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USCGC ''Tupelo'' WAGL/WLB-303, was a Cactus (A) Class 180 foot buoy tender built by Zenith Dredge Company of Duluth, Minnesota. Her keel was laid 15 August 1942, launched 28 November 1942 and commissioned on 30 August 1943. She was built as a WAGL and redesignated a WLB in 1965. ==Ship's history== In the spring of 1943 ''Tupelo'' serviced aids to navigation (ATON), did search and recovery work near Norfolk, Virginia and broke ice in Chesapeake Bay. ''Tupelo'' was refitted as a Navy Damage Control Ship at the United States Coast Guard Yard Baltimore, Maryland in 1943. En route to the Pacific Theatre of Operations, via the Panama Canal, ''Tupelo'' went to the aid of the seagoing tugboat ''MV Atengo'', which was in peril off the western coast of Mexico in a hurricane. During the rescue a crewman of ''Atengo'' had his hand mangled in an accident. ''Tupelo's'' surgeon treated the man and had to amputate his thumb. ''Tupelo'' was at Kwajalein Atoll next, en route to Guam with a convoy of Landing Craft Infantry (LCIs) . In 1944 she took tow of ''USS Oregon (BB-3)'' from a U.S. Navy seagoing tug, the ''Oregon'' was then a hulk to be used as a dynamite barge in Guam. ''Tupelo'' towed ''Oregon'' 100 miles to Guam. Upon arrival in Guam, which was still held by the Japanese ''Tupelo'' received her baptism under fire, while the U.S. fleet shelled the island. ''Tupelo's'' crew blasted a channel in the reef on the south side of Guam to accept ''Oregon's'' draft. ''Oregon'' was loaded with 1500 tons of 40 percent gelatin dynamite. From 1944 to 1946 ''Tupelo'' was assigned to Navy Service Squadron Four, the "Harbor Stretchers", U.S. Navy CINCPAC and served in the Pacific Theater establishing and maintaining over 50 massive moorings for U.S. Navy ships with 15 ton anchors and 2-1/2 inch chain. She was also used to set buoys around minefields and to transport tons of dynamite to U.S. forces throughout the Pacific Islands. ''Tupelo'' was also responsible for maintaining Aids to Navigation (ATON) at Guam. Following the war, on 1 July 1946 ''Tupelo'' was reassigned to Toledo, Ohio for maintaining Aids to Navigation (ATON), search and rescue, law enforcement and ice breaking on Lake Erie. On 25 June 1950 she patrolled the Mills Trophy Race off Kelleys Island, Ohio. On 27 November 1950 she assisted the tug ''MV Whitney'' and two scows 1.5 miles off of Toledo, Ohio. From 9 through 11 January 1951 she escorted the disabled tugboat ''MV Sherman H. Serre'' from Erie, Pennsylvania to Cleveland, Ohio. On 24 June 1951 she once again patolled the Mills Tropy Race at Kelleys Island, Ohio. On 20 October 1951 she assisted ''MV George F. Rand'' off of Port Huron, Michigan. During 13–14 December 1951 she searched for but did not find a missing Cessna aircraft in western Lake Erie. On 11 September 1952 she assisted grounded ''MV Kulas'' and ''MV Fink'' in the Livingstone Channel. From 23 to 25 September 1952 ''Tupelo'' searched for but did not find an overdue pleasure craft (PC) in western Lake Erie. On 21 April 1953 she assisted the grounded ''MV J.H. Hillman'' in the St. Clair River. During 23 through 25 August 1953 she ran a safety patrol for the Rochester Race in Lake Ontario. On 24 January 1955 she assisted an icebound tug and barges near Detroit. On 13 June 1955 ''Tupelo'' searched for a missing pleasure craft in western Lake Erie. On 20 April 1956 she assisted following collision between ''MV A.M. Byers'' and ''MV E.M. Ford'' off Sans Souci. On 14 July 1957 ''Tupelo'' patrolled the International Race near St Clair, Michigan. On 12 November 1957 she assisted a grounded vessel in Amherstburg Channel. On 1 March 1958 she helped restore power to Marblehead, Ohio. From 4 to 5 October 1958 ''Tupelo'' patrolled the Cleveland Race. During 25 through 26 Jul 1959 she patrolled Mackinac Island Race. In 1961 ''Tupelo'' salvaged PCJ-3776. On 1 August 1962 she assisted ''MV Montense'' after it wrecked in the Detroit River. On 12 January 1963 she assisted in the rescue of 154 persons stranded on an ice floe adrift 10 miles east of Toledo, on 25 January 1965 she escorted the damaged ''USCGC Bramble (WLB-392)'' to Toledo, Ohio for repair, in mid-September 1965 ''Tupelo'' salvaged a downed U.S. Navy helicopter from Lake Erie. On 31 January 1969 an ice jam blocked the flow of the river below Monroe, Michigan, causing the river to back up and flood the city, ''Tupelo'' broke up the ice jam, restoring the river’s flow into the lake thus saving the city from extensive damage. During the Lake Erie station era ''Tupleo'' participated in Operation Coal Shovel. In the spring of 1969 ''Tupelo'' was reassigned to Astoria, Oregon relieving ''USCGC Magnolia (WLB-328)'' Her duties there were maintaining Aids to Navigation (ATON), search and rescue operations, ice breaking and law and fishing treaty enforcement. ''Tupelo'' also tended the lightship ''USCGC Columbia (WLV-604)'' while ''Columbia'' was on station at the Columbia River Bar. From 9 through 11 October 1969 ''Tupelo'' stood by grounded British ''MV Hawthorne Enterprise'' on Mona Island until relieved by the ''USCGC Point Warde (WPB-82368)''. On 30 September 1975 the ''Tupelo'' was decommissioned at a ceremony in Astoria, Oregon. In September 1977 ''Tupelo'' was sold to private enterprise. She underwent extensive rework to her superstructure and had a new power plant installed for her new Seattle owners, Baranof Fisheries. She was renamed ''FV Courageous'' and has been fishing the Bering Sea for crab and longlining for cod for the last thirty years. Her catches are also processed on board. In October 2008 in rough seas, the ''FV Courageous'' was instrumental in assisting the U.S. Coast Guard on the ''FV Katmai'' search and rescue operation; and by recovering bodies from the sunken vessel. 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 Tupelo」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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