USS Casco (AVP-12)

	USS Casco (AVP-12) in Puget Sound on 3 March 1943. Her main battery has been increased to four 5-inch (127 mm) 38-caliber guns.
History
United States Navy
Name	USS Casco (AVP-12)
Namesake	Casco Bay on the coast of Maine
Builder	Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington
Laid down	30 May 1940
Launched	15 November 1941
Sponsored by	Mrs. W. J. Giles
Commissioned	27 December 1941
Decommissioned	10 April 1947
Honors and; awards	Three battle stars for World War II service
Fate	Loaned to U.S. Coast Guard 19 April 1949
Badge
Acquired	Returned by U.S. Coast Guard March 1969
Stricken	1969
Fate	Sunk as target 15 May 1969
United States Coast Guard
Name	USCGC Casco (WAVP-370)
Namesake	Previous name retained
Acquired	19 April 1949
Commissioned	19 April 1949
Reclassified	High-endurance cutter (WHEC-370) on 1 May 1966
Decommissioned	21 March 1969
Fate	Returned to U.S. Navy March 1969
Badge	; Crest of USCGC Casco;
General characteristics (seaplane tender)
Class and type	Barnegat-class small seaplane tender
Displacement	1,766 tons (light); 2,750 tons (full load);
Length	311 ft 8 in (95.00 m)
Beam	41 ft 1 in (12.52 m)
Draft	13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
Installed power	6,000 horsepower (4.48 megawatts)
Propulsion	diesel engines, two shafts
Speed	18.6 knots (34.4 km/h)
Complement	215 (ship's company); 367 (with aviation unit);
Sensors and ; processing systems	Radar; sonar
Armament	1 × single 5 in (130 mm) 38-caliber dual-purpose gun mount ; 1 × quad 40 mm antiaircraft gun mount; 2 × dual 40-mm antiaircraft gun mounts; 4 × dual 20 mm antiaircraft gun mounts; 2 × depth charge tracks;
Aviation facilities	Supplies, spare parts, repairs, and berthing for one seaplane squadron; 80,000 US gallons (300,000 L)
General characteristics (Coast Guard cutter)
Class and type	Casco-class cutter
Displacement	2,528.72 tons (full load)
Length	310 ft 6.75 in (94.6595 m) overall; 299 ft 11 in (91.41 m) between perpendiculars
Beam	41 ft 0 in (12.50 m) maximum
Draught	13 ft 1 in (3.99 m) maximum
Installed power	6,000 bhp (4,500 kW)
Propulsion	Fairbanks-Morse direct-reversing diesel engines, two shafts; 166,429 US gallons (630,000 L) of fuel
Speed	18.6 knots (34.4 km/h) (maximum); 17.4 knots (32.2 km/h) (maximum sustained); 12.4 knots (23.0 km/h) (economic);
Range	10,138 nautical miles (18,776 km) at 17.4 knots (32.2 km/h); 20,000 nautical miles (37,000 km) at 12.4 knots (23.0 km/h)s,;
Complement	151 (10 officers, 3 warrant officers, 138 enlisted personnel)
Sensors and ; processing systems	Radar: SPS-23, SPS-29B ; Sonar: SQS-1 ;
Armament	one single 5-inch (127 mm) 38-caliber dual-purpose gun mount; 1 x Mark 10-1 antisubmarine projector

Last updated August 10, 2023

The third USS Casco (AVP-12) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1941 to 1947. She saw service in World War II. After her decommissioning, the U.S. Navy loaned her to the United States Coast Guard, in which she served as the cutter USCGC Casco (WAVP-370), later WHEC-370, from 1949 to 1969.

Construction and commissioning

Casco was laid down on 30 May 1941 at Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton, Washington. She was launched on 15 November 1941, sponsored by Mrs. W. J. Giles, and commissioned on 27 December 1941.

United States Navy service

World War II

North Pacific operations

After a period patrolling and caring for seaplanes off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, Casco arrived at Sitka, Alaska, on 5 May 1942 for duty surveying Aleutian waters, laying moorings for seaplanes, and providing seaplane tender services. Based at Cold Bay, she operated at Dutch Harbor, Chernofski Harbor, Kodiak, and Nazan Bay.

