USS Seize

USCGC Yocona underway
History
United States
Name	USS Seize
Operator	United States Navy
Builder	Basalt Rock Company
Laid down	28 September 1943
Launched	8 April 1944
Sponsored by	Mrs. Louis Perkins
Christened	3 November 1944
Commissioned	3 November 1944
Decommissioned	28 June 1946
Stricken	13 November 1946
Identification	ARS-26
Fate	Transferred to U.S. Coast Guard, 28 June 1946
Notes	USN call sign NJAU[1]
General characteristics
Type	Diver-class rescue and salvage ship
Tonnage	1,441 tons
Displacement	1,630 tons
Length	213 ft 6 in (65.07 m)
Beam	39 ft (12 m)
Draught	14 ft 4 in (4.37 m)
Propulsion	diesel-electric , twin screws, 2,780 hp
Speed	15 knots
Complement	120
Armament	Four M2 Browning machine guns , and small arms
History
United States
Name	USCGC Yocona
Namesake	Mississippi river of the same name
Operator	United States Coast Guard
Acquired	28 June 1946
Commissioned	28 June 1946
Decommissioned	14 June 1996
Reclassified	Medium Endurance Cutter (WMEC), 1965
Refit	1946 & 1965
Homeport	Eureka, California (1946) Astoria, Oregon (1954) Kodiak, Alaska (1983)
Identification	WAT-168 (1946) WMEC-168 (1965)
Motto	"Pride in excellence, courage and duty" (1984) "50 and still delivering" (1994)
Nickname(s)	The Mighty Yoc Yokie Dokie YO-KO NO-GO Maru Yo Mama
Fate	Sunk as a target of SINKEX, 20 June 2006
Notes	USCG callsign NNHB.[2]
General characteristics
Type	Medium Endurance Cutter
Displacement	1,756 tons
Length	213 ft 6 in (65.07 m)
Beam	39 ft (12 m)
Draught	14 ft 4 in (4.37 m)
Installed power	3,030 BHP
Propulsion	4 diesels; 3,030 BHP; twin screws
Speed	14.6 knots maximum; 10.3 knots economic
Range	13,700 miles
Complement	80
Sensors and processing systems	Radar: OS-8E
Armament	M2 Browning machine guns and small arms (1946) M60 Machine guns added in 1957

USS Seize (ARS-26) was a

. Her task was to come to the aid of stricken vessels.

Ship's history in U.S. Navy

Seize was laid down on 28 September 1943 by the Basalt Rock Company in Napa, California; launched on 8 April 1944. Seize was sponsored by Mrs. Louis Perkins; and commissioned at Vallejo, California on 3 November 1944.

Following repairs and

jamming experiments, patrolling, and towing.

On 10 July 1945, she got underway for the

on 13 August 1945.

On 14 August 1945, still towing PB-46, Seize got underway in convoy for

USS Oberrender (DE-344)

from 27 August to 11 September 1945.

Seize departed

China on 16 October 1945.

Seize worked along the

foremast

and several ricocheted hits were found on the port side, but there was no other damage to the ship or injuries to the crew.

On 26 and 28 January 1946, Seize replanted the mooring buoy at the Naval Seaplane Area at Lunghwa, China. On 11, 18, and 20 February 1946 and on 04, 07, 21, and 29 March 1946, Seize laid an undersea telephone cable from

China.

Seize departed Chinese waters on 31 March 1946, anchoring at Yokosuka, Japan, on 4 April 1946. The ship picked up APL-31 in tow on 8 April 1946, and set course for the Hawaiian Islands, arriving at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii on 26 April 1946.

Seize arrived at

Awards and honors

Seize’s crew was eligible for the following medals:

• China Service Medal, (extended).
• American Campaign Medal.
• Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal.
• World War II Victory Medal.
• Navy Occupation Service Medal.
• National Defense Service Medal.

Ship's history in U.S. Coast Guard

After refitting, she was commissioned as USCGC Yocona (WAT-168), named after a river in Mississippi, and was stationed at Eureka, California and performed law enforcement, search and rescue, salvage and firefighting duties.

In 1954 she transferred to Astoria, Oregon and berthed at the dock on Marine Drive in the city. Whilst in Astoria, Oregon she performed search and rescue, law enforcement, firefighting, fishery patrol, oceanographic surveys, and salvage duties. On 11 November 1955, 50 miles off Cape Lookout, Oregon in 60 to 70 miles-per-hour winds, she went to the rescue of the disabled and sinking FV Ocean Pride. With the seas too heavy to launch lifeboats, the Yocona maneuvered alongside the fishing vessel close enough for the entire crew of thirteen to jump on board the cutter safely.

On the night of 29 September 1959 she rescued ten survivors of a downed U.S. Navy

On 12 January 1961 Yocona participated in the search, rescue and recovery attempt of FV Mermaid, CG-52301 the Triumph, CG-36454 and CG-40564 off Peacock Spit at Cape Disappointment, WA. The rescue effort involved five other Coast Guard boats and four Coast Guard aircraft. The Mermaid was lost with her crew of two. Triumph CG-52301, CG-36454 and CG-40564 were also lost and five Coastguardsmen perished.^[5]

On 26 January 1965 she escorted the listing MV Elaine from 180 miles off Astoria to

(WMEC-168). Yocona underwent a $500,000.00 refit; overhauled one main engine, one ship service generator, and upgraded every major engineering system. This 1965 upgrade greatly extended her service life.

On 13 September 1969 her crew repaired the engine on the disabled FV Karre 300 miles southeast of

. On 6 June 1970 she seized the South Korean FV Tae Yang 203 and FV Tae Yang 205 for a territorial waters violation off of Alaska.

