| Designation | Name/Hull Num | Class/Rig | Service | Comments | Pix | Model |
| USRC | Eagle | Topsail schooner | 1809 – 1814 | Commanded by CAPT Fredrick Lee Escorted merchantmen around New York Attacked by 18 gun brig HMS Dispatch in 1814 Ran aground trying to escape Crew hauled cannons to top of a 160′ cliff and took Dispatch under fire When all ammunition was expended the crew withdrew to safety British siezed the grounded cutter whose ultimate fate is unknown Commemorated in Semper Paratus |
Yes | |
| USRC | Harriet Lane | Sidewheeler | 1857 – 1861 1863 – 1864 |
First successful steam cutter At Fort Sumpter, fired across the bow of merchantman Nashville First naval shot of Civil War Operated against Fort Clark and For Hatteras Supported actions against Vicksburg and at Mobile Bay Participated in capture of Galveston in October 1862 Captured when CSA retook Galveston in January 1863 Finished the war as a blockade runner named Livinia Returned to Federal service after the war Sold as unservicable in 1864 Became merchantman Elliott Richie Lost in a storm in 1887 |
CGH | Yes |
| USRC/USCGC | Bear | Sealer | 1885 – 1929 1941 – 1944 |
Built by Alexander Stephenin Dundee Scotland as a sealer in 1874 Taken into US Navy service in 1884 as part of the rescue fleet for the ill-fated Greeley Arctic expedition 1885: Taken into the Revenue Cutter Service to patrol Alaskan waters Most famous commanding office was Mike “Hell Roarin'” Healy Served 41 years in the ice Carried reindeer from Siberia to Alaska to feed natives Overland rescue of over 250 sealers stuck in the ice Decomissioned in 1929 and turned over to Oakland, CA Used as a set in filming of Jack London’s “Sea Wolf” Acquired by Adm. Richard Byrd for his 1933 Antarctic Expedition Returned from the Byrd expedition in 1941 to Boston In WWII she was part of the Greenland Patrol Took part in the capture of the Norwegian supply ship Buskoe Decommissioned again in 1944 Sold to a Canadian sealing company – never operational Purchased by Alfred Johnston of Villanova, PA in 1948 To be used as a restaurant museum in Philadelphia Sank while being towed to Philadelphia One of the most famous Cutters Coast Guard history The mascot of the CG Academy is a Bear in her honor |
CGH | |
| USRC/USCGC | Hudson | Steam tug | 1893 – 1935 | First RC with steel hull and triple-expansion plating Rescued USS Winslow in Spanish American War CO, LT Frank Newcomb, not awarded Medal of Honor because RCS was not “military” A Fletcher Class DD was named for Newcomb Commemorated in Semper Paratus |
CGH | |
| USRC/USCGC | Tampa (former Miami) |
190 Miami | 1916 – 1918 | Sunk by German U-boat Cited by RADM Niblack, Commander US Naval Forces Gibralter, for outstanding service CO, CAPT Charles Satterlee, had 2 Navy destroyers named for him Commemorated in Semper Paratus |
CGH NS |
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| USCGC | Northland WPG 49 |
1927 – 1946 | Built as a replacement for the venerable Bear Performed on Bering Sea Patrol doing “everything under the midnight sun” Transferred to Boston in 1938 in preparation for war Flagship of the Greenland Parol Seized Norwegian sealer Buskoe – a German supply ship First seizure of the war – 12 Sep 1941 Sold to an American company working with the Israeli underground Renamed Jewish State, she ran refugees to Israel First warship of the Israeli Navy in 1948 – Renamed Matzpen Ended as an accommodations ship for Port Command Haifa Decommissioned and sold in 1962 |
CGH | ||
| USCGC | Escanaba WPG 77 |
165A Algonquin | 1932 – 1943 | Commissioned 17 September 1932 – stationed in Grand Haven, MI Operated entirely in the Great Lakes Established close ties with Grand Haven – Coast Guard City, USA The city always celebrated the 4 August birthday of the Coast Guard Transferred to the Greenland Patrol in 1942 It was noted that survivors were too cold to hold rescue lines LT Robert Prouse, Escanaba XO, developed a rubber suit that rescuers could wear into the water to pick up survivors Suits were used to rescue 133 men from the torpedoed Dorchester Widely used by other ships throughout the war 13 June 1942 – Escanaba exploded and sank Final cause was never established All but 2 of her 103 man crew were lost 4 August 1943 over 20,000 people in Grand Haven attended memorial services for Escanaba Grand Haven is still Coast Guard City, USA and still marks Coast Guard Day with a grand celebration |
CGH | Yes |
| USCGC | Storis WAGL/WAG/ WAGB/WMEC 38 |
