USRC Gresham

Last updated

USRC Walter Q. Gresham.jpg
Gresham circa 1901
History
Flag of the United States.svgUnited States
NameGresham
Namesake Walter Q. Gresham (1832–1895), United States Secretary of State (1893-1895)
Operator
Awarded27 June 1895 [1]
Builder Globe Iron Works, Cleveland
CostUS$147,800 [1]
Launched12 September 1896 [2]
Completed10 February 1897
Commissioned30 May 1897
Decommissioned7 April 1944
Homeport Milwaukee
FateAcquired by Israel 1947, scrapped 1951
General characteristics
Displacement1,090 long tons (1,110 t)
Length205 ft 6 in (62.64 m)
Beam32 ft (9.8 m)
Draft12 ft 6 in (3.81 m)
Installed power Triple-expansion steam engine
Speed18 knots (design)
Complement9 officers, 63 men
Armament2 × 6-pounder, 1 x 1-pounder, 3 x 0.50-cal. machine gun, 1 bow torpedo tube

USRC Gresham was a cruising cutter and auxiliary gunboat built for the United States Revenue Cutter Service to patrol the Great Lakes. She was one of a series of cutters named for former U.S. Secretaries of the Treasury. Her namesake Walter Q. Gresham served as the 35th Secretary of the Treasury in 1884 and died in 1895 while serving as the 33rd U.S. Secretary of State. She became part of the newly created United States Coast Guard in 1915, and also served as a coastal convoy escort and patrol boat under United States Navy control during both World War I and World War II. After being decommissioned by the Coast Guard in 1944, she eventually came under Israeli control in 1947. She carried Jewish refugees from Italy to Palestine and later served in the fledgling Israeli Navy until 1951. [2]

Contents

Construction

Launching of Gresham at Cleveland in 1896 Launching of Future USRC Walter Q. Gresham.jpg
Launching of Gresham at Cleveland in 1896

The U.S. Revenue Cutter Service cutter was built by the Globe Iron Works in Cleveland. She was launched on 12 September 1896 and accepted by the Revenue Cutter Service on 10 February 1897. [1]

History

1897–1898

On 30 May 1897, she was commissioned as USRC Walter Q. Gresham. (Her name was shortened to USRC Gresham in 1904.) The new cutter was given a homeport in Milwaukee and assigned to patrol Lake Michigan. [1] Because of her modern armament, the Canadian government protested that her construction and deployment there were a violation of both the 1817 Rush–Bagot Treaty and the 1842 Webster–Ashburton Treaty which govern militarization of the Great Lakes. [2] On 22 July 1897, she participated in the dedication ceremony for the General John Logan Memorial in Chicago. [1]

Spanish–American War

Gresham during transport from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic coast in 1898 Barge transport of Gresham through St. Lawrence locks.jpg
Gresham during transport from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic coast in 1898

On 24 March 1898, Gresham was placed under U.S. Navy control. [1] She was cut in half and transported on barges through the Saint Lawrence locks for service on the Atlantic coast, although the war ended before she could see any action. [2]

1898–1915

On 17 August 1898, she was returned to the Department of the Treasury and assigned patrol duties along the Atlantic coast. [1] On 23 January 1909, Gresham came to the aid of RMS Republic after receiving the first-ever wireless distress signal when she collided with SS Florida near Nantucket. [2]

On 16 December 1910 schooner Abbie G. Cole was wrecked on Stone Horse Shoal, Gresham rescued her crew. An hour or two later she rescued the crew of Canadian Schooner S. A. Fownes just before she sank in a gale 5 or 6 miles south east of Monomoy Island having been blown over Pollock Rip Shoal earlier. Nine members of Gresham's crew received a Revenue Cutter Service Silver Lifesaving Medal for their efforts in the rescue of Fownes crew on 4 March 1914. [3] [4] [5]

