To those who perished with these ships, you are not forgotten.
May your Souls rest in Eternal Glory.
ACACIA (W-200)
172ft buoy tender
Built 1919 1,130 ton ex Army minelayer
Shelled and sunk by U-161, 26 March 1942
Crew safely abandoned ship
BEDLOE (W-128)
Active class, 125ft cutter
Foundered in gale off Cape Hatteras 14 Sept 1944
Of 38 aboard, 26 were lost
180ft buoy tender
Collision with 606ft tanker CAPRICORN 29 January 1980 Tampa Bay ship channel
23 perish, 27 survive
BODEGA (W-342)
Ex Norwegian whale killer THORDR
Patrol boat, 123ft, 249 tons
20 Dec 1943 stranded during a rescue attempt
Crew abandoned with no casualties to personnel.
CGC CUYAHOGA (W-157)
CWO Donald K. Robinson commanding, approx 2100 hrs 20 October 1997 in collision with Argentina flag SANTA CRUZ II, a 521 foot bulk carrier. Position 3 1/2 miles NW Smith Point (Chesapeake Bay) near mouth of Potomac River.
11 perish, 18 survive.
DOW (W-353)
134ft Patrol boat, 241 tons
Foundered in gale, near Puerto Rico, 15 October 1943
Crew abandoned ship & rescued by CGC MARION.
All 30 survived.
ESCANABA (W-77)
165ft cutter, built 1932 1,005 tons
Explosion of undetermined origin off Ivigtut Greenland
18 June 43
2 survivors, all other 103 were lost.
ETAMIN (AK-93)
Torpedoed in Milne Bay by Japanese submarine
One dead
Kept afloat but too badly damaged for repair
Decommissioned. Scrapped
HAMILTON (W-34)
327ft Secretary class cutter
Built 1936 2,216 tons
Torpedoed by U-132 off Iceland 29 January 1942
20 dead and 6 died later of burns
Taken under tow but capsized and sank
JACKSON (W-142)
125 ft Active class cutter
Foundered in gale, North Atlantic 14 September 1944
Of 41 aboard, 21 lost
LEOPOLD (DE-319)
9 March 1944. USS LEOPOLD (DE-319) (Coast Guard manned)
(Believe CO was LCDR Kenneth C. Phillips USCG)
Escorting convoy CU-16 in mid Atlantic (57-37N 26-30W) LEOPOLD was struck by an acustical torpedo fired by U-255. The ship was badly damaged and abandoned. USS JOYCE (DE-317) (also Coast Guard manned) rescued the survivors. There were only 28. 171 others were lost. LEOPOLD was next to the Coast Guard's biggest loss of WWII, (SERPENS explosion 198 lost)
Note: USCG manned 30 destroyer escorts during WWII
LIGHTSHIP 71
Diamond Shoals Station, 6 August 1918 shelled and sunk by U-104. Crew escaped without casualties.
LIGHTSHIP 78/505
Station 14 June 1960 collision with SS GREEN BAY
Crew escaped without casualties.
LIGHTSHIP 73
Vineyard Sound Station, 14 Sept 1944
Storm damage, foundered, lost with all hands
MAGNOLIA (W-231)
173ft buoy tender
25 August 1945 collision SS Marguerite LeHand
in Gulf of Mexico. 1 dead, 49 survive.
MENGES (DE-320)
Coast Guard manned destroyer escort (FMR type)
Convoy duty off coast of Algiers
On 3 May probably 4 May) at 0118 hit by an acustical torpedo fired by U-371. The aft one third of the ship was blown away. 31 were killed and 25 wounded. Towed to Algeria, then New York. Stern of the USS HOLDER (DE-401) was married to the hull to complete the ship. (HOLDER's forward section was wrecked by a torpedo)
MENGES, PRIDE (DE-323), MOSELY (DE-321), and LOWE (DE-325) were the only all Coast Guard Hunter Killer team in the Atlantic.
MISC.
CG 85006 ex CATAMOUNT
67 ton patrol boat
Explosion, vicinity Ambrose Light 27 March 1943
All hands lost
CG 58012
30 ton patrol boat
Fire. 41-53N 70-30W 2 May '43
CG 83421
44 ton CG cutter
Collision with SC-1330 at 26-14N 79-05W
30 June '44 off Miami, FL
No casualties to personnel.
