USS Mackinac (AVP-13)

Last updated
USS Mackinac (AVP-13).jpg
USS Mackinac (AVP-13) ca. 1942
History
US flag 48 stars.svgUnited States
NameUSS Mackinac
Namesake Mackinac Island in northern Michigan
Builder Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington
Laid down29 May 1940
Launched15 November 1941
Sponsored byMrs. Ralph Wood
Commissioned24 January 1942
DecommissionedJanuary 1947
IdentificationAVP-13
Nickname(s)"Mighty Mac"
Honors and
awards		Six battle stars for World War II service
FateLoaned to United States Coast Guard 19 April 1949
AcquiredReturned by U.S. Coast Guard 21 July 1968
Stricken21 July 1968
FateSunk as target 23 July 1968
Ensign of the United States Coast Guard.svgUnited States
NameUSCGC Mackinac
NamesakePrevious name retained
Acquired
Commissioned11 May 1949
IdentificationWAVP-371
Reclassified High endurance cutter, WHEC-371, 1 May 1966
Decommissioned28 December 1967
Honors and
awards		Eastern Area Vessel Performance Award for Fiscal Year 1967
FateReturned to U.S. Navy 21 July 1968
Badge
General characteristics (seaplane tender)
Class and type Barnegat-class small seaplane tender
Displacement2,592 tons (light)
Length311 ft 8 in (95.00 m)
Beam41 ft 1 in (12.52 m)
Draft13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
Installed power6,000 bhp (4,500 kW)
Propulsion Diesel engines, two shafts
Speed18.2 knots (33.7 km/h)
Complement
  • 215 (ship's company)
  • 367 (including aviation unit)
Armament
Aviation facilitiesSupplies, spare parts, repairs, and berthing for one seaplane squadron; 80,000 US gallons (300,000 L) aviation fuel
General characteristics (Coast Guard cutter)
Class and type Casco-class cutter
Displacement2,515.2 long tons (2,555.6 t) (full load) in 1965
Length
  • 311 ft 7 in (94.97 m) oa
  • 300 ft 0 in (91.44 m) pp
Beam41 ft 0 in (12.50 m) maximum
Draft12 ft 8 in (3.86 m) maximum in 1965
Installed power6,000 bhp (4,500 kW) in 1965
Propulsion Fairbanks-Morse direct reversing diesel engines, two shafts; 166,525 US gallons (630,370 L) of fuel
Speed
  • 18.0 knots (33.3 km/h) (maximum sustained in 1965)
  • 12.0 knots (22.2 km/h) (economic) in 1965
Range
  • 9,900 nautical miles (18,300 km) at 18.0 knots (33.3 km/h) in 1965
  • 19,980 nautical miles (37,000 km) at 12.0 knots (22.2 km/h) in 1965
Complement149 (10 officers, 2 warrant officers, 137 enlisted personnel) in 1965
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament
  • In 1965:
  • 1 x 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal. Mark 12 Mod 1 gun, 1 x Mark 52 Mod 3 director, 1 x Mark 26 Mod 3 fire-control radar, 2 x .50-caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns
  • 4 × Mark 6 Mod 2 depth charge projectors
  • 1 × Mark 10 Mod 1 antisubmarine projector

The second USS Mackinac (AVP-13) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1942 to 1947 that saw service during World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard from 1949 to 1967 as the cutter USCGC Mackinac (WAVP-371), later WHEC-371, the second ship of the Coast Guard or its predecessor, the United States Revenue Cutter Service, to bear the name.

Contents

Construction and commissioning

Mackinac was laid down on 29 May 1940 at Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton, Washington. She was launched on 15 November 1941, sponsored by Mrs. Ralph Wood, wife of the commanding officer of Naval Air Station Seattle in Seattle, Washington, and commissioned on 24 January 1942.

United States Navy service

World War II

First Pacific tour, 1942-1943

After three months of shakedown, Mackinac, escorting a large convoy, departed the United States West Coast for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 11 May 1942, arriving there on 19 May 1942. On 22 May 1942, the famous explorer Rear Admiral (retired) Richard E. Byrd and his staff came on board for an inspection cruise of U.S. bases in the South Pacific. Byrd, because of his worldwide recognition, had been drawn out of retirement to represent the United States to the French colonies in the South Pacific, which were nominally under the control of the pro-German Vichy government, as their cooperation was vital to the war effort there. Byrd debarked at Auckland, New Zealand, on 23 June 1942, and Mackinac then headed to Naval Base Noumea at Nouméa, New Caledonia, on 18 July 1942.

