Coast Guard history
On permanent transfer the ship was renamed and reclassified Kukui (WAK-186) as the needed large cargo vessel to supply the equipment and personnel for the construction and logistical support of the Pacific Loran-A and Loran-C systems. Her name was changed to Kukui, a name taken from a buoy tender that had just been decommissioned, and was given the designation WAK-186. She was converted to Coast Guard specifications at the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland. During her Coast Guard career she was based out of Honolulu, Hawaii.
Construction, major maintenance and supply of the systems was done by sailors of Kukui. Their dual role as seamen and construction workers was one of the most unique assignments in the armed forces. She carried on her decks two LCMs to ferry men and equipment to shore and also had three bulldozers, several trucks and a few jeeps stashed in her holds.
Seven months a year she was underway providing necessary logistic support to members of the Coast Guard LORAN chain throughout the western Pacific. During this time she delivered "everything from toothpicks to antenna poles; from a can of pepper to a Quonset hut." She also carried the complex electronic equipment necessary to set up the LORAN system. As a Coast Guard public affairs release noted: "The men and officers of the black-hulled cutter were a versatile group. They not only sailed the ship but they operated bulldozers, landing craft, trucks and jeeps."
A typical voyage would cover over 18,000 nmi (33,000 km; 21,000 mi) and Kukui would deliver 2,500,000 short tons (2,300,000 t ) of cargo to the many Coast Guard operated LORAN stations throughout the western Pacific. In all she would make over 20 stops at various stations and ports, including Yokosuka, Japan and Manila Harbor in the Republic of the Philippines. On 15 June 1953 she rendered medical assistance to a civilian workman injured at Batan LORAN station. In 1957 the crew of the Kukui observed a lack of books in the Philippine school districts they visited. The following year they got up a collection of 400 books to give to needy schoolchildren. Through hard work and perseverance they increased the total to 45,000 books within the next three years. She also delivered relief supplies to the island of Batan after it was hit by Typhoon Elaine.
On 1 December 1969, French Frigate Shoals LORAN Station was hit by a tidal wave, forcing the crew to evacuate and destroying much of the station. Kukui was sent to the island the following month and was responsible for her reconstruction and rehabilitation. On 24 June 1970 she collided with the M/V Myoriki Maru No. 25 six miles from Yokosuka, Japan, with both vessels receiving minor damage.
In January 1972, the Kukui received word that as part of a move to reduce Coast Guard spending, she would be decommissioned. She later received word that upon her decommissioning in Honolulu on 1 March 1972, she would be turned over to the Navy who in turn would give her to the Philippine Navy.
USS Murzim (AK-95) was a Crater-class cargo ship commissioned by the US Navy for service in World War II. She was named after Murzim, the star in constellation Canis Major. Murzim was manned by United States Coast Guard personnel and was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater.
USS Habersham (AK-186) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship that served the US Navy during the final months of World War II. She was named for Habersham County, Georgia.
USS Menkar (AK-123) was a Crater-class cargo ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was first named after John White, a settler among those who sailed with Richard Grenville, to present-day North Carolina, in 1585, to found the Roanoke Colony. White acted as artist and mapmaker to the expedition. He became the governor, in 1587, of the colony, and his granddaughter, Virginia Dare, was the first English child born in the Americas. She was renamed and commissioned after Menkar, the second-brightest star in the constellation of Cetus. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Phobos (AK-129) was a Crater-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Beaverhead (AK-161) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Beltrami (AK-162) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Chatham (AK-169) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Chicot (AK-170) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship commissioned by the US Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Claiborne (AK-171) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Clarion (AK-172) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Codington (AK-173) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Craighead (AK-175) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Herkimer (AK-188) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship that served the US Navy during the final months of World War II. Post-war she served in the Pacific Ocean theatre of operations for some time with the US Army as USAT Herkimer, and then as USNS Herkimer (T-AK-188), with the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) from 1950 to 1973. She was then transferred to the navy of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI).
USS Sussex (AK-213) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship that was constructed for the US Navy during the closing period of World War II. She was retained by the Navy for post-war service, including that in the Korean War theatre where she earned three battle stars and then returned home for deactivation.
USS Tipton (AK-215) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship that was constructed for the US Navy during the closing period of World War II. She was commissioned; however, the war ended and she was declared "excess to needs." She was then transferred to the US Coast Guard in 1946.
USCGC Nettle (WAK-169) was a United States Coast Guard Design 381 coastal freighter acquired from the United States Army and was designated as USA FS-396 during World War II army operations. She was transferred to the United States Coast Guard in 1947, and used for servicing aids to navigation and providing logistics support for U.S. Coast Guard manned LORAN stations in the Pacific Ocean.
USCGC Kukui (WLB-203) is the third cutter in the Juniper-class 225 ft (69 m) of seagoing buoy tenders and is the third ship to bear the name. She is under the operational control of the Commander of the Seventeenth Coast Guard District and is home-ported in Sitka, Alaska. Her primary area of responsibility is the inland and coastal waters of southeastern Alaska. Kukui conducts heavy lift aids-to-navigation operations, and law enforcement, homeland security, environmental pollution response, and search and rescue as directed.
Three cutters of the United States Coast Guard have been named Kukui
The USCGC Sweetbrier (WAGL-405/WLB-405) was an Iris-class 180-foot seagoing buoy tender operated by the United States Coast Guard. She served in the Pacific during World War II. Her entire post-war career with the Coast Guard was spent in Alaska. After she was decommissioned in 2001, she was transferred to the Ghana Navy and renamed Bonsu. She is still active.
Froemming Brothers of Milwaukee, Wisconsin was a shipyard that built ships for World War II under the emergency shipbuilding program, War Shipping Administration and United States Navy. Froemming Brothers shipyard was opened in 1942 by Ben Froemming (1902-1945). Froemming Brothers closed after the war in 1945, after building 26 ships. The shipyard was located on the north side of the Kinnickinnic River. The shipyard had 2,400 workers in three shifts. In 1945 it was sold to Wagner Iron Works and later sold to the Milwaukee Marine Yacht. The site today is Horny Goat Marina, Blue Max Charters and Clete Long Enterprises. The shipyard was in Bay View, Milwaukee neighborhood at 43.008597°N 87.911697°W.
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