USCGC North Star
 USCGC North Star in June 1941
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Builder | Berg Shipbuilding Company[2] |
| Commissioned | May 15, 1941 |
| Decommissioned | June 15, 1945[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 2,200 long tons (2,200 metric tons; 2,500 short tons) |
| Length | 225 ft (68.58 m) |
| Beam | 41 ft (12.50 m) |
| Draft | 18.6 ft (5.67 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
| Complement | 17 Officers, 116 Enlisted |
| Armament |
|
The USCGC North Star was a
Second World War. It was originally built for the U.S. Interior Department and served in the United States Coast Guard (USCG)
before being acquired by the U.S. Navy.
History
The North Star was built in 1932 by
U.S. Department of the Interior and was commissioned by the Interior Department in 1932. She served as a support ship during the United States Antarctic Service Expedition from 1939 to 1941. She transported the unique Antarctic Snow Cruiser
for the expedition and evacuated members of the expedition upon its conclusion early in 1941.
She was commissioned as the USCGC North Star (WPG-59) on 15 May 1941 and served on the
Donald B. MacMillan) was consolidated with the Northeast Patrol by October 1941 and the consolidated unit was re-designated as the Greenland Patrol
. The duties of the Greenland Patrol were varied - protecting convoy routes; ice breaking and passages were found through it for the Greenland convoys; escorting merchant ship; rescuing survivors of submarine attacks; construction and maintenance of aids to navigation; reporting of weather and ice conditions; and conducting air and surface patrols.
North Star was involved with the capture, on 12 September 1941, of the supposedly neutral Norwegian trawler
Jan Mayen Island on 23 July 1943. The plane withdrew from the engagement and trailed heavy black smoke as it disappeared over the horizon. North Star also investigated a German outpost at Sabine Island
, East Greenland on 31 August.
North Star was reclassified as IX-148 (Miscellaneous Unclassified) on 15 December 1943 and was decommissioned by the U.S. Coast Guard on 13 January 1944. She was transferred to the US Navy on 15 January and placed in reduced commission. She was decommissioned on 15 June 1945 at Seattle and returned to the Department of the Interior on 18 June 1945. She was struck from the U.S. Naval Register on 11 July 1945.
Awards
- United States Antarctic Expedition Medal
- American Defense Service Medal with "A" device
- American Campaign Medal
- European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
- World War II Victory Medal
See also
References
- ^ "USS North Star, CG, 1941" (PDF). uscg.mil. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
- ^ "USCGC North Star (WPG-59) (1941 - 1944)". navsource.org. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
- ^ "North Star". history.navy.mil. Retrieved 23 December 2013.