![]() USCGC Dione on 17 May 1945 | |
History | |
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Name | USCGC Dione |
Namesake | Dione, mother of Aphrodite |
Owner | United States Coast Guard |
Builder | Manitowoc Shipbuilding Corporation |
Cost | US$258,000 |
Yard number |
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Laid down | 10 November 1933 |
Launched | 30 June 1934 |
Commissioned | 5 October 1934 |
Recommissioned | 4 February 1951 |
Decommissioned |
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In service |
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Refit |
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Homeport |
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Identification | Visual call sign: WPC-107 |
Fate | Sold by USCG on February 24, 1964 |
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Name |
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Namesake | Dione, mother of Aphrodite |
Owner |
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Port of registry | New Orleans, Louisiana (c. 1978) |
In service | 1964–1992 |
Homeport |
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Identification |
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Fate | Last reported in 1992 |
General characteristics (1933 construction) | |
Class & type | Thetis-class patrol boat |
Displacement | 337 long tons (342 t) |
Length | 165 ft (50 m) overall |
Beam | 25 ft 3 in (7.70 m) |
Draft | 7 ft 8 in (2.34 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | Two three-bladed propellers |
Speed |
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Range |
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Capacity | 7,700 US gal (29,000 L; 6,400 imp gal) |
Complement | 5 officers, 39 ratings |
Sensors & processing systems | Wireless |
Armament | |
General characteristics (1945 refit) | |
Displacement | 350 tons |
Draft | 10 ft (3.0 m) |
Complement | 7 officers, 68 men |
Sensors & processing systems | |
Armament | 2 x 3-inch/50; 2 x 20 mm/80; 2 x depth charge tracks; 2 x Mousetraps; 2 x Y-guns |
General characteristics (in civilian use) | |
Type |
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Tonnage | |
Sensors & processing systems | Class A AIS transponder (as Al Rashid) |
USCGC Dione (WPC-107) was a Thetis-class patrol boat operated by the United States Coast Guard between 1934 and 1963. She was laid down in 1933 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and both launched and commissioned the next year.
Assigned to Norfolk, Virginia, the cutter was most prominent for her role as an anti-submarine ship during World War II, operating in the region off the Outer Banks of North Carolina nicknamed "Torpedo Alley". During her service in Torpedo Alley, she rescued the survivors of several sunken ships, escorted Allied convoys, and attempted to hunt and sink German U-boats—though she had no success in that capacity.
Dione was decommissioned in 1947 after serving in law enforcement and search and rescue, but was recommissioned in 1951 and assigned to Freeport, Texas. She operated there until her decommissioning in 1963, and was sold as a supply ship the next year. She would later be operated out of the Gulf Coast region by several companies and be known by three subsequent names.
Hull number 277 [1] was a Thetis-class patrol boat [2] built by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Corporation in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Her keel was laid on 10 November 1933. [3] The cutter was launched on 30 June 1934, and was commissioned on 5 October of that year. [1] [4] She was named for Dione, a Titaness and the mother of the goddess Aphrodite in Greek mythology. The cutter cost US$285,000 to construct. [2] Dione's building number was P-13 [5] and her visual call sign was WPC-107. [1]
Alongside her 17 sister ships, Dione and the rest of the Thetis class was designed to combat alcohol smuggling during Prohibition. The cutters were intended to be large and fast enough to intercept large smuggler ships that loitered off the American coast. These so-called "mother ships" were an issue, as they supplied alcohol to small boats that brought the drinks ashore. [6] : 108 The ships formed the outer ring of a newly-built network of cutters intended to intercept smuggling. While the Thetis and Active classes patrolled off the coast, a range of smaller cutters and boats patrolled closer to shore to create a continuous buffer of Prohibition enforcement that stretched from the open ocean to inner harbors. [6] : 89, 95, 99, 105
Throughout her career, Dione had an overall length of 165 feet (50 m) and had a beam of 25.25 feet (7.70 m). When she was constructed in 1933, the cutter had a draft of 7.67 feet (2.34 m). She had two three-bladed propellers, powered by two 6-cylinder diesel engines which were each capable of producing 670 brake horsepower (500 kW), [2] for 1,340 horsepower total. [7] Her displacement was 337 long tons (342 t ) while fully loaded. [2]
The cutter could travel a maximum speed of 16 knots (30 km/h ; 18 mph ), a maximum sustained speed of 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph), a cruising speed of 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph), and an economic speed of 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph). She had a range of 1,750 miles (2,820 km) while traveling at her maximum sustained speed, a range of 3,000 miles (4,800 km) while traveling at her cruising speed, and a range of 6,417 miles (10,327 km) while traveling at her economic speed. [2]