While lying at anchor in Nazan Bay on 30 August 1942, Casco was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine RO-61. The resulting boiler explosion killed five of her men and wounded 20, but due to heroics such as those of Aviation Ordanceman J. Cobean, who dove into the burning engine room and extinguished the source of the fire, a burning magnesium flare.^[1] The fire was put out and emergency crews got the ship underway so that she could be beached and later salvaged. Casco was refloated on 12 September 1942, and, after emergency repairs at Dutch Harbor and Kodiak, she received a thorough overhaul at Puget Sound Navy Yard.

Casco returned to duty in the Aleutian Islands in March 1943, operating at Constantine Harbor, Amchitka, as tender to Fleet Air Wing Four (FAW-4). In May 1943 she moved to Attu, to care for the seaplanes conducting antisubmarine patrol and search missions in support of the United States Army's invasion of Attu, guarding against further Japanese reinforcement or penetration of the Aleutians. Casco's service in these waters where weather was often as formidable an enemy as the Japanese ended in November 1943, when she left for overhaul at Puget Sound Navy Yard. During one of her stays in the Aleutians, an OS2U Kingfisher from the Casco was borrowed by Colonel William O. Eareckson for use as a forward air control aircraft, which personally flew on numerous missions.

Central Pacific operations

Casco arrived in the Marshall Islands in February 1944 to tend seaplanes of patrol squadrons at Majuro and Kwajalein during the American occupation of those atolls, and later at Eniwetok until September 1944. Temporarily assigned to carry cargo for the buildup for the invasion of the Philippine Islands, she shuttled between Saipan, Ulithi Atoll, and the Palau Islands until November 1944, then returned to seaplane tender duty, in the Palaus until January 1945, and at Ulithi until April 1945. After overhaul at Saipan, she arrived in Kerama Retto on 25 April 1945 to care not only for seaplanes, but also for a motor torpedo boat squadron, all engaged in the American invasion and occupation of Okinawa.

Casco returning to the United States West Coast in July 1945 for upkeep, and was there when hostilities with Japan ceased and World War II came to an end on 15 August 1945.

Honors and awards

Casco received three battle stars for World War II service.

Post-World War II

Her upkeep completed in September 1945, Casco returned to the Philippines in October 1945. Departing for the United States in April 1946, she then briefly assumed training duties at Galveston, Texas.^[2]

Decommissioning

Casco was decommissioned on 10 April 1947 and laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Orange, Texas.

United States Coast Guard service

The Barnegat-class ships were very reliable and seaworthy and had good habitability, and the United States Coast Guard viewed them as ideal for ocean station duty, in which they would perform weather reporting, law enforcement, and search and rescue tasks, once they were modified by having a balloon shelter added aft and having oceanographic equipment, an oceanographic winch, and a hydrographic winch installed. After World War II, the U.S. Navy transferred 18 of the ships to the U.S. Coast Guard, in which they were known as the Casco-class cutters.

Casco herself was transferred to the United States Coast Guard on 19 April 1949, and was commissioned as USCGC Casco (WAVP-370), the first Coast Guard ship of the name, the same day.

Service history

Casco was assigned to operate from Boston, Massachusetts, which was her home port throughout her period of service in the Coast Guard. She served as a weather reporting ship, and also supported Coast Guard law-enforcement and search-and-rescue operations in the Atlantic Ocean, operating on ocean stations. While on duty in one of these stations, she was required to patrol a 210-square-mile (544-square-kilometer) area for three weeks at a time, leaving the area only when physically relieved by another Coast Guard cutter or in the case of a dire emergency. While on station, she acted as an aircraft check point at the point of no return, a relay point for messages from ships and aircraft, as a source of the latest weather information for passing aircraft, as a floating oceanographic laboratory, and as a search-and-rescue ship for downed aircraft and vessels in distress. She was the first ship commanded by future Commandant of the Coast Guard Admiral J. William Kime.

Casco responded to the a distress call from the sinking fishing vessel Magellan on 22 August 1949, rescuing Magellan's crew and then saving Magellan from sinking.

When the fishing vessel Wamsutta became disabled, Casco took her under tow and towed her 86 nautical miles (159 km) from a point north of Nantucket, Massachusetts, to Boston on 23 January 1950.

On 26 August 1950, Casco rendezvoused with the Greek merchant ship Igor360 nautical miles (670 km) northeast of Bermuda and evacuated an Igor crewman in need of medical assistance. On 24 November 1954, she went to the assistance of the disabled fishing vessel Sea Ranger and towed Sea Ranger to safety.