1942 – 2007 | Built as a supply cutter for the Greenland patrol Basically a stretched 180′ buoy tender with an Duck on the fantail Stationed in Boston after the war 1 July 1957 Set out with CGCs Spar and Bramble to find a deep water channel through the Arctic Ocean This transit ended the 450 year search for the Northwest Passage Returned to Greenland via the passage and then transited to Alaska via the Panama Canal becoming the first cutter to circumnavigate the North American Continent Performed ice breaking duty until 1972 Converted to Medium Endurance Cutter Decommissioned in 2007 Known as the Galloping Coast of the Alaskan Coast Queen of the Fleet 1991 to 2007 |
CGH | ||
| USCGC | Eastwind WAGB 279 |
269 Wind | 1944 – 1968 | Built for combat operations in Greenland First American ship class capable of arctic ice breaking operations Only One of the original 4 Wind Class to not go to Russia Primary cutter in the Externstein seizure Several Operation Deep Freeze deployments after the war 19 January 1949: Collided with tanker Gulfstream First Wind Class decommissioned |
CGH | Yes |
| USCGC | Eagle WIX 295 |
295 Barque | 1946 – Active | Built in 1936 and named Horst Wessel a stormtrooper who wrote the Nazi party anthem and died fighting German Communists in 1930 Training ship in the German Navy Seized as a war prize in 1946 Commissioned into the Coast Guard as the Academy training cutter Only sailing vessel in commissioned US service America’s Tall Ship |
CGH | Yes |
| USCGC | Tamaroa WAT/WATF WMEC 166 (ex USS Zuni ATF 66) |
205′ Apache Class Fleet Tug (ATF) |
1946 – 1994 | Commissioned in 1943 as USS Zuni Acquired by the Coast Guard in 1946 Served in NY until 1985, then in New Castle, NH 14 March 1963 – Became the first Coast Guard submarine In drydock when disgruntled crewman opened the seacocks sinking both the drydock and the Tam Famous for participating in the “No Name Storm of Halloween 1991” Made famous by the book and movie Perfect Storm The cutter in the movie was digital The producers chose to depict Tam as a sleek cutter with a flight deck even though she was a matronly old tug boat The last of the post-war Navy acquisitions to de decommissioned Currently a museum ship in Richmond, VA |
CGH | Yes |
| USCGC | Acushnet WAT/WMEC 167 (ex USS Shackel) |
213′ Diver Class Rescue Ship (ARS) |
1946 – 2011 | Commissioned in 1944 as USS Shackle (ARS 9) Transferred to the Coast Guard in 1946 Served in Boston Took part in the Two Tankers Rescue in 1952 and on International Ice Patrol cruises 1968 to 1971: Oceanographic Research Cutter (WAGO) Attached to Office of Naval Research and Scripps Oceanographic Institute as part of the NOAA National Data Buoy Project Became known as NOAA’s Ark 1978: designated a Medium Endurance Cutter 1990: transferred to Eureka, CA and operated in Alaskan waters 1998: Transferred to Ketchikan, AK Queen of the Fleet from 2007 to 2011 |
CGH | Yes |
| USCGC | Courier WAGR/WTR 176 |
338 C1-M-AV1 Cargo Ship |
1952 – 1972 | Built in 1945 as the Coastal Messanger Transferred to the Department of State in 1952 Converted to communications vessel for use in Operation Vagabond The idea was to broadcast the Voice of America to countries behind the Iron Curtain The ship could easily move from hot spot to hot spot as needed For political reasons, the Navy could not operate the vessel So the Coast Guard acquired a new mission 22 August 1952 – On station off Rhodes Greece Originally used a barrage balloon to hold the antenna aloft After a few balloons sailed over Turkey, the antenna was attached to the forward mast July 1964 – operations moved ashore – Courier ordered home Longest USCGC deployment in history Served as a Port Security training cutter till 1972 |
CGH Link Link |
Yes |
| USCGC | CG 36500 | 36′ Motor Life Boat | 1952 – 1972 | On 18 February 1952 a nor’easter was blowing hard off New England The tankers Fort Mercer and Pendleton both broke in half BM1 Bernard Webber, Station Chatham, took CG36500 out Crew: Andrew Fitzgerald, Richard Livesey, Ervin Maske Webber saved 33 out of 34 men on the stern of Pendleton All 4 Coastguardsmen were awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal CG 36500 is now berthed at Rock Harbor in Orleans, MA Added to the National Historic Register in 2005 |
CGH CGP |
Yes |
| USCGC | Alex Haley WMEC 39 (ex USS Edenten ATS-1) |
282 Edenton Class Salvage and Rescue Ship (ATS) |
2000 – Active | Commissioned in 1971 as USS Edenton Acquired by the Coast Guard in 1999 Named for author Alex Haley Serves in Alaska Alex Haley joined the Coast Guard in 1939 as a Steward He developed his writing skills during the Pacific war After the war he petitioned the Coast Guard to creat a photojournalist rate Haley was the first Coast Guard PJ and the first PJ Chief Petty Officer Haley retired from the Coast Guard in 1959 He worked as an interviewer for Playboy and had an impressive list of interviewees His first book was The Autobiography on Malcolm X In 1976 he published Roots Haley died in 1992 |
CGH NS |