She was fitted with a 3-inch/23-caliber anti-aircraft gun and a 1-pounder pom-pom for defense. She carried a wireless system [2] and had a fuel capacity of 7,700 U.S. gallons (29,000 L). [3]
Dione was constructed with the goal of enforcing Prohibition, though the Twenty-first Amendment had repealed the ban on alcohol in 1933—a year before she was completed. [8] She was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. [2] [9]
The cutter primarily operated in a search and rescue capacity, responding to vessels that had signaled that they were in distress, [10] [11] carrying injured seamen to Norfolk, [12] [13] and locating the wreckage of downed planes. [14] She also operated in miscellaneous capacities, such as accompanying vessels participating in a Hampton One-Design race in August 1941. [15]
In November 1937, Dione joined in on the search for survivors of the sunken cargo ship Tzenny Chandris, which had sunk in a storm off Hatteras on the night of 12–13 November. Multiple lifeboats were found empty, but 15 survivors were eventually found clinging to wreckage by the cutter Mendota and were subsequently taken to Norfolk. [16] [17]
After the American entry into World War II, Dione was assigned to both the Fifth Naval District —the United States Navy (USN) command responsible for defending American coastal waters off southeastern Virginia and North Carolina —and the Eastern Sea Frontier, a USN operational command. [2] [8] The cutter was assigned to anti-submarine duties, and was the only ship there capable of opposing German submarines, called U-boats. [18] While filling out this duty, she operated out of Naval Operating Base Norfolk. [2]
In December 1941, Dione's 1-pounder gun was removed. Installed in its place two racks to hold depth charges and a Y-gun depth charge launcher, [2] which was designed to throw depth charges over the sides of the ship. [19] The cutter mainly patrolled the waters between Norfolk and Morehead City, North Carolina to hunt search for U-boats; she also made mail runs to the lightships that operated off the Outer Banks and was under orders to investigate distress signals sent from torpedoed ships. [18] [20]
Dione was placed under the command of Lieutenant Nelson McCormick in January 1942. Much to McCormick's anger, the cutter seemed to be too far away whenever she raced to respond to distress signals, so the lieutenant decided to take an offensive strategy to his patrols, using Dione as a killer rather than a rescuer. After deducing that U-boats generally attacked at night and "slept" during the day, McCormick decided to abandon his usual routine in favor of grid-searching the waters off the Outer Banks for U-boats. The cutter's searches would often utilize sonar and other sound-detection gear. [18] [20]
Sometime at the end of January, Dione dropped six depth charges after her sonar man reported an "underwater object" 20 miles (32 km) off Oregon Inlet. Two airplanes soon arrived, making several runs on a rapidly spreading patch of oil. They reported to McCormick that they saw something long and narrow, raising the lieutenant's hopes of sinking a U-boat. An oar and a boat hook eventually surfaced, and when brought aboard were found to have been from the oil tanker Francis E. Powell, which had been sunk by U-130 on 27 January. [18]
In early February, Dione was ordered to Little Creek Section Base to pick up a new master, Lieutenant James Alger. McCormick was kept aboard Dione as an executive officer, and to command the cutter when intricate maneuvers were required. On Alger's first day, Dione's sonar operator called out an echo. Nothing was initially found, but a second echo later in the afternoon caused the cutter's new master to order depth charges dropped. After a spew of oil came to the surface, two life rafts were dispatched to collect samples—much like McCormick, Alger had Dione drop depth charges on a sunken oil tanker. [18]
On 12 February, the cutter's sonar operator reported a periscope off Dione's port beam. Alger ordered general quarters and had depth charges dropped from both the Y-gun and the rack, some going off at 100 feet (30 m) while others went off at 50 feet (15 m). Dione rapidly accelerated, her lights and equipment going dead as the cutter's propellers came free of the water. The cutter's engines were stopped and her electrical power was restored. No U-boat was spotted, if there even was one. Dione had been "blinded by her own depth charges." [18]
Later that same month, on 19 February, the cutter towed the minesweeper USS Paramount to Morehead City after she had been grounded at the entrance to Ocracoke Inlet. [21] Dione set off for Cape Henry late at night on 27 February to assist the torpedoed freighter North Sea. The freighter was found by Dione early the next morning, shell holes dotted across her hull. Apparently, a U-boat's attack on North Sea had been halted due to a storm that had tossed the U-boat about and ruined its aim. Dione towed the damaged freighter, which had lost its steering capabilities in the attack, to Little Creek by the end of the day. [18]