On 23 March 1951, a Douglas C-124 Globemaster II ditched in the Atlantic Ocean after an explosion in the cargo hold, several hundred nautical miles west-southwest of Ireland and close to Casco's station. The ditching and subsequent evacuation were successful, but when Casco arrived at the ditching position, the aircraft and its occupants had vanished. No satisfactory explanation has been given for the disappearance of the crew and passengers.

On 17 February 1956, Casco took 21 men off of a United States Navy seaplane that had ditched 100 nautical miles (190 km) south of Bermuda, then towed the seaplane to St. George’s Harbor at Bermuda.

On 20 October 1958, Casco took a crewman in medical distress off of the merchant ship Maye Lykes.

In cooperation with universities in the eastern United States and international agencies, Casco conducted oceanographic experiments between South America and Africa from 1 August 1963 to 19 August 1963.

Casco was classified as a high endurance cutter and redesignated WHEC-370 on 1 May 1966.

Casco helped fight a major fire on Long Wharf at Boston on 27 March 1968.

Final disposition

The Coast Guard returned Casco to the U.S. Navy in March 1969, and she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register. She was sunk as a target in the North Atlantic Ocean at 36°40′00″N024°16′00″W / 36.66667°N 24.26667°W / 36.66667; -24.26667 ("USCGC Casco") on 15 May 1969. Torpedoed twice, she sank at 16:33 hours, less than five minutes after the second torpedo struck her on her starboard side.

Related Research Articles

The second USS Absecon (AVP-23) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1947, converted during construction to serve as a catapult training ship during World War II. The ship was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Absecon (WAVP-374), later WHEC-374, from 1949 to 1972. Transferred to South Vietnam in 1972, she served in the Republic of Vietnam Navy as the frigate RVNS Pham Ngu Lao (HQ-15) until she was captured by North Vietnam at the conclusion of the Vietnam War in 1975. After that, she served in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam's Vietnam People's Navy as PRVSN Pham Ngu Lao (HQ-01).

The second USS Mackinac (AVP-13) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1942 to 1947 that saw service during World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard from 1949 to 1967 as the cutter USCGC Mackinac (WAVP-371), later WHEC-371, the second ship of the Coast Guard or its predecessor, the United States Revenue Cutter Service, to bear the name.

USS Biscayne (AVP-11), later AGC-18, was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender in commission as a seaplane tender from 1941 to 1943 and as an amphibious force flagship from 1943 to 1946. She saw service during World War II. Transferred to the United States Coast Guard after the war, she was in commission as the Coast Guard cutter USCGC Dexter (WAGC-385), later WAVP-385 and WHEC-385, from 1946 to 1952 and from 1958 to 1968.

USS Yakutat (AVP-32) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1944 to 1946. Yakutat tended seaplanes in combat areas in the Pacific during the latter stages of World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard from 1948 to 1971 as the Coast Guard cutter USCGC Yakutat (WAVP-380), later WHEC-380, seeing service in the Vietnam War during her Coast Guard career. Transferred to South Vietnam in 1971, she was commissioned into the Republic of Vietnam Navy as the frigate RVNS Trần Nhật Duật (HQ-03). When South Vietnam collapsed in 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War, she fled to the Philippines, where the Philippine Navy took custody of her and cannibalized her for spare parts until discarding her in 1982.

USS Bering Strait (AVP-34) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1944 to 1946. She tended seaplanes during World War II in the Pacific in combat areas and earned three battle stars by war's end.

USS Coos Bay (AVP-25) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1946 that saw service during the latter half of World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard from 1949 to 1966 as the cutter USCGC Coos Bay (WAVP-376), later WHEC-376.

USS Cook Inlet (AVP-36) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1944 to 1946. She tended seaplanes during World War II in the Pacific and earned one battle star for her service. After the war, she was transferred to the United States Coast Guard, and was in commission as the Coast Guard cutter USCGC Cook Inlet (WAVP-384), later WHEC-384, from 1949 to 1971. She saw service in the Vietnam War during her Coast Guard career, receiving two campaign stars for her operations during the conflict. Transferred to South Vietnam in 1971, she operated as the Republic of Vietnam Navy frigate RVNS Trần Quốc Toản (HQ-06) until South Vietnam's collapse in April 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War. She fled to the Philippines and in 1976 was transferred to the Philippine Navy, which never commissioned her, instead using her as a source of spare parts for her sister ships, the Andrés Bonifacio-class frigates, before discarding her in 1982.

