Naugatuck, 1939
WYT / WYTM-992
A valley in Connecticut; also an Indian word meaning "one tree" or "fork in the river."
Builder: Dafoe Boat Works, Bay City, Michigan
Length: 110'
Beam: 26' 5"
Draft: 12'
Displacement: 328-tons
Cost: $334,846.05
Commissioned: 13 April 1939
Decommissioned: 15 January 1979
Disposition:
Machinery: 1 Westinghouse electric motor connected to 2 Westinghouse generators driven by 2 General Motors 8-567A 8-cylinder diesel engines; 1,000 SHP; single propeller
Performance & Endurance:
Max: 13.0 knots
Cruising: 10.0 knots; 3,500 mile range (1945); 8.0 knots; 2,000 mile range (1961)
Complement: 16 (1945); 20 (1961)
Armament: Small arms (when launched)
Electronics: SO-8 radar (1945); SPN-11 (1961)
History:
The third cutter to bear the name Naugatuck was one of four 110-foot tugs built for the Coast Guard in the late-1930s. They were a follow-on to the 110-foot Calumet-class tugs and were capable of breaking ice up to three feet thick. They were officially referred to in the Coast Guard Description of Cutters document as a "Harbor Cutter."
The Coast Guard accepted the bid proposal from Dafoe Boat & Motor Works of Bay City, Michigan, on 29 March 1938 and awarded the contract to them on 22 April. The Naugatuck's keel was laid on 5 August 1938 and she was launched on 23 March 1939 and was christened by Mrs. Beckwith Jordan. Interestingly she was launched at the same time as her sister cutter, the Raritan, the first dual launching to ever take place in Bay City. She was formally delivered to the Coast Guard on 12 April 1939 and was commissioned the following day. She was assigned to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
During World War II she served in the 4th Naval District and her home-port remained Philadelphia. In 1946 she transferred to Seattle, Washington, transiting the Panama Canal to get there. In 1950 she transferred to Port Angeles, Washington. Her next transfer took her to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, where she remained for the rest of her Coast Guard career. On 10 May 1965 she assisted in the search for survivors from the U.S. M/V Cedarville and the Norwegian M/V Topdalsfjord collision one mile northeast of Mackinaw City, Michigan. In November of 1965 she assisted in the rescue of survivors from the tug Miseford and barge eight miles west of Sault Ste. Marie. On 28 November 1965 she escorted the listing British M/V Algosoo to Waiska Bay. On 14 September 1966 she escorted the disabled M/V Lehigh to the Soo canal. On 25 October 1966 she assisted in freeing the grounded M/V George A. Sloan on Majors Shoal. On 1 April 1968 she assisted in freeing the grounded M/V Gypsum at Alpena, Michigan.
She was decommissioned on 15 January 1979.
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.