On 17 March, Dione rescued the crew of the damaged storage tanker Acme, which had been torpedoed by the German submarine U-124 (1940) one nautical mile (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) west of the Diamond Shoals Light Buoy. [22] That same day, she picked up the crew of a Greek vessel, Kassandra Louloudis, and took her survivors on as well and delivered everyone to Norfolk. [23]
On 20 March, Dione made contact with a U-boat. A US Coast Guard airplane from the Elizabeth City Air Station dropped two depth charges with unknown results. [2] On 23 March, she responded to the distress signals of the oil tanker Naeco , torpedoed by U-124. The cutter rescued at least ten survivors from a lifeboat and two more from the water, all of whom were taken to Norfolk. [18] [24]
Three days later, on 26 March, Dione spotted flames from the sinking oil tanker Dixie Arrow and headed to investigate. The tanker's survivors had already been rescued by the destroyer USS Tarbell, and Alger was furious after finding nothing but debris. The cutter then headed south to the waters off Hatteras, North Carolina. [18] On 5 April, Dione responded to the torpedoed oil tanker Byron D. Benson, and pulled one survivor from the water. [18] [25]
Dione rendezvoused with USS Dickerson on 14 April, near the Diamond Shoals Light Buoy. Lieutenant Dick Bacchus had taken over as the cutter's navigator and executive officer, though McCormick remained aboard. As the two ships began convoy work, Dione struggling to keep up with the destroyer, described as looking, "like a sheep dog barking at the heels of his flock." The convoy was joined by another cutter, and escorted two freighters north past North Carolina. After Dickerson relieved both cutters of duty, Dione headed back south for a nightly patrol. [18]
At morning on 15 April, Dione met up with Dickerson once more to escort a convoy, this time consisting of two British trawlers, two American tankers, and an American freighter. The tankers were so fast that they vanished over the horizon and disappeared from the convoy's sight. Alger chose to be aggressive despite supposed to be close by the convoy, ranging out and dropping depth charges on any suspected echos to "keep the U-boat off balance." [18]
Dione continued escorting ships alongside Dickerson, falling into a repetitive routine. The tanker would conduct escort duty during the day, and would patrol for U-boats during the night. These convoys were nicknamed "bucket brigades" after the old-fashioned method of transporting buckets during a fire. Since the convoys had begun, not a single ship had been lost to U-boats near Cape Hatteras or Cape Lookout. [18] On 18 April, Dione was observed dropping depth charges on an unknown submarine, with no visible results. [2]
On 19 April, Dione arrived to escort a convoy by herself. She initially met up with eight merchant ships of several nationalities, and was eventually joined by a British trawler and an 88-foot cutter. Alger ordered his ship to the front of the convoy. Dione's crew became concerned about the number of targets in the convoy, mainly big tankers. The convoy moved past Cape Hatteras without incident, and Alger was nearing the drop-off point by 1900 hours. He had used Dione as a destroyer, screening and picking up stragglers in an attempt to keep them up. Suddenly, a torpedo appeared in the water, racing towards the cutter. A USN airplane appeared and began diving towards the convoy, Alger giving the order to turn hard to starboard and move full ahead. The torpedo meant for Dione missed the cutter but instead struck the tanker Axtell J. Byles at 2000 hours, which sank some time thereafter. Something was struck by one of Dione's depth charges. Following this incident, it was decided that the convoys should run at night to reduce the risk of casualties. [18]
Dione began patrolling around the Wimble Shoals Buoy after her escort missions were finished, beginning demolition exercises on Axtell J. Byles' wreck on April 25. Her crew dropped depth charges on the wreck all day, hoping to discover what they had hit. On 29 April, Dione was ordered back to Little Creek for repairs and rearmament. Work on the cutter finished on 13 May. [18]
On 18 May, Dione left Norfolk to join a convoy heading to Key West, Florida. On 20 May, it was discovered that the cutter's port engine was "acting up". It was decided that she would continue on the convoy running on one engine while her other one was repaired. She traveled in the starboard quarter of the convoy and occasionally traveled further away from the convoy to listen for sonar pings. Dione was eventually forced to fall to the rear position after a ship began lagging behind. The convoy reached Florida on 23 May. [18]
Sometime in May, Dione met up with USS Ellis, a destroyer of the same class as Dickerson. The two ships completed support missions and responded to US Coast Guard aircraft reports. On one occasion, the duo steamed to the location of two allegedly damaged and submerged U-boats roughly 50 miles (80 km) off the New Jersey coast and dropped depth charges. [9]
On 15 June, a convoy Dione was escorting began maneuvering into a single-file line in preparation to enter the Chesapeake Bay. Suddenly, the fifth tanker in the line shook as water and smoke erupted from its side. The tanker, Robert C. Tuttle, had struck a mine and began to sink as vacationers in Virginia Beach watched in horror. [18] Believing the tanker had been torpedoed, the tanker Esso Augusta attempted to flee, only to strike a mine herself. Dione dropped eight depth charges, and her ninth caused yet another explosion to occur. Eyewitnesses claimed to have seen a U-boat, but naval officials concluded that the incident was due to mines laid in the Thimble Shoal Channel between Virginia Beach and Virginia's eastern shore. [26] [27]
