogs for a sunset walk around Jones Park in Gulfport the day or so before leaving for my latest Guns.com filming trip to Arizona, and grabbed a couple of snapshots.

Of course, you have the replica Ship Island Lighthouse, which doesn’t look that bad at night.

Then, looking at the boatshed at Station Gulfport, a pair of 87-foot Maritime Protector-type patrol boats: U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Moray (WPB 87331) out of Grand Isle and the USCGC Tiger Shark (WPB 87359), right before the latter shoved off for a patrol through the Chandeliers.

Also note the six-pack of 32-foot transportable port security boats, complete with .50 cals and M240s mounted. These gray sharks are used by the USCG’s eight port security units, and the USCGR’s PSU 308 is stationed on land in the Kiln and often uses Station Gulfport for their sea-going home during training evolutions.

« Older Entries Recent Entries »