USCGC Mellon (WHEC-717)

USCGC ''Mellon'' (WHEC-717) was the third United States Coast Guard ''Hamilton''-class high endurance cutter constructed. The 2,748-ton cutter’s ocean crossing range was 10,000 miles at 20 knots.

''Mellon'' was laid down on 25 July 1966 at Avondale Shipyards near New Orleans, Louisiana. She was named for Andrew W. Mellon, the 49th U.S. Secretary of the Treasury from 1921-1932, and launched on 11 February 1967 by Mrs. John W. Warner, Jr., sponsor and granddaughter of the late Secretary Andrew Mellon. ''Mellon'' was commissioned 9 January 1968.

''Mellon'' was built with a welded steel hull and aluminum superstructure. She was one of the first naval vessels built with a combined diesel and gas turbine propulsion plant. Her twin screws can use 7,000 diesel shaft horsepower to make 17 knots, and a total of 36,000 gas turbine shaft horsepower to make 28 knots. The two diesel engines are Fairbanks-Morse and are larger versions of their 1968 diesel locomotive design. Her two Pratt-Whitney marine gas turbine engines are similar to those installed in Boeing 707 passenger jet aircraft. The ''Hamilton''-class cutters were among the first American vessels to use jet aircraft-type turbines for propulsion.

Operational history

USCGC ''Mellon'' was originally homeported in Honolulu, Hawaii. ''Mellon'' saw extensive service during the conflict in Vietnam. She was twice awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation during the Vietnam War. During her service in the waters adjacent to Vietnam, ''Mellon'' conducted numerous naval gunfire support missions, rescue operations, medical civic action programs, and training programs for Vietnamese military personnel. In March 1970, ''Mellon'' was involved in pursuit of mutineers involved in the SS ''Columbia Eagle'' incident during the Vietnam War.

Upon returning from Vietnam, ''Mellon’s'' primary theater of operation shifted to an area of the Pacific Ocean known as "Ocean Station November." Here she performed search and rescue and oceanographic research missions. Coast Guard cutters conducting Ocean Station operations were a primary communication link for commercial aircraft making trans-oceanic flights in the era before satellite communications and satellite GPS navigation. By the mid-1970s, ''Mellon’s'' primary area of operation shifted northward to the icy waters of the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea.

In February 1974, ''Mellon'' played a major role rescuing the crew of the empty Italian ore-bulk-oil carrier ''Giovanna Lolli-Ghetti''. They survived a series of explosions, fire, and then sinking of the combination carrier within three hours. At midnight ''Mellon'' was advised of a distress call from 900 miles northeast of Hawaii. At roughly 1115 hrs the next morning, ''Mellon'' reached the area where the vessel ''Tamerlane'' (Norway) was rescuing survivors from the now deserted tanker.

The survivors transferred to ''Mellon'' for medical treatment, warm food and clean clothes. The nearby ''Novikov Priboy'' from Russia arrived to give additional medical aid. Seven of the crew were not recovered. Two survivors with severe burns were airlifted off ''Mellon'' by a USCG Sikorsky HH-52 Seaguard helicopter carried out and flown off the Australian light aircraft carrier HMAS ''Melbourne''. The rest were taken back to Honolulu on ''Mellon''.Mellon History
United States Coast Guard, p. 3, 6 June 2008, Retrieved 12 November 2010

In October 1980, ''Mellon'' assisted in the rescue of 520 passengers and crew of the MS ''Prinsendam'', a 427 foot long luxury cruise liner in distress in the Gulf Of Alaska when fire broke out in her engine room. The vessel’s master declared the fire out of control after an hour and ordered the vessel abandoned. Most of the passengers and crew made it into lifeboats, while some were left on board. Eventually all the lifeboats and all passengers and crew were found and recovered with no deaths or serious injuries. After the rescue operations were completed, the ''Mellon'' remained on scene in a futile attempt to fight the fire that had originated in the ''Prinsendam'' engine room and progressed throughout the ship. While the ''Prinsendam'' was under tow by salvage tugs, and escorted by ''Mellon'', the burning ship suddenly listed hard over to port and sank within a few minutes.

In 1981, ''Mellon'' moved to her new homeport of Seattle, Washington.

''Mellon'' was modernized from 1985 to 1989 during the Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) program. She and a portion of the Hamilton-class were outfitted with all-weather, over-the-horizon RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and test firings of the harpoon were conducted on the ''Mellon'' in January 1990. At least three WHEC cutters, the USCGC ''Hamilton'', USCGC ''Morgenthau'', and USCGC ''Mellon'', were equipped with Harpoon missiles.

All ''Hamilton''-class cutters also carried an ASW suite that was upgraded during FRAM, this included MK 32 Mod 7 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes, AN/SQS-38 sonar, Mk-309 Mod 0 Underwater Battery Fire Control System, and AN/SLQ-25 (NIXIE) torpedo countermeasures. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the joint Navy/USCG board decided there was no military threat to require the installation of anti-ship missiles and anti-submarine weapons on board cutters, and subsequently removed the weapons. However the fitting and firing of Harpoons on these cutters served as a proof of capability for all Hamilton-class USCG cutters.

''Mellon'' is scheduled to be decommissioned in August, 2020.
Mellon History
United States Coast Guard, p. 1, 21 June 2008,

Trivia

In the 1980 Disney film '' The Last Flight of Noah's Ark'', the ''Mellon'' found and rescued the crew of an airplane that had been converted into a makeshift life raft.

Gallery

File:USCGC Mellon Seattle 2018.jpg, USCGC ''Mellon'' in Seattle for SeaFair Fleet Week
File:USCGC Mellon (WHEC-717).png, In Seattle in 2018 repainting her "Racing Stripe".

References

External links

USCGC ''Mellon'' Home Page

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mellon
Ships of the United States Coast Guard
Hamilton-class cutters
Ships built in Bridge City, Louisiana
1967 ships