USS Unimak (AVP-31) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1946 that saw service in World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Unimak (WAVP-379), later WHEC-379, WTR-379, and again WHEC-379, from 1949 to 1975 and from 1977 to 1988.

BRP Andrés Bonifacio (PF-7) was a Philippine Navy frigate in commission from 1976 to 1985. She was one of six ex-United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tenders/ex-United States Coast Guard Casco-class high endurance cutters received from the United States after the Vietnam War, two of which were acquired to supply spare parts for the other four. Andrés Bonifacio was considered the lead ship of her class in the Philippine Navy, and she and her three commissioned sister ships were the largest Philippine Navy combat ships of their time.

USS Chincoteague (AVP-24) was a United States Navy seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1946 that saw service in the Pacific during World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Chincoteague (WAVP-375), later WHEC-375, from 1949 to 1972. She was transferred to South Vietnam in 1972 and was commissioned into service with the Republic of Vietnam Navy as the frigate RVNS Lý Thường Kiệt (HQ-16), seeing combat in the Battle of the Paracel Islands in 1974. When South Vietnam collapsed at the conclusion of the Vietnam War in 1975, she fled to the Philippines, where she was commissioned into the Philippine Navy, serving as the frigate RPSAndrés Bonifacio (PF-7) from 1976 to 1985.

BRP Diego Silang (PF-9) was an Andrés Bonifacio-class frigate of the Philippine Navy in commission from 1976 to 1990. She and her three sister ships were the largest Philippine Navy ships of their time.

USS Castle Rock (AVP-35) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1944 to 1946 which saw service in the late months of World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the Coast Guard cutter USCGC Castle Rock (WAVP-383), later WHEC-383, from 1948 to 1971, seeing service in the Vietnam War during her Coast Guard career. Transferred to South Vietnam in 1971, she served in the Republic of Vietnam Navy as the frigate RVNS Trần Bình Trọng (HQ-05) and fought in the Battle of the Paracel Islands in 1974. When South Vietnam collapsed at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, Trần Bình Trọng fled to the Philippines, where she served in the Philippine Navy from 1979 to 1985 as the frigate RPSFrancisco Dagohoy (PF-10).

USS Humboldt (AVP-21) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1941 to 1947 that served in the Atlantic during World War II. She was briefly reclassified as a miscellaneous auxiliary and redesignated AG-121 during 1945. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Humboldt (WAVP-372), later WHEC-372, from 1949 to 1969,

USS Matagorda (AVP-22/AG-122) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender in commission from 1941 to 1946 that saw service in World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Matagorda (WAVP-373), later WHEC-373, from 1949 to 1967.

USS Rockaway (AVP-29), later AG-123, was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1946. She served in both the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean during World War II. In 1948, she was loaned to the United States Coast Guard, in which she served as the cutter USCGC Rockaway (WAVP-377), later WAGO-377, WHEC-377, and WOLE-377, from 1949 to 1972.

USS Wachapreague (AGP-8) was a motor torpedo boat tender in commission in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946, seeing service in the latter part of World War II. After her Navy decommissioning, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard from 1946 to 1972 as the cutter USCGC McCulloch (WAVP-386), later WHEC-386, the fourth ship of the U.S. Coast Guard or its predecessor, the United States Revenue Cutter Service, to bear the name. In 1972 she was transferred to South Vietnam and served in the Republic of Vietnam Navy as the frigate RVNS Ngô Quyền (HQ-17). Upon the collapse of South Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, she fled to the Philippines, and she served in the Philippine Navy from 1977 to 1985 as the frigate RPSGregorio del Pilar (PF-8) and from 1987 to 1990 as BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF-12).

USS Half Moon (AVP-26) was a seaplane tender that in commission in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946 that saw service in the latter half of World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Half Moon (WAVP-378), later WHEC-378, from 1948 to 1969, seeing service in the Vietnam War during her Coast Guard career.

The second USS Barataria (AVP-33) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender in commission from 1944 to 1946. She saw service in the later stages of World War II and was decommissioned postwar. She then was transferred to the United States Coast Guard and was in commission as the Coast Guard cutter USCGC Barataria (WAVP-381), later WHEC-381 from 1949 to 1969, serving in the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War during her lengthy Coast Guard career.