On 1 November 1913, the Gloucester fishing schooner Annie M. Parker ran aground on Rose and Crown Shoal near Nantucket. Fearing that the ship would break up in the heavy surf, the fifteen crewmembers abandoned their vessel in four small boats. The boat carrying Capt. Vincent Nelson and three sailors disappeared during the night, while the ship's cook was lost overboard from another boat. On the following day, the surviving crewmembers were rescued by the schooner Tilton bound from Jacksonville, Florida to Portland, Maine with a cargo of lumber. Two days later, Annie M. Parker was sighted by the British steamer Astrakhan bound for Dunkirk. She was still fully rigged except for a missing jib and had floated free of the shoal otherwise undamaged. Astrakhan secured the derelict and left crewmembers to claim salvage rights on the $8,000 of salted cod in her hold before continuing on to France. On 5 November, Gresham towed the fishing schooner to New Bedford, Massachusetts. The fate of the missing crew was not known until Tilton arrived in Portland. [6] [7]

1915–1917

After becoming a U.S. Coast Guard cutter in 1915, Gresham continued her patrol duties until placed under U.S. Navy control on 6 April 1917. [1]

World War I

Gresham was refitted with three 4-inch guns and sixteen 300-lb depth charges. She then served as a coastal convoy escort and patrol gunboat during the war. [2] On 27 October 1917, Capt. B. H. Camden and several Gresham crewmembers received letters of commendation for having come to the aid of the five-masted schooner Dorothy Palmer. On 3 September 1918, Captain B. M. Chiswell, gunner F. W. Sarnow and boatswain H. B. Berg received letters of commendation for destroying the wreck of the four-masted schooner Madrugada off Winter Quarter Shoal near Virginia [8] after she had been attacked by SM U-117 on 15 August. [9]

1919–1935

After the Coast Guard was returned to the Department of the Treasury by the Navy on 28 August 1919, Gresham continued to serve until decommissioned on 19 January 1935. [2] In November 1930, she was transferred from the Atlantic coast to a new homeport at Mobile, Alabama. In September 1933, Gresham was temporarily assigned to the U.S. Navy Special Service Squadron for two months patrolling the Florida Straits near Cuba. [1]

1943–1944

In 1943, she was recommissioned USCGC Gresham (WPG-85) for service as a coastal convoy escort and guard ship. Her maximum speed of only 8 knots limited her usefulness as a convoy escort. Gresham was decommissioned on 7 April 1944. [2]

1944–1946

The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings, Point, New York acquired Gresham as a training ship for the academy until a newer surplus vessel replaced it in 1946.

Israeli service

INS Hatikvah (K-22) in 1949 INSTikvaK22.jpg
INS Hatikvah (K-22) in 1949

She was acquired by Mossad LeAliyah Bet in February 1947 and renamed Hatikvah (The Hope). [2] In May 1947, she carried 1,414 Jewish refugees from Italy to Haifa. The crew and passengers were arrested by the British authorities and interned in Cyprus. [10]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
    • "Record of Movements, Vessels of the United States Coast Guard, 1790–December 31, 1933" (PDF). Historic Documents. U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Eger, Christopher (22 October 2014). "Warship Wednesday October 22, 2014 the Overachieving Gresham". laststandonzombieisland.com. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  3. ↑ "Annual report of the United States Life Saving Service, Year ending June 30, 1914". Government Printing Office, Washington. Retrieved 24 February 2021– via Haithi Trust.
  4. ↑ "Abbie G. Cole (+1910)". Wrecksite. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  5. ↑ "S. A. Fownes (+1910)". Wrecksite. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  6. ↑ "Crewless, Sailed the Sea: Schooner with Cargo, All Canvas Set, Picked Up by Steamship" (PDF). The New York Times. 6 November 1913. p. 20. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  7. ↑ Arthur H., Gardner (1915). Wrecks Around Nantucket. New Bedford, Massachusetts: Reynolds Printing, Inc. p. 135. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  8. ↑ United States Coast Guard Roll of Honor (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1919. pp. 12–19. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  9. ↑ "U-Boat Sinks Schooner Without Any Warning" (PDF). The New York Times. 17 August 1918. pp. 1, 4. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  10. ↑ "Twelve Ships Acquired in North America". Aliyah Bet & Machal Virtual Museum. Retrieved 4 October 2020.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Revenue Cutter Service</span> Precursor to the U.S. Coast Guard

The United States Revenue Cutter Service was established by an act of Congress on 4 August 1790 as the Revenue-Marine upon the recommendation of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton to serve as an armed customs enforcement service. As time passed, the service gradually gained missions either voluntarily or by legislation, including those of a military nature. It was generally referred to as the Revenue-Marine until 31 July 1894, when it was officially renamed the Revenue Cutter Service. The Revenue Cutter Service operated under the authority of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. On 28 January 28 1915, the service was merged by an act of Congress with the United States Life-Saving Service to form the United States Coast Guard.