With preparations underway for the Guadalcanal‑Tulagi landing, scheduled for 7 August 1942 through 9 August 1942, Mackinac was assigned the task of setting up a seaplane base at Malaita, the most advanced post of the Guadalcanal campaign, while her PBY Catalina flying boats searched northward and westward to watch the sealane between Truk and Guadalcanal in case of any Imperial Japanese Navy reaction from its base at Truk. No American was known to have visited Malaita since Jack London in 1908, whence he had fled in disgust from fierce storms and head hunters. Now Commander Hitchcock took Mackinac up the back of the island and threaded his way into Maramasike Estuary on the southeast coast, through waters for which there were no charts. Mackinac opened for business with nine PBY Catalinas on the morning of 8 August 1942. [1] One of the first American ships to anchor in the Solomon Islands, Mackinac retired to Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides Islands on 12 August 1942.

Despite constant evacuation alerts and numerous search plane losses, Mackinac next set up base at Graciosa Harbor in the Santa Cruz Islands on 20 August 1942. Early on the morning of 12 September 1942, two Japanese submarines surfaced at the harbor entrance to shell Mackinac and the seaplane tender Ballard and their seaplanes. The two seaplane tenders returned fire, but neither side suffered damage.

Troop transport SS President Coolidge being abandoned after beaching. The Beached Transport SS President Coolidge--October 1942.jpg
Troop transport SS President Coolidge being abandoned after beaching.

Following her return to Espiritu Santo on 25 October 1942, Mackinac assisted with her boats in rescuing survivors of the United States Army transport SS President Coolidge after President Coolidge struck two naval mines in the harbor entrance and beached herself.

On 12 November 1942, Mackinac established an advanced seaplane base at Vanikolo Island in the Santa Cruz Islands, and began tending an average of six seaplanes a day. Several high-ranking officers visited her during this duty, including Vice Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr.

Mackinac got underway from Espiritu Santo with a convoy for the United States West Coast on 9 July 1943, arriving at San Francisco, California, on 25 July 1943. She then underwent a two-month overhaul at Mare Island Navy Yard at Vallejo, California.

Second Pacific tour, 1943-1945

Mackinac returned to Pearl Harbor on 28 September 1943. After a month of transport duty between Midway Atoll and Maui, Hawaii, Mackinac left Pearl Harbor on 20 November 1943 escorting the seaplane tender Curtiss to the Ellice Islands.

When a PBY Catalina flying boat was forced down near Nui in the Gilbert Islands, Mackinac, after locating it early on 24 November 1943, rescued the crew and safely towed the plane to Fenua Tapu despite adverse weather. On 1 December 1943 she arrived at recently secured Tarawa to tend seaplanes there through January 1944, undergoing 22 air raids during her time there.

Mackinac then steamed for Makin Atoll with Patrol Squadron 72 (VP‑72) to participate in the Marshall Islands campaign with around‑the‑clock seaplane tending. With Majuro Atoll and Kwajalein Atoll secured by the early part of February 1944, Mackinac was ordered on to Kwajalein Island, anchoring there on 9 March 1944. While her patrol bombing squadron was conducting rescue operations at Majuro, Makin, Eniwetok, and Kwajalein, Mackinac was laying out the seaplane area and assisting the construction of a naval airbase on Ebeye Kwajalein.

On 23 June 1944, Mackinac departed for Eniwetok en route to Saipan. As the American conquest of Saipan was still in the assault stage, Mackinac was under almost constant Japanese fire while stationed there.

Relieved at Saipan on 19 August 1944, Mackinac joined the seaplane tenders Chandeleur, Pocomoke, Yakutat, and Onslow in sailing for Kossol Passage, Peleliu, in the Palau Islands, arriving on 15 September 1944, one day after the American landings on Pelelieu. For the next three months, Mackinac marked navigational obstructions off Kossol before leaving for Ulithi Atoll on 25 December 1944. On 21 January 1945, Mackinac got underway with Chandeleur for San Diego, California, via Pearl Harbor, arriving at San Diego on 7 February 1945.

