Unlike the majority of previous cutters built before World War II, the 255-foot cutters, launched and commissioned between 1944 and 1946, were constructed as heavily armed warships.  The Owasco carried two twin 5"/38 dual purpose guns as her main battery and a heavy anti-aircraft armament consisting of two quad 40mm/60 cannons and four 20mm/80 cannons.  Her anti-submarine armament consisted of 2 depth charge tracks, six "Y" guns and a hedgehog.  Their displacement was similar to a Fletcher Class destroyer but were 122 feet shorter and three feet wider.  

These cutters were designed to carry out a variety of duties that included escort of convoys, hence the heavy anti-submarine and anti-aircraft weaponry.  Although they were designed primarily as warships, they never saw combat during World War II.  One historian noted that their appearance was "tubby," leading to machinery design that "was compact and innovative, but overly complex. . .Many demands were placed on this design and, as a result, these cutters were uncomfortable sea boats."  The majority of their armament was removed shortly after the end of World War II but due to their built in adaptability as multi-mission cutters, most remained in service until the mid-1970's and some did see service in Vietnam.

The 327-foot Treasury Class cutters were arguably the most famous cutters of the twentieth century.  Built in the mid-1930's, several of the class saw service into the 1980's.  Their adaptability, good sea keeping qualities, and sleek design endeared them to generations of Coast Guardsmen.  Here the Ingham appears after her wartime armament was removed.

The Cook Inlet was one of the eighteen 311-foot seaplane tenders transferred from the Navy to the Coast Guard after World War II.  They proved to be excellent Coast Guard cutters with good habitability and sea-keeping qualities.  The primary post-war duty of the large cutters was that of ocean station patrols and these 311-footers were ideally suited for that task.  With the addition of these cutters, the post-war "large cutter" fleet was quite melange of vessel types, consisting of 250-foot Lake Class cutters, 255-foot Owasco Class cutters, 311-foot Casco Class cutters, 327-foot Treasury Class cutters, and during the Korean Conflict, the service even acquired World War II-era Edsall Class destroyer escorts!

With the outbreak of the Korean War and a consequent increase in the numbers of ocean stations set up in the North Pacific, the Coast Guard looked for a way to augment quickly the existing limited cutter fleet, considerably downsized during the post-war demobilization mania.  The Navy's extensive mothball fleet proved to be a good source of readily available warships and the Coast Guard duly accepted twelve destroyer escorts of World War II vintage.  Unlike the destroyer escorts manned by Coast Guard crews during World War II, these were painted white and commissioned as Coast Guard cutters.  They were decommissioned in the mid-1950's.

The intrepid Treasury Class cutters continued to sail on patrols in both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans throughout the post-war era and well into the 1980's.  At a cost of just over 2.5 million dollars each, they proved to be quite a bargain to the U.S. taxpayer. 

The Eagle is included here as another example of a large vessel acquired by the Coast Guard for a specific task.  In this case, she carries on the duty she was originally constructed for by Germany in 1936: training cadets.  Originally launched as the Horst Wessel, the Coast Guard acquired her in 1946 as a "spoil of war."  Her sister ships serve in the Portuguese, Romanian, and Russian navies.

The clean lines of the 311-foot cutters are apparent in this photograph.  They proved to be excellent high endurance cutters, "fine sea boats" in the words of one historian, and served the Coast Guard well.  The Yakutat was in Coast Guard commission from 1948 through 1969 when, after duty in Vietnam, she was transferred to the South Vietnamese Navy.  With the fall of South Vietnam, she fled to the Philippines where she was used for spare parts for the other South Vietnamese 311's that escaped the Communist takeover and "joined" the Philippine Navy.

The Campbell remained in service from 1936 to 1982 and at the end of her career she earned the honor of painting her hull numbers in gold lettering, signifying the fact that she was the oldest cutter in the Coast Guard fleet.  After her distinguished career, she was turned over to the Navy and sunk as a target in 1984.

The Humboldt was in Coast Guard service from 1949 through September, 1969.  She was first stationed in Boston and ended her career sailing out of Portland, ME.  Her primary mission was ocean station duty.

A photo showing a 255-foot cutter at the end of her service life; compare her profile here with the first photo of this gallery.  The Escanaba, named after a cutter lost during World War II, served from 1946 to 1974.  She served on both coasts, participated in a number of famous rescues, and like most of the high endurance cutters, sailed on ocean station patrols throughout her service life.

Provided courtesy of former Androscoggin crewman William C. Bishop. He noted: “I believe this picture was taken after we left the ship yard in 66 or 67 steaming through the Chesapeake Bay after the midship superstructure was added before our deployment to Viet Nam in 67.”

The Bibb served her country from 1937 to 1985.  One of her more celebrated exploits occurred in 1947 when her crew, during a gale, rescued all of the passengers and crew of the commercial airliner Bermuda Sky Queen after it ditched in the mid-Atlantic.  When the last Treasury Class cutter in service, the Ingham, and the final 311-foot, the Unimak, were decommissioned in 1988, the only high endurance cutters left in the Coast Guard inventory were the 378-foot Hamilton Class cutters--the first time in history that only one type of ship made up the "large" cutter fleet.  [Excluding, of course, the Coast Guard icebreakers which are designated as WAGBs]

In this photograph the Bering Strait sports a unique paint scheme.  Her gray hull includes the now famous Coast Guard racing stripe.  This novel paint scheme was used prior to her transfer to the South Vietnamese Navy in 1971.  There she served as the Tran Quang Khai until she fled to the Philippines at the fall of South Vietnam.  She was then commissioned into the Philippine Navy as the Diego Silang and served until 1985.  