During the mid-1970s Yocona deployed five environmental buoys for U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from the Gulf of Alaska to San Diego, California. The buoys were designed to collect weather and sea data on station and relay the information via satellite to the National Weather Service center (NWS) in New Orleans, Louisiana. The buoy anchoring process was difficult due to the sea depth, which was miles. Most of the buoys were non-functional or lost within a year or two after deployment.

In April, 1978, Yocona seized the MV Helena Star after Yocona's boarding team discovered ten tons of marijuana on board. The Helena Star was steaming in U.S. territorial waters whilst showing no flag, which precipitated the boarding.

She was transferred to Kodiak, Alaska in August, 1983 for search and rescue, law enforcement, firefighting, fishery patrol, and salvage duties. On 19 January 1987 she towed the disabled FV Seattle Star to Unalaska Bay, Alaska. On 26 January 1987 she provided medical assistance to the FV Pacific Enterprise. On 27 January 1987 she assisted the MV Tempest off Cape Pankoff after Tempest had an explosion. On 7 February 1987 she fought a fire aboard the FV Amatuli 45 miles east of Cape Pankoff, Alaska. On 8 February 1987 she assisted the FV Fukuyoshi Maru No 85 On 20 August 1987 she apprehended the 66-foot FV Constitution in Peterson Bay, Alaska for using illegal fishing gear.

While on a three-week Alaska Fisheries Patrol in February, 1988, she rescued the grounded FV Last Frontier at Constantine Harbor, Amchitka Island, Alaska. After first putting into U.S. Naval Air Station Adak to de-water her, she then towed the vessel to Dutch Harbor, Alaska.

The next day, 28 February 1988, she fought a fire in the cargo hold of the fish processing ship Tempest, which was anchored in

dropped fire-fighting equipment to Yocona. Thirty-nine of the 49 crewmen aboard Tempest were evacuated safely while the rest remained aboard to assist in fighting the fire. After 26 hours the fire was extinguished.

In 1989 the Yocona was in

painted "Yo Mama" on Yocona's transom. This prank was noticed by the BMOW the next day, though Yocona endured this nickname for the duration of the spill response.

Yocona conducted 153 law enforcement boardings. Fifty-six for boating, and eleven for

planning, and improved intelligence products.

In March 1995, Yocona earned the Pacific Area Cutter Achievement Award at San Diego, California with a final average 98% overall rating. In November 1995, Yocona participated in a fisheries law enforcement exchange with Russian Maritime Border Guard officers who were on a training visit in Kodiak, Alaska.

On her last patrol prior to being decommissioned, Yocona was awarded her fifth

during the period of 19 May 1994 through 30 May 1996."

Citation (partial) Fifth U.S. Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation with Operational Distinguishing Device

...YOCONA conducted 153 law enforcement boardings resulting in 56 boating and 11 fisheries Magnuson Act violations. In addition, YOCONA continued to stop illegal aliens during boardings. Yocona successfully prosecuted ten Search and Rescue cases which included a vessel saved from grounding. As the Alaska patrol experts, YOCONA's valuable input to the Seventeenth District has been routinely used for threat assessment planning and improved intelligence products for all cutters. In March of 1995, YOCONA earned the Pacific Area Cutter Achievement Award at San Diego, California with a final average 98% overall rating. In November 1995, YOCONA participated in a professional fisheries law enforcement exchange with the Russian Maritime Border Guard Officers on a training visit in Kodiak, Alaska. YOCONA also completed a half million dollar dry dock availability, overhauled one main engine and one ship service generator, and upgraded every major engineering system during the period. These accomplishments allowed the 52-year-old-plus cutter to meet every operational commitment on time...

After four years of U.S. Navy service, and fifty years of U.S. Coast Guard service, Yocona was decommissioned on 14 June 1996. In June 1999 Yocona was photographed by Mr Joe Lewis of the National Association Fleet Tug Sailors (NAFTS) tied up at the north side of Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and was supposedly to be made a museum ship.^[1][3]

The museum effort did not succeed and Yocona was returned to the U.S. Navy to be used as a naval gunnery target at Guam scheduled in 2006. Yocona was sunk during Fleet Exercises on 20 June 2006.^[6]

Awards and honors

The Yocona was awarded the following unit decorations:

• Award stars
  . For the periods of:
• 1 June 1977 to 31 May 1978.
• 1 July 1979 to 1 May 1981.
• 9 June 1983 to 11 June 1983.
• 1 August 1992 to 18 May 1994.
• 19 May 1994 to 30 May 1996.
• Award stars
  . For the periods of:
• 18 February 1988 – 29 February 1988.
• 1 August 1988 – 1 August 1990.
• 10 January 1989 – 12 January 1989.
• 1 March 1991 – 1 May 1992.

The crew of Yocona was authorized the following individual decorations:

• National Defense Service Medal 3 awards, for service during the Korean, Viet Nam, and first Gulf wars.
• Humanitarian Service Medal 2 awards.
• Special Operations Service Ribbon 2 awards.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Coast Guard.

• "United States Coast Guard Historian's Office". U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Archived from the original on 16 September 2008.
• Scheina, Robert (1982). U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft of World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: U.S. Naval Institute Press.
• Scheina, Robert (1990). U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft, 1946-1990. Annapolis, Maryland: U.S. Naval Institute Press.
• Medals and Awards Manual (PDF). United States Coast Guard. May 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2015.

External links

• Photo gallery of USS Seize at NavSource Naval History
• Colton, Tim. "Basalt Rock Company". Shipbuilding History.