USS Aaron V. Brown was a revenue schooner in the service of the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for United States Postmaster General Aaron V. Brown, the only cutter to bear the name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank H. Newcomb</span> United States Coast Guard commodore (1846–1934)

Frank Hamilton Newcomb was a United States Revenue Cutter Service commodore, best known for his actions at the Battle of Cárdenas during the Spanish–American War.

The history of the United States Coast Guard goes back to the United States Revenue Cutter Service, which was founded on 4 August 1790 as part of the Department of the Treasury. The Revenue Cutter Service and the United States Life-Saving Service were merged to become the Coast Guard per 14 U.S.C. § 1 which states: "The Coast Guard as established January 28, 1915, shall be a military service and a branch of the armed forces of the United States at all times." In 1939, the United States Lighthouse Service was merged into the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard itself was moved to the Department of Transportation in 1967, and on 1 March 2003 it became part of the Department of Homeland Security. However, under 14 U.S.C. § 3 as amended by section 211 of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006, upon the declaration of war and when Congress so directs in the declaration, or when the President directs, the Coast Guard operates as a service in the Department of the Navy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Coast Guard Cutter</span> Commissioned vessel of the U.S. Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard Cutter is the term used by the U.S. Coast Guard for its commissioned vessels. They are 65 feet (19.8 m) or greater in length and have a permanently assigned crew with accommodations aboard. They carry the ship prefix USCGC.

USRC Walter Forward was a schooner constructed for service with the United States Revenue Marine. She was more commonly known as USRC Forward. Forward served with the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy in Mexican waters during the Mexican–American War and was commended for her actions during the Tabasco River landings by Commodore Matthew C. Perry, U.S. Navy. After the war, she was transferred to the U.S. Coast Survey for a short time as USCS Walter Forward before being returned to the Revenue Marine for service during the 1850s and the American Civil War.

USRC <i>Levi Woodbury</i>

USRC Levi Woodbury was a Pawtuxet-class screw steam revenue cutter built for the United States Revenue Cutter Service during the American Civil War. Built in 1863–64, she became one of the longest-serving revenue cutters in the Service's history, and was the oldest active-duty ship in U.S. government service by the end of her 51-year career.

USCGC <i>Seneca</i> (1908)

USCGC Seneca, or before 1915 USRC Seneca, was a United States Coast Guard cutter built and commissioned as a "derelict destroyer" with the specific mission of locating and then destroying abandoned shipwrecks that were still afloat and were a menace to navigation. She was designed with excellent sea-keeping qualities, a long cruising range, good towing capabilities, and by necessity the capacity to store a large amount of munitions. She was one of five Coast Guard cutters serving with the U.S. Navy in European waters during World War I.

USRC <i>Seminole</i>

USRC Seminole was a 188 ft (57 m), 845-ton United States Revenue Cutter Service steamer constructed by the Columbian Iron Works in Baltimore, Maryland for $141,000. She was commissioned in 1900 and saw service through 1934, when she was transferred to the Federal Emergency Relief Administration.

USRC <i>Massachusetts</i>

USRC Massachusetts was one of the first ten cutters operated by the Revenue-Marine. She was built in Newburyport, Massachusetts and served out of Boston. Massachusetts by tradition is held to be the first revenue cutter to enter active service. She was also the first to be decommissioned, having a very short service life of only about 15 months before being sold.

USCGC <i>Tampa</i> (1912) US Coast Guard ship

USCGC Tampa (ex-Miami) was a Miami-class cutter that initially served in the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, followed by service in the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy. Tampa was used extensively on the International Ice Patrol and also during the Gasparilla Carnival at Tampa, Florida and other regattas as a patrol vessel. It was sunk with the highest American naval combat casualty loss in World War I.

