Arundel, 1939 (WYT / WYTM-90)
A county in Maryland.
Builder: Gulfport Works, Port Arthur, Texas
Length: 110'
Beam: 26' 5"
Draft: 12'
Displacement: 328-tons
Cost: $309,000
Commissioned: 6 July 1939
Decommissioned: 30 April 1982
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 only (when launched); 2 x .50 caliber machine guns (1945)
Electronics: SO-8 radar (1945); SPN-11 (1961)
History:
Arundel was one of four 110-foot tugs built for the Coast Guard. 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." Arundel was built by the Gulfport Works in Port Arthur, Texas. She was launched on 24 June 1939 and commissioned on 6 July 1939. During the winter of 1940 she broke ice on the Hudson river. During World War II, she was assigned to CINCLANT (DESLANT) and was stationed at Boston, Massachusetts. She served on the Greenland Patrol.
In 1945 she transferred to New York, where she was assigned to law enforcement, search and rescue, and light ice-breaking duties. She transferred to Portland, Maine, in 1947. In 1948 she transferred to New Bedford, Massachusetts. In 1952 she transferred to Chicago, Illinois. From 8 to 9 April 1956 she was towed to Detroit, Michigan, by the CGC Mesquite. On 20 August 1965 she assisted in the search for debris from United Airlines crash in Lake Michigan. On 15 February 1968 she helped free the tug Silver Star from the ice and escorted her to Holland, Michigan. On 26 February 1968 she helped medevac a crewman from the tanker Meteor near St. Joseph, Michigan. On 5 April 1968 she helped free the grounded M/V Inglehart in the St. Mary's River. On 11 April 1970 she helped free the grounded M/V Stadacona near the Mackinaw Bridge. On 17 April 1970 she stood by the M/V 8 Denton following the fouling of her propeller by a buoy chain.
She transferred for the final time to Buffalo, New York, in 1980. She was decommissioned in 1982.
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.