Third Pacific Tour 1945

Mackinac returned to Saipan in April 1945. On 11 May 1945, she joined a seaplane group based at Kerama Retto in the Ryukyu Islands during the Okinawa campaign, and continued a variety of duties, including air-sea rescue and bombardment of Japanese‑held Rose Island. After the seaplane group moved its operations to Okinawa on 14 July 1945, Mackinac tended motor torpedo boats through early August 1945. After the Japanese capitulation on 15 August 1945, she was assigned to join Task Group 30.5, arriving at Sagami Bay, Tokyo, Japan, on 28 August 1945.

Honors and awards

Mackinac received six battle stars for her World War Il service.

Post-World War II

Following occupation duty in Japan, Mackinac left for the United States West Coast on 10 January 1946, arriving at San Pedro, California, on 29 January 1946. After repairs, she sailed for the Gulf of Mexico via the Panama Canal, arriving at Orange, Texas, on 26 March 1946.

Mackinac was decommissioned and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Orange in January 1947.

United States Coast Guard service

USCGC Mackinac (WAVP-371) ca. 1964, before the Coast Guard's 1967 adoption of the "racing stripe" markings on its ships. USCGC Mackinac (WAVP-371).jpg
USCGC Mackinac (WAVP-371) ca. 1964, before the Coast Guard 's 1967 adoption of the "racing stripe" markings on its ships.

Barnegat-class ships were very reliable and seaworthy and had good habitability, and the Coast Guard viewed them as ideal for ocean station duty, in which they would perform weather reporting and search and rescue tasks, once they were modified by having a balloon shelter added aft and having oceanographic equipment, an oceanographic winch, and a hydrographic winch installed. The U.S. Navy transferred 18 of the ships to the Coast Guard, in which they were known as the Casco-class cutters.

The Navy loaned Mackinac to the Coast Guard on 19 April 1949, and the Coast Guard officially accepted her at Orange on 21 April 1949. The Coast Guard cutter USCGC Tampa then towed her from Orange to the Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay in Baltimore, Maryland, where she underwent conversion for use as a weather-reporting ship. While this was in progress, the Coast Guard commissioned her as USCGC Mackinac (WAVP-371) on 11 May 1949. Her conversion was completed on 18 July 1949.

Mackinac was stationed at New York, New York, throughout her Coast Guard career. Her primary duty was to serve on ocean stations in the Atlantic Ocean to gather meteorological data. In addition, she conducted search-and-rescue and law enforcement operations and provided navigational and communication assistance to aircraft.

She was among a number of cutters based on the United States East Coast that rotated among four ocean stations in the Atlantic Ocean. While on duty in one of these stations, she was required to patrol a 210-square-statute-mile (544 km²; 159 nmi²) area for three weeks at a time, leaving the area only when physically relieved by another Coast Guard cutter or in the case of a dire emergency. While on station, she acted as an aircraft check point at the point of no return, a relay point for messages from ships and aircraft, as a source of the latest weather information for passing aircraft, as a floating oceanographic laboratory, and as a search-and-rescue ship for downed aircraft and vessels in distress.

Mackinac's first base at New York City was at Brooklyn, New York. She shifted her base to St. George, Staten Island, New York, on 17 September 1953.

On 13 November 1953, she came to the assistance of the merchant ship Empire Nene at 41°53′00″N043°47′00″W / 41.88333°N 43.78333°W / 41.88333; -43.78333 .

On 1 May 1966, Mackinac was reclassified as a high endurance cutter and redesignated WHEC-371. She won the Eastern Area Vessel Performance Award for Fiscal Year 1967.

Decommissioning and disposal

The Coast Guard decommissioned Mackinac on 28 December 1967 and placed her in reserve at the Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay. On 21 July 1968 the Coast Guard returned her to the Navy, and the Navy struck her from the Naval Vessel Register that day.

The Navy sank Mackinac as a target off the coast of Virginia on 23 July 1968, using her for target practice by United States Naval Academy midshipmen. Mackinac sank in 1,800 fathoms (10,800 feet (3,300 m) of water) at position 36°22′00″N073°09′00″W / 36.36667°N 73.15000°W / 36.36667; -73.15000 ("USCGC Casco (WHEC-371)") . Although under fire from four ships – the heavy cruiser USS Newport News, the guided-missile light cruiser USS Springfield, the guided-missile destroyer USS John King, and the destroyer USS New – and despite John King's first Tarter missile scoring a direct hit, Mackinac proved hard to sink, and her hull remained largely intact as she slipped beneath the waves.

