U.S. Coast Guard Ship Losses [USCG LSA]

U.S. Coast Guard Ship Losses

by Jim Gill (USCG Ret.)

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

BLACKTHORN (W-391)

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 1978 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

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