The Barnegat class was a large class of United States Navy small seaplane tenders (AVP) built during World War II. Thirty were completed as seaplane tenders, four as motor torpedo boat tenders, and one as a catapult training ship.

The Casco class was a large class of United States Coast Guard cutters in commission from the late 1940s through the late 1980s. They saw service as weather reporting ships in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans until the early 1970s, and some saw combat service during the Vietnam War.

References

Notes

↑ Garfield, Brian (1969). The Thousand-Mile War. Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska Press. pp. 172–173.
↑ Per Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS Casco (AVP-12), 1941-1949 Archived 19 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine , which updates and corrects her original Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships entry (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c4/casco-iii.htm Archived 2 May 2013 at the Library of Congress Web Archives), which states that she returned to the "Far East" in the spring of 1946.

Sources

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.
Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS Casco (AVP-12), 1941-1949 Archived 19 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive: AVP-12 Casco WAVP-370 / WHEC-370 Casco
United States Coast Guard Historian's Office: Casco, 1949 WHEC-370 Radio call sign: NICB
United States Coast Guard Historian's Office: Mackinac, 1949 WHEC-371
Chesneau, Roger. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946. New York: Mayflower Books, Inc., 1980. ISBN 0-8317-0303-2.
Gardiner, Robert. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1982, Part I: The Western Powers. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1983. ISBN 0-87021-918-9.

External links

Photo gallery of Casco at NavSource Naval History

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.

[1] Garfield, Brian (1969). The Thousand-Mile War. Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska Press. pp. 172–173.

[2] Per Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS Casco (AVP-12), 1941-1949 Archived 19 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine , which updates and corrects her original Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships entry (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c4/casco-iii.htm Archived 2 May 2013 at the Library of Congress Web Archives), which states that she returned to the "Far East" in the spring of 1946.

[1]

[2]

v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in August 1942
Shipwrecks	1 Aug: Empire Imp 3 Aug: Dureenbee , U-335 4 Aug: Empire Arnold, USS Tucker, U-372 6 Aug: Mamutu, HMS Thorn, U-210, U-612 8 Aug: USS George F. Elliott, Strale, U-379 9 Aug: USS Astoria, HMAS Canberra, USS Jarvis, USS Quincy, USS Vincennes 10 Aug: Empire Birch, Fukuei Maru No. 15, Kako, Scirè 11 Aug: HMS Eagle 12 Aug: Cairo, Deucalion 13 Aug: Almeria Lykes, HMS Foresight, HMS Manchester, Santa Elisa, Waimarama 14 Aug: Empire Corporal , USS S-39 18 Aug: Empire Bede, Hatarana 19 Aug: HMS Berkeley, British Consul, Empire Cloud 20 Aug: U-464, V 312 Hanseat 22 Aug: USS Ingraham, U-458, U-654 23 Aug: USS Blue 24 Aug: Ryūjō 25 Aug: A. Sibiryakov, Mutsuki 27 Aug: Clan Macwhirter, V 208 R. Walther Darré 28 Aug: Asagiri, U-94 29 Aug: I-123, 'Ro-33 30 Aug: USS Colhoun, Star of Oregon, RFA Vardaas, West Lashaway 31 Aug: Ro-61 Unknown date: Empire Breeze, U-578
Other incidents	2 Aug: Molotov 3 Aug: USS S-13 4 Aug: USS S-17 6 Aug: U-444 12 Aug: Ohio 13 Aug: Bolzano 17 Aug: Nino Bixio 22 Aug: USS Chemung 25 Aug: USS R-2 27 Aug: I-8 28 Aug: USS S-31 29 Aug: HMS Eridge 30 Aug: USS Casco 31 Aug: HMS Vesper, HMS Vivacious
1941 1942 1943 July 1942 September 1942