Notes

  1. ↑ The Battle of Savo Island, by Richard F. Newcomb p. 74

Related Research Articles

USS <i>Absecon</i> (AVP-23) Tender of the United States Navy

The second USS Absecon (AVP-23) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1947, converted during construction to serve as a catapult training ship during World War II. The ship was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Absecon (WAVP-374), later WHEC-374, from 1949 to 1972. Transferred to South Vietnam in 1972, she served in the Republic of Vietnam Navy as the frigate RVNS Pham Ngu Lao (HQ-15) until she was captured by North Vietnam at the conclusion of the Vietnam War in 1975. After that, she served in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam's Vietnam People's Navy as PRVSN Pham Ngu Lao (HQ-01).

USS <i>Biscayne</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Biscayne (AVP-11), later AGC-18, was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender in commission as a seaplane tender from 1941 to 1943 and as an amphibious force flagship from 1943 to 1946. She saw service during World War II. Transferred to the United States Coast Guard after the war, she was in commission as the Coast Guard cutter USCGC Dexter (WAGC-385), later WAVP-385 and WHEC-385, from 1946 to 1952 and from 1958 to 1968.

USS <i>Onslow</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Onslow (AVP-48) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1947 and from 1951 to 1960.

USS <i>Casco</i> (AVP-12) Tender of the United States Navy

The third USS Casco (AVP-12) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1941 to 1947. She saw service in World War II. After her decommissioning, the U.S. Navy loaned her to the United States Coast Guard, in which she served as the cutter USCGC Casco (WAVP-370), later WHEC-370, from 1949 to 1969.

USS <i>Yakutat</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Yakutat (AVP-32) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1944 to 1946. Yakutat tended seaplanes in combat areas in the Pacific during the latter stages of World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard from 1948 to 1971 as the Coast Guard cutter USCGC Yakutat (WAVP-380), later WHEC-380, seeing service in the Vietnam War during her Coast Guard career. Transferred to South Vietnam in 1971, she was commissioned into the Republic of Vietnam Navy as the frigate RVNS Trần Nhật Duật (HQ-03). When South Vietnam collapsed in 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War, she fled to the Philippines, where the Philippine Navy took custody of her and cannibalized her for spare parts until discarding her in 1982.

USS <i>Bering Strait</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Bering Strait (AVP-34) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1944 to 1946. She tended seaplanes during World War II in the Pacific in combat areas and earned three battle stars by war's end.

USS <i>Coos Bay</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Coos Bay (AVP-25) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1946 that saw service during the latter half of World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard from 1949 to 1966 as the cutter USCGC Coos Bay (WAVP-376), later WHEC-376.

USS <i>Cook Inlet</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Cook Inlet (AVP-36) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1944 to 1946. She tended seaplanes during World War II in the Pacific and earned one battle star for her service. After the war, she was transferred to the United States Coast Guard, and was in commission as the Coast Guard cutter USCGC Cook Inlet (WAVP-384), later WHEC-384, from 1949 to 1971. She saw service in the Vietnam War during her Coast Guard career, receiving two campaign stars for her operations during the conflict. Transferred to South Vietnam in 1971, she operated as the Republic of Vietnam Navy frigate RVNS Trần Quốc Toản (HQ-06) until South Vietnam's collapse in April 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War. She fled to the Philippines and in 1976 was transferred to the Philippine Navy, which never commissioned her, instead using her as a source of spare parts for her sister ships, the Andrés Bonifacio-class frigates, before discarding her in 1982.

USS <i>Unimak</i> Barnegat-class small seaplane tender

USS Unimak (AVP-31) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1946 that saw service in World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Unimak (WAVP-379), later WHEC-379, WTR-379, and again WHEC-379, from 1949 to 1975 and from 1977 to 1988.

USS <i>Chincoteague</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Chincoteague (AVP-24) was a United States Navy seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1946 that saw service in the Pacific during World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Chincoteague (WAVP-375), later WHEC-375, from 1949 to 1972. She was transferred to South Vietnam in 1972 and was commissioned into service with the Republic of Vietnam Navy as the frigate RVNS Lý Thường Kiệt (HQ-16), seeing combat in the Battle of the Paracel Islands in 1974. When South Vietnam collapsed at the conclusion of the Vietnam War in 1975, she fled to the Philippines, where she was commissioned into the Philippine Navy, serving as the frigate RPSAndrés Bonifacio (PF-7) from 1976 to 1985.