Sixty 83 footers participated in the Normandy Invasion
Two foundered as a result of damage sustained during rescue operations;
CG 83415 - 44 ton Foundered off France 21 June '44
CG 83471 - 44 ton Foundered off France 21 June '44
No casualties to personnel
CG 83524
26 September 1961
Destroyed by fire
No casualties
CG 83306
9 October 1946
Lost in typhoon, Buckner Bay, Okinawa
Casualties unknown
USCG manned 288 U.S. Army vessels during WWII
Of these, 199 were FS types (Inter-island freight/supply)
Four FS were lost in typhoons near Okinawa, one torpedoed and one foundered.
Number of lives lost is under research.
FS-163
12 October 1945 lost in typhoon.
FS-172
22 Sept 1945
Sunk off Mugil Pt., Cape Croisilles, New Guinea
FS-255
11 May 1945 Torpedoed by Japanese submarine
off Taloma Bay, Davao Gulf, Mindanao, Philippines
Four (04) dead)
FS-290
9 Nov 1945 lost in typhoon off Okinawa
FS-406
8 October 1945 lost in typhoon off Okinawa
FS-410
9 nov 1945 Lost in typhoon off Okinwa
LCI (Landing Craft Infantry) numbers 85, 91, 92, 93
All lost in Normandy landings
USCG manned 28 LCI’s during WWII
Number of lives lost not available at present.
LST (Landing Ship Tank) numbers 69, 167 and 203
Lost during WWII
Casualties unknown
USCG manned 76 LST’s during WWII
LT-358, Army tug (Coast Guard manned
MESQUITE (W-305)
180ft “B” class buoy tender
Stranded while working A to N 4 December 1989
No casualties to personnel.
Wreck removed and sunk as artificial reef.
MUSKEGAT (W-48)
Weather patrol ship
Ex SS CORNISH, 250ft steamship built 1923
About 9 September 1942 disappeared in North Atlantic
Believe torpedoed by U-755
All 121 crew lost
NATSEK (W-170)
116ft patrol boat
Built 1941 - steel hull - ice - 225 tons
One of 10 New England fishing trawlers taken over by USCG in 1941 for the Greenland Patrol
Exact date of loss not known. Disappeared without a trace in Belle Isle Strait or Gulf of St Lawrence some time between 11 to 23 January 1943. Extremely bad weather and heavy ice. Possible ice damage, foundered, capsized
All 24 crew lost.
SERPENS (AK-97)
29 January 1945. Anchored off Lunga Point, Solomons.
The Commanding Officer, one other officer and six enlisted men were ashore. 198 crew and 57 Army stevedores were aboard loading depth charges. There was a horrendous explosion leaving only the bow visible. The rest had disappeared. The bow section soon sank. Cause of the explosion remains unknown.
Note: USCG manned 16 AK’s during WWII
SHEEPSCOT (AOG-24) T-1-M-A1
221ft Gasoline tanker. (Coast Guard Manned crew of 58)
USCG manned 18 gasoline tankers during WWII.
6 June 1945 Grounded off Iwo Jima. Capsized.
Successful abandonment, no casualties to personnel.
TAHOMA
Struck an uncharted reef in the Aleutian Islands 20 September 1914. All hands abandoned in ship’s boats and took refuge on a nearby islet, which they named Tahoma Reef. (The name remains to this day) The USC&GS ship PATTERSON made a 1600 mile round trip to retrieve the survivors.
TAMPA
Coast Guard Cutter
Torpedoed by U-Boat 26 Sept 1918 off Milford Haven, Wales
Lost with all hands.
111 dead
WHITE ALDER (W541)
133ft buoy tender
7 December 1968 collision with Formosan cargo ship HELENA
17 dead, 3 survive
WILCOX (W-333)(ex ROLAND WILCOX)
132ft, 247 ton patrol boat
Foundered in gale 30 September 1943 off Nags Head, NC
1 dead, 37 survive
Copyright 2003 United States Coast Guard Lightship Sailors by MGM IMAGING . All rights reserved.
Copyrights also protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 Revised: 11/05/07
To ships library