Active-class patrol boat

The Active-class patrol boat was one of the most useful and long-lasting classes of United States Coast Guard cutters. Of the 35 built in the 1920s, 16 were still in service during the 1960s. The last to be decommissioned from active service was the Morris in 1970; the last in actual service was the Cuyahoga, which sank after an accidental collision in 1978.

Active class patrol boat, 1962
Class overview
Name: Active-class patrol boat
Builders: American Brown Boveri Electric Corporation, Camden, New Jersey
Operators:
Built: 1926–1927
In commission: 1927–1978
Completed: 35
Lost: 3
Retired: 32
Preserved: 3
General characteristics
Type: Patrol boat
Displacement: 232 long tons (236 t)
Length: 125 ft (38 m)
Beam: 23 ft 6 in (7.16 m)
Draft: 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m)
Propulsion: 2 × 6-cylinder, 300 hp (224 kW) engines
Speed:
  • 1945
  • Maximum: 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
  • Cruise: 8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph)
Range:
  • 3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi)
  • At max. speed: 2,500 nmi (4,600 km; 2,900 mi)
Complement: 3 officers, 17 men (1960)
Armament:

Design

They were designed for trailing the "mother ships" along the outer line of patrol during Prohibition. They were constructed at a cost of $63,173 each. They gained a reputation for durability that was only enhanced by their re-engining in the late 1930s; their original 6-cylinder diesels were replaced by significantly more powerful 8-cylinder units that used the original engine beds and gave the vessels an additional 3 knots. All served in World War II, but two, the Jackson and Bedloe, were lost in a storm in 1944. Ten were refitted as buoy tenders during the war and reverted to patrol work afterward.

Originally designated WPC, for patrol craft, they were re-designated WSC, for sub chaser, in February 1942, during World War II. The "W" appended to the SC (Sub Chaser) designation identified vessels as belonging to the U.S. Coast Guard. Those remaining in service in May 1966 were re-designated as medium endurance cutters, WMEC.[1]

Ships preserved

Ships in class
Ship name Hull symbol Commissioned[2] Decommissioned[2] Fate[2]
Active WPC-125 30 November 1926 2 April 1962 Sold, 6 September 1963
Agassiz WSC-126 20 January 1927 13 October 1969 Sold, 16 October 1969
Alert WMEC-127 27 January 1927 10 January 1969 Sold, 6 October 1969

Museum ship in Portland, Oregon

Antietam

Later renamed Bedloe

 WSC-128 January 1927 n/a Foundered in storm, 14 September 1944
Bonham WSC-129 29 January 1927 20 April 1959 Sold, 30 December 1959
Boutwell WSC-130 21 February 1927 7 May 1963 Sold, 16 May 1964
Cahoone WSC-131 21 February 1927 11 March 1968 Sold, 12 December 1968
Cartigan WSC-132 3 March 1927 12 October 1968 Sold, April 1969
Montgomery

Later renamed Colfax

 WSC-133 7 April 1927 9 November 1954 Sold, 5 January 1956
Crawford WSC-134 21 February 1927 15 August 1947 Donated to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 28 November 1955

Later sold to the University of Puerto Rico, 1970

Fate unknown

Diligence WSC-135 22 February 1927 30 September 1961 Sold, 30 January 1963
Dix WSC-136 5 March 1927 13 January 1948 Sold, 16 June 1948
Ewing WSC-137 26 March 1927 23 June 1967 Sold, 23 January 1969
Faunce WSC-138 1 April 1927 13 January 1948 Sold, 16 June 1948
Frederick Lee WSC-139 4 April 1927 15 December 1964 Sold, 19 May 1966
General Greene WPC-140 7 April 1927 15 November 1968 Sold to Guatemala, 1976

Seized by the US Coast Guard for drug smuggling, 1979

Fate unknown

Harriet Lane WSC-141 4 January 1927 29 April 1946 Sold into merchant service and renamed MV Humble, 16 June 1948

Fate unknown

Jackson WSC-142 14 March 1927 n/a Foundered in storm, 14 September 1944
Kimball WSC-143 7 May 1927 31 December 1968 Sold, 24 February 1970
Legare WSC-144 17 March 1927 5 March 1968 Sold, 29 November 1968

Fate unknown

Marion WSC-145 6 April 1927 15 February 1962 Sold into merchant service and renamed MV Top Cat, 8 March 1963

Fate unknown

McLane WSC-146 8 March 1927 31 December 1968 Sold, 14 November 1969

Museum ship in Muskegon, Michigan

Morris WSC-147 19 April 1927 7 August 1971 Sold, August 1970

Museum ship in Sacramento, California

Nemaha WSC-148 19 April 1927 21 July 1947 Sold, 14 June 1948
Pulaski WSC-149 30 April 1927 4 December 1946 Sold, 14 July 1948
Reliance WSC-150 26 April 1927 11 March 1968 Sold for scrap, 16 June 1948
Rush WSC-151 27 April 1927 21 August 1947 Sold, 16 January 1948
Tiger WSC-152 3 May 1927 12 November 1947 Sold, 14 June 1948
Travis WSC-153 29 April 1927 5 June 1962 Sold, 15 November 1962
Vigilant WPC-154 3 May 1927 9 November 1954 Sold, 3 January 1956
Woodbury WSC-155 11 May 1927 9 November 1954 Sold, 3 January 1956
Yeaton WSC-156 10 May 1927 18 May 1969 Sold, 16 July 1970
Cuyahoga WIX-157 3 March 1927 n/a Sunk in collision, 20 October 1978

Refloated, 29 October 1978

Scuttled, 29 March 1979

References

Notes
  1. "WPC125 Active Cutters (1927)". Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  2. Jim Flynn (2012). "U. S. Coast Guard Patrol Craft - Major Classes" (PDF). 1: 11-12. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. "USCGC McLane (WSC-146)". museumships.us. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  4. "U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Morris". libertymaritime.com. Retrieved 29 December 2019.

Bibliography
  • Flynn, Jim; Lortz, Ed & Lukas, Holger (March 2018). "Answer 39/48". Warship International. LV (January 2018): 23–25. ISSN 0043-0374.
  • Johnson, Harold (2005). "Question 57/02: ex-USCGC Cartigan". Warship International. XLII (4): 434. ISSN 0043-0374.
  • Silverstone, Paul; Smith, Paul (2003). "Question 57/02: ex-USCGC Cartigan". Warship International. XL (4): 286–298. ISSN 0043-0374.
  • USCGC Cahoone (1927) at US Coast Guard Historian, which cites:
    • Cutter History File. USCG Historian's Office, USCG HQ, Washington, D.C.
    • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Washington, DC: USGPO.
    • Robert Scheina. U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft of World War II. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1982.
    • Robert Scheina. U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft, 1946–1990. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1990.
    • Rum Runners, U-Boats and Hurricanes: The Complete History of the Coast Guard Cutter Bedloe and Jackson.
    • Brian Galecki, ISBN 9780976922308, Publisher: Pine Belt Publishing, Publication date:12/19/2005
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