v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1969
Shipwrecks	31 Jan: USS Sterlet 6 Feb: USS Redfish 13 Feb: HMAS Arunta 1 Mar: USS Day 21 Mar: Cody Victory 26 Mar: USS Charles F. Hughes March (unknown date): Poseidon, USS M 111-1 3 Apr: USS Tills 15 May: USCGC Casco, USS Guitarro 3 Jun: USS Frank E. Evans 24 Jun: USS Beale, USS Richard S. Bull 27 Jun: USS Snowden 29 Jun: Sincere 4 Jul: USS Witek 16 Jul: USS Manta, USS Tullibee July (unknown date): USS Richey 16 Sep: USS Trepang 23 Sep: Tufts Victory 8 Oct: USS Barton 10 Oct: USS Frank E. Evans 14 Oct: USS Madison 28 Oct: USS Vincennes October (unknown date): USCGC Matagorda 4 Nov: USS Bailey 7 Nov: USS Bream 19 Nov: USS Burrfish Unknown date: USS Heyliger, USS Pandemus, Lalor
Other incidents	12 Jan: Carmania 14 Jan: USS Enterprise 10 Feb: Lukia M 11 Feb: USS Chopper 25 Jun: Andromachi 20 Oct: USC&GS McArthur 23 Oct: HMCS Kootenay 15 Nov: USS Gato, K19 19 Dec: USS Iredell County Unknown date: ARA Bahía Buen Suceso, ROCS Hsien Yang
1968 1970

History
USS Casco (AVP-12) in Puget Sound on 3 March 1943. Her main battery has been increased to four 5-inch (127 mm) 38-caliber guns.
United States Navy
Name	USS Casco (AVP-12)
Namesake	Casco Bay on the coast of Maine
Builder	Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington
Laid down	30 May 1940
Launched	15 November 1941
Sponsored by	Mrs. W. J. Giles
Commissioned	27 December 1941
Decommissioned	10 April 1947
Honors and awards	Three battle stars for World War II service
Fate	Loaned to U.S. Coast Guard 19 April 1949
Badge
Acquired	Returned by U.S. Coast Guard March 1969
Stricken	1969
Fate	Sunk as target 15 May 1969
United States Coast Guard
Name	USCGC Casco (WAVP-370)
Namesake	Previous name retained
Acquired	19 April 1949
Commissioned	19 April 1949
Reclassified	High-endurance cutter (WHEC-370) on 1 May 1966
Decommissioned	21 March 1969
Fate	Returned to U.S. Navy March 1969
Badge	Crest of USCGC Casco
General characteristics (seaplane tender)
Class and type	Barnegat-class small seaplane tender
Displacement	1,766 tons (light) 2,750 tons (full load)
Length	311 ft 8 in (95.00 m)
Beam	41 ft 1 in (12.52 m)
Draft	13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
Installed power	6,000 horsepower (4.48 megawatts)
Propulsion	diesel engines, two shafts
Speed	18.6 knots (34.4 km/h)
Complement	215 (ship's company) 367 (with aviation unit)
Sensors and processing systems	Radar; sonar
Armament	1 × single 5 in (130 mm) 38-caliber dual-purpose gun mount 1 × quad 40 mm antiaircraft gun mount 2 × dual 40-mm antiaircraft gun mounts 4 × dual 20 mm antiaircraft gun mounts 2 × depth charge tracks
Aviation facilities	Supplies, spare parts, repairs, and berthing for one seaplane squadron; 80,000 US gallons (300,000 L)
General characteristics (Coast Guard cutter)
Class and type	Casco-class cutter
Displacement	2,528.72 tons (full load)
Length	310 ft 6.75 in (94.6595 m) overall; 299 ft 11 in (91.41 m) between perpendiculars
Beam	41 ft 0 in (12.50 m) maximum
Draught	13 ft 1 in (3.99 m) maximum
Installed power	6,000 bhp (4,500 kW)
Propulsion	Fairbanks-Morse direct-reversing diesel engines, two shafts; 166,429 US gallons (630,000 L) of fuel
Speed	18.6 knots (34.4 km/h) (maximum) 17.4 knots (32.2 km/h) (maximum sustained) 12.4 knots (23.0 km/h) (economic)
Range	10,138 nautical miles (18,776 km) at 17.4 knots (32.2 km/h) 20,000 nautical miles (37,000 km) at 12.4 knots (23.0 km/h)s,
Complement	151 (10 officers, 3 warrant officers, 138 enlisted personnel)
Sensors and processing systems	Radar: SPS-23, SPS-29B Sonar: SQS-1
Armament	one single 5-inch (127 mm) 38-caliber dual-purpose gun mount; 1 x Mark 10-1 antisubmarine projector

v t e Casco-class cutter
Casco Mackinac Humboldt Matagorda Absecon Chincoteague Coos Bay Rockaway Half Moon Unimak Yakutat Barataria Bering Strait Castle Rock Cook Inlet Dexter McCulloch Gresham
List of United States Coast Guard cutters