USCGC ''Cobb'' (WPG-181) was a

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

cutter Cutter may refer to: Tools * Bolt cutter * Box cutter * Cigar cutter * Cookie cutter * Cutter (hydraulic rescue tool) * Glass cutter * Meat cutter * Milling cutter * Paper cutter * Pizza cutter * Side cutter People * Cutter (surname) * Cutt ...

commissioned during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. A conversion of the 1906 coastal

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

, USCGC ''Cobb'' in the hands of the Coast Guard became the first US

helicopter carrier A helicopter carrier is a type of aircraft carrier whose primary purpose is to operate helicopters. It has a large flight deck that occupies a substantial part of the deck, which can extend the full length of the ship like of the Royal Navy (RN ...

Background

The U.S. government became interested in the potential of the

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

during the 1930s. In 1938, the government allocated two million dollars toward development of the machine, and an inter-agency board—which included a representative from the U.S. Coast Guard, Commander William J. Kossler—was established to oversee the program. Kossler had difficulty persuading the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

of the utility of the helicopter and eventually enlisted the aid of Executive Officer Lieutenant Commander Frank Erickson of Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn.Conwell, pp. 3-8. Erickson, who had helplessly watched sailors burn to death in

oil slick An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into th ...

s with no hope of rescue during the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

, immediately saw the utility of the helicopter in a

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 ...

role. However, as the Navy showed little interest at this time in development of improved search-and-rescue methods, Erickson promoted the helicopter's usefulness as an

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...

(ASW) weapon instead. This proposal met with the approval of the Navy, and on 19 February 1943, the Coast Guard was formally assigned the task of developing the helicopter for the ASW role.

Acquisition and refit

As part of its ASW program, the Coast Guard began experimenting with ship-based helicopter operations. Initially, a series of flights was conducted from the deck of a ship at anchor, ''Bunker Hill''. When these trials proved successful, the Coast Guard moved to open sea trials. For the sea trials, the Coast Guard acquired an ageing passenger steamer, , from the

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime C ...

. The Coast Guard carried out major modifications to the ship, including removal of much of the ship's superstructure for the installation of a 38 × 63 foot

flight deck The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface on which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopters ...

for the use of helicopters, plus the addition of armor and weaponry. Following these modifications, the ship was commissioned on 20 July 1943 as USCGC ''Cobb'' (WPG-181)—the first US

Service history

In January 1944, the ship was ordered to

Groton, Connecticut Groton ( ) is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States, located on the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United St ...

for sound and

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

training. In April, the ship was assigned to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to train for helicopter landings on board its flight deck.''Cobb'', 1944 WPG-181 (ex-''Governor Cobb'')
United States Coast Guard website. The first such landing occurred on 15 June.
U.S. Coast Guard website. On 29 July 1944, the first take-off took place in

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a sound (geography), marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York (state), New York to the south. From west to east, ...

from ''Cobb'' flight deck. With the threat from

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

s greatly diminished by early 1945, the Coast Guard turned its attention to development of the helicopter in the search-and-rescue role. USCGC ''Cobb'' also played a role in this program when helicopters from its flight deck performed some of the earliest air-sea rescues. In spite of her historic achievements, USCGC ''Cobb'' proved an unsatisfactory acquisition. Originally America's first turbine-powered steamship, the aging 37-year-old vessel proved a liability to the Coast Guard with her excessive maintenance costs. During the first 115 days of the ship's service, ''Cobb'' was absent from the repair yard for a total of only nine days. Thereafter she managed operational duties an average of only one week out of four. USCGC ''Cobb'' was decommissioned by the Coast Guard on 31 January 1946. She was sold on 6 March 1947, and scrapped a short time later.

Footnotes

References

* Conwell, First Lieutenant Andrew, USAF (2008)
"History of Coast Guard Rotary-Wing Aviation: From Inception to the Modern Day"
United States Coast Guard website.
''Cobb'', 1944 WPG-181 (ex-''Governor Cobb'')
United States Coast Guard website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cobb WPG-181 Ships built by the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works Ships of the United States Coast Guard 1906 ships