The ocean station patrols were an important, sometimes dangerous, and always arduous duty for the cutters.  Nevertheless, the existence of large sea-going cutters and the need for replacement vessels primarily to keep these patrols going led to the new 378-foot cutter construction program.

Thirty-six of the new 378-foot cutters were envisioned but budget realities and the reduction of the ocean station program cut down the total number constructed to twelve.  Nevertheless these multi-mission cutters have been a great bargain to the taxpayers as each is still in commission after 30 years. 

The Hamilton prepares to undergo her pre-acceptance trials in early 1967.  Note her incomplete paint scheme.  All of the cutters were built by the Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans between 1965 and 1972.

The cutters' main propulsion consisted of two 3600-horsepower Fairbanks Morse twelve-cylinder diesel engines, two 18,000-horsepower FT4A Pratt & Whitney gas turbine engines, two reduction gears by Philadelphia Gear Corporation and two controllable pitch propellers by Propulsion Systems, Inc.  The turbines were capable of driving the cutter up to speeds of 29 knots.  Under diesel propulsion only, they could cruise at speeds of up to 19 knots.

The Morgenthau was stationed in New York until 1977 and conducted one war patrol in Vietnam.  She shifted operations after 1977 to the west coast.  Over her career she has seized numerous foreign vessels for fisheries and narcotic smuggling violations, served on ocean stations, participated in rescues, and even served as an escort for the British royal yacht Britannia.  Note the World Trade Center under construction in the left-center background.  

The Rush was commissioned in July, 1969 and was stationed at Alameda.  She was sent to Vietnam in October, 1970 and served on combat patrol with Coast Guard Squadron Three until July, 1971.  During her tour of duty she assisted in the destruction of two enemy trawlers.  Here she is firing her main battery at an enemy target.

Morgenthau, commissioned in February, 1969, served in Vietnam from December, 1970 until July, 1971 and assisted in the destruction of an enemy trawler.

Note the landing platform and grid device designed to "trap" helicopters quickly upon landing.  Combined cutter and aviation activities were of paramount concern for the new 378-foot high endurance cutters.  The hanger shown here was actually a "balloon shelter" that could, when needed, serve as a "nose hanger" for a helicopter.  The rest of the helicopter would be exposed to the weather.

This photo provides a good view of the 70-foot long flight deck of the 378's.  Each also had a hanger for weather balloon operations; a throw-back to their ocean station duties.  The demise of that ocean station program permitted these cutters to concentrate on their growing law enforcement responsibilities that included drug and migrant interdiction as well as fisheries enforcement, duties for which the cutters were ably suited.  They were always ready to carry out search and rescue operations as well.  Adaptability has always been a hallmark of Coast Guard cutters. 

The Chase was commissioned on 1 March 1968.  She served in Vietnam from December 1969 through May 1970.  She has also served on ocean station patrols, assisted mariners, made numerous drug busts, and rescued hundreds of migrants during her career to-date, just like each of her sister 378's.

Beginning in the 1980s and ending in 1992, each 378 was modernized through a three-year "Fleet Renovation and Modernization program" otherwise known as FRAM.  The work involved the replacement of the cutters' armament, installation of new electronic systems, some structural alterations and habitability enhancements as well as a complete overhaul of all propulsion systems.

Under Commandant Paul Yost's orders, tests were conducted to upgrade the combat capabilities of the high endurance cutters.  Here is a test firing of a Harpoon anti-ship missile off the cutter Mellon in January of 1990.  The Harpoons and all of her anti-submarine warfare equipment were removed "due to budget constraints" soon thereafter.

EXXON VALDEZ (FOR RELEASE)

Prince William Sound, AK (Mar. 23 [1989])--The Coast Guard Cutter Rush (WHEC 723) patrols the area of the grounded Exxon Valdez as it remains in place in Prince Williams Sound. The Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska, March 23, 1989 spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil, which resulted in the largest oil spill in U.S. history. 

The Munro was commissioned in 1971.  Like all of her sister cutters, she has stood watch on ocean station, performed search and rescue, trained with Navy task groups, and conducted law enforcement operations.

The USCGC Mellon was commissioned on 22 December 1967.  She has spent her Coast Guard career in Pacific waters.  This photo provides a good overhead view of a 378', showing all of the modifications made for their service into the twenty-first century.

CGC Rush Helicopter refuel (For Release [2007])

Juneau, ALASKA - A Coast Guard HH60 helicopter receives fuel in flight from the Coast Guard Cutter Rush on December 26, 2007. Rapid in flight refueling can increase the time crews remain in the air during operations. (Official Coast Guard photo courtesy Air Station Sitka)

"Bertholf Steams Home (FOR RELEASE)

LOS ANGELES -- Aerial photo of the new National Security Cutter Bertholf taken from an HH-65C helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Los Angeles off the California Coast Tuesday, July 22, 2008. (US Coast Guard Photo by Chief Warrant Officer Brian Carlton)."