History
United States Lighthouse Service pennantUnited States Lighthouse Service
NameUSLHT Hemlock
BuilderBerg Shipbuilding Company, Seattle
Cost$228,460
Laid down1933
Launched23 January 1934
Completed12 January 1933
AcquiredMarch 1934
Commissioned1934
Fatetransferred to the United States Coast Guard, 1 July 1939
United States Coast GuardUnited States Coast Guard
NameUSCGC Hemlock (WAGL-217)
NamesakePrevious name retained
Acquired1 July 1939 (from U.S. Lighthouse Service)
CommissionedDecember 1940
Decommissioned1958
ReclassifiedWAGL-217
HomeportKetchikan, Territory of Alaska
FateSold, August 2, 1961
General characteristics
TypeLighthouse tender
Tonnage1,005 GRT[1]
Length174.5 ft (53.2 m) o/a[1]
Beam32 ft (9.8 m)[1]
Draught13.25 ft (4.04 m)[1]
Installed power1,000 bhp (750 kW)[1]
Propulsion2 screws, VTE, 2 boilers[1]
Speed11.3 knots (20.9 km/h; 13.0 mph)[1]
Range1,950 miles (3,140 km) at 11.0 knots[1]
Complement74[1]
Armament

USCGC Hemlock (WAGL-217) was a lighthouse tender in commission in the fleet of the United States Lighthouse Service as USLHT Hemlock from 1934 to 1939, and in the fleet of the United States Coast Guard as USCGC Hemlock from 1939 to 1958. During World War II, she was given the additional designation (WAGL-217).

History

She was laid down in 1933 at the Seattle shipyard of the Berg Shipbuilding Company.[1][2] She was specifically designed for Alaska with a double-bottom and larger fuel tanks.[2] She was launched on 23 January 1934, acquired by the United States Lighthouse Service in March 1934, and commissioned later that year.[1] Assigned to the 16th Lighthouse District, she worked as a lighthouse tender in the waters surrounding the Territory of Alaska.[2] On 1 July 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Service was abolished and the United States Coast Guard took over its responsibilities and assets; and Hemlock became part of the Coast Guard fleet as USCGC Hemlock. She continued to operate out of Ketchikan, Territory of Alaska as her home-port.[1]

During World War II, she was assigned to the Alaska Sector of the 13th Naval District[2] (headquartered at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard) where she was one of the few ships then in newly-appointed Captain R.C. Parker's small "Alaskan Navy" which consisted of the gunboat and flagship USS Charleston, the cutter USCGC Onondaga, three converted patrol craft (YP-72, YP-73, YP-74),[3] and her sister lighthouse tenders, USCGC Alder and USCG Cedar.[4][1] She was decommissioned in 1958.[5] She was sold on August 2, 1961 and later served as a merchant ship.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Silverstone, Paul (10 September 2012). The Navy of World War II, 1922-1947. Routledge. p. 370. ISBN 9780415978989.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Edmund Lewis Arruda". Edmund Lewis Arruda family website.
  3. ↑ Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Volume 5. United States Navy, Naval History Division. 1970. pp. 157–159. ISBN 9780035954363.
  4. ↑ The Coast Guard at War (PDF). United States Coast Guard. 15 February 1946. p. 59. The district also had three tenders in commission, Alder, Cedar, and Hemlock.
  5. ↑ Williams, USCG (retired), Frank (27 April 2014). "Lighthouse Tenders". coastguardmodeling.com. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  6. ↑ Merchant Vessels of the United States 1973. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1 January 1973.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.