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USCGC ''Acushnet'' (WMEC-167) was a cutter of the United States Coast Guard, homeported in Ketchikan, Alaska. She was originally USS ''Shackle'' (ARS-9), a ''Diver''-class rescue and salvage ship commissioned by the United States Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for coming to the aid of stricken vessels and received three battle stars during World War II, before a long career with the Coast Guard. ''Acushnet'' patrolled the waters of the North Pacific and was the sole remaining World War II era ship on active duty in the US fleet upon her retirement in 2011. ==United States Navy service - 1944 to 1946== (詳細はBasalt Rock Company in Napa, California; launched on 1 April 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Walker Cochran; and commissioned on 5 February 1944, Lieutenant Charles G. Jenkins, Jr., in command. At the time of its building, the country was at war and in need of more naval vessels. As a result of the necessity, three ships, identified only as "naval auxiliaries" underwent construction. The project took less than a year to complete and would become fleet rescue and salvage vessels serving in the Pacific Theater. These vessels would later all become Coast Guard cutters. ''Shackle''s first station was at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where she served as a salvage ship in the West Pacific throughout the remainder of WWII. ''Shackle''s first year was spent completing extensive salvage assignments clearing wreckage in the channels at Pearl Harbor and Midway Island. The vessel spent the rest of the year in Guam, Eniwetok, Tinian and Saipan.〔USCGC Fiftieth Anniversary pamphlet ''USCGC Acushnet Over 50 Years of Service'' dated 1994.〕 On February 15, 1945, ''Shackle'' sailed for the invasion of Iwo Jima where it successfully completed over 44 diving and salvage assignments. One of these was the battle repair of the which was hit by a Japanese shore battery. During March 1945, ''Shackle'' served as a supporting unit for the Okinawa invasion. Between D-Day (April 1, 1945) and September 20, 1945, the ship completed 55 salvage and rescue operations on larger naval craft damaged by kamikaze attacks. There were 108 general alarms during the period.〔 ''Shackle'' was also assigned to mine sweeping operations in the East China Sea where over 200 enemy mines of all types were sunk or destroyed. ''Shackle'' also cleared the vital docking area of the wreckage of sunken Japanese cable laying ship at Yokosuka Naval Base, Tokyo Bay, Japan. During all of these operations the ''Shackle'' suffered no damage or casualties. As part of her service in the Pacific Theater Shakle received three WWII battle stars, the WWII Victory Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the American Campaign Medal, and the Navy Occupation Service Medal. On August 23, 1946 USS ''Shackle'' was commissioned into the United States Coast Guard as USCGC ''Acushnet'' (WAT-167), a search and rescue vessel and was homeported in Portland, Maine. Image:Oninawa_zoom.jpg|Close-up of USS ''Shackle'' at Okinawa during WWII Image:USS_SHACKLE_ARS9_During_WWII.jpeg|USS ''Shackle'' circa 1944. Image:Shackle_ARS9_hardhat_Diver.jpeg|Ship Fitter (First Class) Jack B. Kirch, salvage diver, USN. USS ''Shackle'' (ARS-9) 1944. Image:USS_Shackle_at_Okinawa.jpg|USS ''Shackle'' conducting salvage operations at Okinawa. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USCGC Acushnet (WMEC-167)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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