On 24 June, at 1900 hours, the cutter made an underwater contact while escorting a convoy. Five minutes later, she dropped one depth charge with no results. At 1910 hours, two other ships in the convoy, Nordland and Manuela, appeared to have been torpedoed. Dione made a sweep search for the submarine, which appeared to be on the convoy's starboard side. Nordland proceeded to catch fire and sink, and her survivors were rescued by Norwich City. [2]
Dione made another contact with a U-boat the next day, dropping five depth charges. As a result, large amounts of oil bubbled to the surface. A doubtful contact was made just two days later, on 27 June, at 1054 hours. The cutter dropped four depth charges but yielded no results. [2] Dione was taken to Norfolk for repairs to her starboard engine at the end of the month. They lasted a week, and the cutter was back into action at the beginning of July. She continued her convoy escort duties into July and August, [18] though the U-boat threat off the Outer Banks had become almost non-existent by then. [28] Following the end of the Second Happy Time, the crew of Dione began to refer to the time period as the "Battle of Torpedo Junction." [18]
In early 1945, Dione was rearmed with two 3-inch/50-caliber guns, two 20 mm/80 cannons, two "Mousetrap" anti-submarine rocket launchers, and another Y-gun. Her wireless system was replaced with an SF radar system and a QCN-1 sonar system. The cutter's displacement was also increased to 350 long tons (360 t ). [2]
The cutter was selected as one of six vessels to serve as the USN's "Surrender Group" for the First Naval District off New England, alongside her sisters Argo and Nemesis. The role of the Surrender Group was to help escort surrendered Axis vessels to American ports where they would be acquired by the government. [29] [30]
On 17 May, Dione met up with U-1228, a German submarine that had fled to Allied waters following the German instrument of surrender on 8 May. The submarine surrendered itself to the Allies, and Dione was ordered to escort the German vessel to an American port. The cutter guided U-1228 to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and it was later taken to the Portsmouth Naval Yard. [31] [32] In June, Dione was sent back to the Fifth Naval District, where she was assigned to air and sea rescue duty. [2]
Between 1945 and 1947, Dione was used by the US Coast Guard for both law enforcement and search and rescue. She was eventually decommissioned on 23 July 1947, in Cape May, New Jersey, [33] where she spent several years in storage due to a lack of personnel. [2] The cutter was recommissioned on 4 February 1951, in Curtis Bay, Maryland, [34] after a shakedown cruise in the Caribbean. The reactivated Dione was stationed in Freeport, Texas, starting in 1952. [35] She was met with a yacht escort upon her arrival in the port on 19 March 1952. An enlisted sailors' dance and officer's dinner was held in the city, and local schools were closed so students could “extend typical Texan hospitality” to Dione and her crew. [33] [34]
Dione operated in a similar capacity as she had in Norfolk before the Second Happy Time: search and rescue. The cutter towed the damaged buoy tender USCGC Iris in January 1957, [4] helped put out a fire that had started aboard the Freeport sulfur barge FS-20 in 1959, [36] and towed a fishing vessel after a false emergency signal in 1962. [37]
She was the first of five 165 feet (50 m)-long cutters to undergo repairs to her hull in 1960. It was discovered that her insides had corroded and were hidden by insulation and furniture, her C strake —a longitudinal course of plating that stretched from the bow to the stern —had several leaks, and attempts to use welding arcs to fix the latter issue ended up "burning through the basic plate" and resulted in Dione's entire strake needing to be replaced. [38]
Dione remained in Freeport until the end of her service in 1963, and was decommissioned on 8 February of that year. [4] She was sold as a supply ship on 24 February 1964. [2]
The cutter eventually became a merchant vessel, and was given three new names over the course of her career: Delta I, Big Trouble, and Al Rashid. [39] [40] In 1968, while the ship was still named Dione, she was owned by the Palmer Decker Boat Company and based out of Port Arthur, Texas. [41] She had the call sign WD4627. [41] [42] After being renamed Delta I, she was given the new call sign WYTJ. The ship was 337 gross register tons and 142 net register tons. She was a freighter, owned by the Delta Marine Drilling Company as of 1970. [43] After being renamed Al Rashid, she was assigned the IMO number 7515080 and was converted into a multi-purpose offshore vessel. She had a gross register tonnage of 256. [44] Al Rashid was operated by SABIC, a Saudi chemical company. The ship was registered in New Orleans and listed as a supply ship in Lloyd's Register of Shipping. [45] She carried a class A AIS transponder [46] and had the official number 297193. [39]
The exact year the former Dione concluded her service is unknown, though the ship was last seen in service in 1992 as Al Rashid. [47]