USCGC ''Cape Henlopen'' was a
type "C" constructed at the
Coast Guard Yard at
Curtis Bay, Maryland in 1958 for use as a law enforcement and search and rescue patrol boat.
[Scheina, p 79]
Design
The was designed originally for use as a shallow-draft
anti-submarine warfare (ASW) craft and was needed because of the increased tension brought about by the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
. ''Cape Henlopen'' was a type "C" Cape-class cutter and was never fitted with ASW gear because the Coast Guard's mission emphasis had shifted away from ASW to search and rescue by the time she was built. The hull was constructed of steel and the superstructure was aluminum.
["Cape Henlopen, 1958 (WPB-95328)", Cutters, Craft & U.S. Coast Guard Manned Army & Navy Vessels, U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office] She was powered originally by four Cummins VT-600 diesel engines; however during 1980–1982 she was refit with two 16V149 Detroit diesel main engines.
[Scheina, p 83]
History
The Cape class was originally developed as an ASW boat and as a replacement for the aging,
World War II vintage, wooden patrol boats that were used mostly for
search and rescue
Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...
duties.
[Scheina, p 80] With the outbreak of the
Korean War and the requirement tasked to the Coast Guard to secure and patrol port facilities in the United States under the
Magnuson Act of 1950, the complete replacement of the 83-foot boat was deferred and the 95-foot boat was used for harbor patrols.
[Green, D.L.; "The 82-foot Class Patrol Boat", ''The Engineer's Digest'', March–April 1962, Number 133, pp 2–5, U.S. Coast Guard][Johnson, p 283] The first 95-foot hulls were laid down at the Coast Guard Yard in 1952 and were officially described as "seagoing patrol cutters". Because Coast Guard policy did not provide for naming cutters under at the time of their construction they were referred to by their hull number only and gained the Cape-class names in 1964 when the service changed the naming criteria to . The class was named for North American geographic
capes.
[Johnson, p 284]
The Cape class was replaced by the beginning in the late 1980s and many of the decommissioned cutters were transferred to nations of the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
and
South America by the Coast Guard.
[Scheina, p 63][Colton, "U.S. Coast Guard Patrol Craft Built Since WWII (WPB, WPC, WSES)"]
''Cape Henlopen'' was stationed at
Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles, Washington, from 1959 to December 1966. In August 1961, she assisted in fighting a fire aboard the fishing vessel ''Alaska Reefer'' in the
Strait of Juan de Fuca.
From December 1966 to 1968, she was stationed at
Port Angeles, Washington. On 29 October 1967, she escorted the distressed Soviet motor vessel ''Altajaskie Gory'' while in U.S. waters off Washington. On 20 November 1967, she escorted the distressed Soviet fishing vessel ''Ogonj'' and other Soviet vessels while in U.S. seas off the coast of the State of Washington.
From 1969 to 1981, she was stationed at
Petersburg, Alaska. On 3 February 1971, she rescued the five-person crew of the fishing vessel ''Decora'' after ''Decora'' struck
Colorado Reef
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
() in
Wrangell Narrows in the
Alexander Archipelago in
Southeast Alaska
Southeast Alaska, colloquially referred to as the Alaska(n) Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east and north by the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia (and a small part ...
and sank.
[alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (D)]
/ref> On 4–5 October 1979, she assisted the fishing vessels and pleasure craft ''Black Bear'', ''Diane'', ''Heidi'', and ''Will Do Too'' in Stephens Passage following a storm. On 1 May 1980, she repaired and refloated the motor vessel ''Biorkau''. She underwent major renovation from 1980 to 1982. From 1983 to 1989, she was stationed at Woods Hole, Massachusetts. On 28 July 1985, she assisted in the rescue of 118 persons from the passenger vessel ''Pilgrim Bell'' off Cuttyhunk Island.
Disposition
After decommissioning in 1989, ''Cape Henlopen'' was transferred to the Costa Rica Coast Guard and recommissioned as ''Astronauta Franklin Chang Diaz'' (SP 951).
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cape Henlopen
1958 ships
Henlopen
Ships built by the United States Coast Guard Yard
Cape-class cutters of the Costa Rica Civil Guard Coast Guard
Ships sunk as artificial reefs
Shipwrecks of Costa Rica