Pulaski, 1927
WSC 149
The Coast Guard cutter Pulaski was named for the American Revolutionary War hero Casimir Pulaski, a Polish cavalry officer who served with the Continental Army. He organized and commanded the Pulaski Legion, a corps of light cavalry and infantry, as authorized by the Continental Congress. He was killed in action during the assault on Savannah, Georgia, in October, 1779.
RADIO CALL SIGN: N R M A
CLASS: Active Class Patrol Boat
BUILDER: American Brown Boveri Electric Corp., Camden, NJ
COMMISSIONED: 20 April 1927
DECOMMISSIONED: 24 December 1946; sold 14 July 1948
DISPLACEMENT: 219.46 tons (fl)
LENGTH: 125 feet
BEAM: 23 feet, 6 inches
DRAFT: 9 feet
PROPULSION: 1927: 2 x 6-cylinder diesel engines
1944: 2 x Superior-type PTD 250-hp diesel engines
PERFORMANCE:
Max speed: 10.2 knots (1945), 1,750 mile range
Econ. speed: 7.0 knots, 4,000 mile range
COMPLEMENT: 5 officers, 41 enlisted men (1945)
ELECTRONICS:
Detection Radar: SO-9
Sonar: QCO-1
ARMAMENT:
1927: 1x 3"/27
1941: 1 x 3"/23, 2 x depth charge tracks
1945: 1 x 40mm/80 (single), 2 x 20mm/80 (single), 2 x depth charge tracks, 2 x mousetraps
Class History:
This class of vessels was one of the most useful and long- lasting in Coast Guard service with 16 cutters still in use as late as the 1960s. The last to be decommissioned from active service was Morris in 1970; the last in actual service was the Cuyahoga, which sank after an accidental collision in 1978. 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 and early to mid-1940s. Their original 6-cylinder diesels were replaced by significantly more powerful 8-cylinder units that used the original engine beds and gave the vessels 3 additional knots. All served in World War II, but two, 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.
Cutter History:
Pulaski was commissioned on 20 April 1927 after being constructed by the American Brown Boveri Electric Corporation of Camden, New Jersey. Her first home port was Stapleton, New York, where she served out of until September, 1934, when she was transferred to Marshfield, Oregon, where she served from 25 September 1934 through November 1940. She then transferred to Alameda, California.
During World War II she was assigned to the Western Sea Frontier [WESTSEAFRON] and remained stationed at Alameda. Here she made patrols of one-week duration out to station "Charlie Fox," conducting anti-submarine sweeps and checking and reporting on vessels found in the area.
She was decommissioned on 24 December 1946 and was sold at Kennydale, Washington, on 14 July 1948 to Arthur C. Penberthy.
Sources:
Cutter History File. USCG Historian's Office, USCG HQ, Washington, D.C.
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.