USS <i>Castle Rock</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Castle Rock (AVP-35) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1944 to 1946 which saw service in the late months of World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the Coast Guard cutter USCGC Castle Rock (WAVP-383), later WHEC-383, from 1948 to 1971, seeing service in the Vietnam War during her Coast Guard career. Transferred to South Vietnam in 1971, she served in the Republic of Vietnam Navy as the frigate RVNS Trần Bình Trọng (HQ-05) and fought in the Battle of the Paracel Islands in 1974. When South Vietnam collapsed at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, Trần Bình Trọng fled to the Philippines, where she served in the Philippine Navy from 1979 to 1985 as the frigate RPSFrancisco Dagohoy (PF-10).

USS <i>Humboldt</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Humboldt (AVP-21) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1941 to 1947 that served in the Atlantic during World War II. She was briefly reclassified as a miscellaneous auxiliary and redesignated AG-121 during 1945. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Humboldt (WAVP-372), later WHEC-372, from 1949 to 1969.

USS <i>Matagorda</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Matagorda (AVP-22/AG-122) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender in commission from 1941 to 1946 that saw service in World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Matagorda (WAVP-373), later WHEC-373, from 1949 to 1967.

USS <i>Rockaway</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Rockaway (AVP-29), later AG-123, was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1946. She served in both the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean during World War II. In 1948, she was loaned to the United States Coast Guard, in which she served as the cutter USCGC Rockaway (WAVP-377), later WAGO-377, WHEC-377, and WOLE-377, from 1949 to 1972.

USS <i>Wachapreague</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Wachapreague (AGP-8) was a motor torpedo boat tender in commission in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946, seeing service in the latter part of World War II. After her Navy decommissioning, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard from 1946 to 1972 as the cutter USCGC McCulloch (WAVP-386), later WHEC-386, the fourth ship of the U.S. Coast Guard or its predecessor, the United States Revenue Cutter Service, to bear the name. In 1972 she was transferred to South Vietnam and served in the Republic of Vietnam Navy as the frigate RVNS Ngô Quyền (HQ-17). Upon the collapse of South Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, she fled to the Philippines, and she served in the Philippine Navy from 1977 to 1985 as the frigate RPSGregorio del Pilar (PF-8) and from 1987 to 1990 as BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF-12).

USS <i>Willoughby</i> (AGP-9) Tender of the United States Navy

The second USS Willoughby (AGP-9) was a motor torpedo boat tender that served in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946, seeing service in the later stages of World War II. Transferred to the United States Coast Guard in 1946, she was in commission as the cutter USCGC Gresham (WAVP-387), later WHEC-387 and WAGW-387, from 1947 to 1969 and from 1970 to 1973, seeing service in the Vietnam War during her Coast Guard career.

USS <i>Half Moon</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Half Moon (AVP-26) was a seaplane tender that in commission in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946 that saw service in the latter half of World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Half Moon (WAVP-378), later WHEC-378, from 1948 to 1969, seeing service in the Vietnam War during her Coast Guard career.

USS <i>Barataria</i> (AVP-33) Tender of the United States Navy

The second USS Barataria (AVP-33) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender in commission from 1944 to 1946. She saw service in the later stages of World War II and was decommissioned postwar. She then was transferred to the United States Coast Guard and was in commission as the Coast Guard cutter USCGC Barataria (WAVP-381), later WHEC-381 from 1949 to 1969, serving in the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War during her lengthy Coast Guard career.

<i>Barnegat</i>-class seaplane tender US Navy seaplane tender class during WWII

The Barnegat class was a large class of United States Navy small seaplane tenders (AVP) built during World War II. Thirty were completed as seaplane tenders, four as motor torpedo boat tenders, and one as a catapult training ship.

<i>Casco</i>-class cutter Class of United States Coast Guard cutter

The Casco class was a large class of United States Coast Guard cutters in commission from the late 1940s through the late 1980s. They saw service as weather reporting ships in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans until the early 1970s, and some saw combat service during the Vietnam War.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.