USRC <i>Manning</i>

USRC Manning was a revenue cutter of the United States Revenue Cutter Service that served from 1898 to 1930, and saw service in the U.S. Navy in the Spanish–American War and World War I.

USRC <i>Onondaga</i>

USRC Onondaga was an Algonquin-class cutter built for the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service for service on the Great Lakes. Because of the Spanish–American War, she was cut in half shortly before completion and transported to Ogdensburg, New York for service on the Atlantic coast although the war ended before she could be put into service. After the formation of the United States Coast Guard in 1915 she became USCGC Onondaga. She served as a patrol vessel at various Atlantic coast ports before World War I and unlike most Coast Guard cutters during World War I, she remained under the control of the Commandant of the Coast Guard. After the war she patrolled for a brief time based at New London, Connecticut before being decommissioned in 1923.

USRC <i>Mohawk</i>

USRC Mohawk, was a steel steam powered revenue cutter built for the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service by William R. Trigg Company at Richmond, Virginia. Her primary duties in the Revenue Cutter Service and Coast Guard were assisting vessels in distress and enforcing navigational laws as well as a derelict destroyer. Mohawk was sunk after a collision with another vessel in October 1917.

USRC <i>Dexter</i> (1874)

USRC Dexter was a Dexter-class cutter of the United States Revenue Cutter Service in commission from 1874 to 1908. She was the second ship of the Revenue Cutter Service to bear the name. The other Dexter-class cutters, all commissioned in 1874, were Dallas and Rush. Dexter was built by the Atlantic Works Company at Boston, Massachusetts. Captain John A. Henriques accepted her for service on 6 June 1874, and she was commissioned into the Revenue Cutter Service on 18 June 1874. Her role in the rescue of passengers from the sinking SS City of Columbus under winter gale winds brought her nationwide popular acclaim.

USRC Forward was a revenue cutter constructed for the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service in 1882 by Pusey & Jones shipyard in Wilmington, Delaware. She was the second Revenue Cutter Service vessel named Forward and was named for Walter Forward, the fifteenth United States Secretary of the Treasury. The iron-hulled vessel originally cost US$72,750 and was powered by a two-cylinder steam engine with a topsail schooner brigantine sail pattern. Although Forward was considered a model ship at the time of its construction, it was severely underpowered and had unreliable machinery. The cost of repairs in the first fifteen years of operation was US$52,000.

USS <i>Acushnet</i> Tugboat of the United States Navy

Acushnet – a steel-hulled revenue cutter – was launched on 16 May 1908 at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.; sponsored by Miss Alayce Duff; and commissioned at Baltimore on 6 November 1908. She saw service as a United States Revenue Cutter Service cutter, a U.S. Navy fleet tug, and as a U.S. Coast Guard cutter. She was taken out of service 8 January 1946.

USRC <i>Yamacraw</i>

USRC Yamacraw, was a steel-hull flush-deck cutter that served in the United States Revenue Cutter Service from 1909 to 1937 and was the sister ship to the USRC Tahoma.

USCGC <i>Unalga</i>

USCGC Unalga (WPG-53) was a Miami-class cutter that served in the United States Revenue Cutter Service and later the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy. The early part of her career was spent patrolling the Pacific coast of the United States and the Bering Sea. After 1931 she did patrol work off Florida and in the Caribbean. After Unalga was sold in 1946, she was renamed after Jewish Agency leader Haim Arlosoroff and used for six months for moving Jewish refugees from Europe to Palestine before being forced to run aground by British Navy ships near Haifa.

USRC <i>Surveyor</i> US ship in War of 1812

USRCSurveyor was a ship of the United States Revenue Marine captured by the United Kingdom during the War of 1812. Despite the vessel's loss, the "gallant and desperate" defense of her crew against a superior force of the Royal Navy and the Corps of Royal Marines is commemorated by the United States Coast Guard. Along with the Royal Navy frigate which bested her in battle, HMS Narcissus, Surveyor is among six legendary ships memorialized in the lyrics of the Coast Guard march "Semper Paratus".

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.