USCGC Modoc (WMEC-194)

The auxiliary ocean tug USS ''ATA-194'' was laid down on 7 November 1944 at Orange, Texas, by the Levingston Ship Building Co.; launched 4 December 1944; and commissioned at Orange on 14 February 1945.

After her shakedown cruise, ''ATA-194'' sailed for the Pacific with equipment in tow. She transited the Panama Canal late in March and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 29 April 1945. After two berth shifting operations early in May 1945, the tug got underway on 23 May 1945 with a barracks ship in tow, bound for the western Pacific. Steaming by way of Eniwetok, Guam, and Saipan, ''ATA-194'' arrived at Leyte, Philippines, on 9 July 1945. The auxiliary tug operated in the central Pacific through September, towing equipment between Kwajalein, Eniwetok and Guam.

''ATA-194'' arrived at Buckner Bay, Okinawa, on 14 October 1945, just before Typhoon Louise struck the anchorage on 15 October 1945 and caused severe damage among the assembled ships. As a consequence, she spent the next month aiding warships and support craft damaged in that storm. These salvage operations included retracting two Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) from the beach and an Auxiliary Mine Sweeper (YMS) from a reef. Assigned to the Philippine Sea Frontier, the tug remained in the Far East into the following year of 1946. In the spring of 1946, she supported preparations for ''Operation Crossroads'', a two-detonation atmospheric nuclear test held in summer, 1946 at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. She returned to the west coast in late May 1946 and moored at Seattle, Washington, on 15 June 1946.

Reassigned to the 17th Naval District, ''ATA-194'' sailed for duty in Alaskan waters later that summer of 1946. Aside from an overhaul at Puget Sound in the summer of 1947, the tug operated for the next six years out of the Alaskan ports of Kodiak, Cold Bay, Adak, Anchorage, Attu and Dutch Harbor. She was named ''Bagaduce'' on 15 July 1948. Upon arrival in Seattle on 2 July 1953, she was transferred to the 13th Naval District and ordered to prepare for assignment to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS).

''Bagaduce'' was decommissioned on 17 July 1953 and transferred to MSTS on 31 August 1953. Assigned to the northern Pacific, she returned to the Kodiak area for another five years of towing duty. The tug was transferred to the Maritime Administration, for lay-up in its National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) at Olympia, Washington, on 25 August 1958. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register that same day and she was later transferred to the Coast Guard.

USCGC ''Modoc'' (WATA/WMEC-194)

The tug was transferred to the Coast Guard and was commissioned as the Auxiliary Tug USCGC ''Modoc'' (WATA-194) on 20 April 1959, named in honor of the Modoc Indians. She then reported to her home port of Coos Bay, Oregon, where she replaced the aging 125-foot cutter USCGC ''Bonham'' (WSC-129). ''Bonham'' crew had cross-decked to ''Modoc'' and a rumor from the time was that her commissioning had been ordered so quickly that there had not been sufficient time to paint over her entire Navy gray hull and only the shore-side of ''Modoc'' was painted white. From 1959 to 1970 she was stationed at Coos Bay, Oregon where she was used for coastal and off-shore search and rescue, oceanography, and law enforcement duties, primarily fisheries enforcement. Her normal area of operations extended from the California–Oregon border to Canada and she was also occasionally called upon to patrol the Gulf of Alaska. When not underway, ''Modoc'' was on continual alert and was capable of getting underway within two hours to proceed to a vessel in distress. A unit history written by an anonymous crewman sometime in the mid-1970s noted:

Her boom and heavy towing gear was removed in August 1963. Also during that month her crew assisted in a special guard detail at Tongue Point Coast Guard Base, Oregon, during a visit by President John F. Kennedy at the dedication of the first Job Corps center on the west coast. In January 1965 she assisted the Canadian tug ''La–Force'', for which the owners of ''La–Force'', the Vancouver Tug Boat Company, presented the cutter with a silver tea service. On 20 September 1967 she escorted the disabled Danish M/V–''Marieskou'' following a collision with the ''Chitose–Maru'' four miles north of Cape Flattery. ''Modoc'' was reclassified as a Medium Endurance Cutter, WMEC-194, in 1968. She and her sister ''Comanche'' (WMEC-202) were the smallest cutters designated as WMEC. On 17 March 1968 she assisted USS ''Chowanoc'' (ATF-100) recover her tow of DE-373 25–miles west of Coos Bay.

During 28 February 1968 to 1 March 1968 ''Modoc'', USCGC ''Ivy'' (WLB-329), MV ''Kure Maru'' and MV ''Transoneida'' assisted following collision between the Japanese M/V–''Suwaharu'' and the Liberian M/V ''Mandoil II'' off Oregon. While ''Ivy'' was waiting out a storm at anchor in Willapa Bay, Washington; ''Ivy'' was called to assist the Japanese M/V ''Suwaharu Maru'' carrying a cargo of logs and the Liberian M/V ''Mandoil II ''carrying a cargo of naptha which had collided 340 miles from the Columbia River Bar off the Oregon coast. Due to heavy seas ''Ivy'' was underway to the scene for nearly 24 hours. In heavy seas, darkness and a snow storm ''Ivy'' rescued 68 crewmen from the Japanese vessel, which had jettisoned logs in an effort to stay afloat. Floating logs destroyed one of ''Ivy's'' lifeboats, however no men lost were lost. The Liberian tanker of naphtha exploded and burned; the entire crew perished. ''Ivy'' was relieved by ''Modoc'' and transported the Japanese crew to Astoria, Oregon.

On 1 August 1968 she rescued the lone survivor from the F/V–''Rodoma''.

From 1970 until 1979 ''Modoc'' was stationed at Coos Bay, Oregon. A patrol summary dated 17 October 1970 gives some insight into her routine patrols:

On 3 June 1972 an off-duty Modoc crewman, SA James Carignan, of Olympia, Washington, drowned while attempting to save a 12-year-old girl who had been swept away from a beach by the surf. He was posthumously awarded the Coast Guard Medal. In January 1974 ''Modoc'' braved winds to assist the stricken tug ''Sea–Racer'' and her tow, the former Liberty ship ''Arlington''. In November 1974 she retrieved the 40-foot high special environmental data buoy EBO-2 from the Cobb Seamount. On 15 May 1975 she seized the Polish 278-foot fish factory trawler ''Kalmar'' 10 miles off Monterey, California, for fishing inside the 12-mile limit and escorted her to San Francisco. A news release about the incident noted:

In August 1975 ''Modoc'' safely towed the disabled East German stern-trawling factory-ship ''Rudolph Leonhard'' to Coos Bay. In November of that year, during a severe gale, she attempted to locate the hulk of the Korean fishing vessel ''Kwang Myong No.–96'' that had been abandoned by her crew after a fire. ''Modoc'' was unable to locate the hulk and turned back after heavy seas caused 45-degree rolls that led to injuries among some of the crew and caused structural damage.

She remained in Coos Bay for the remainder of her Coast Guard career, primarily patrolling fisheries. ''Modoc'' departed on 28 October 1977 to undergo a renovation and refurbishment period at the Lake Union drydocks near Seattle. While returning to her home port on 18 December 1977, ''Modoc'' narrowly avoided a collision with the loaded 810-foot tanker ''Arco Sag–River'' at the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

''Modoc'' put to sea on New Year's Eve 1977 to assist in the seizure of the Panamanian-registered ''MV Cigale'' off the mouth of New River, south of Bandon, Oregon. Six tons of marijuana in the form of "Thai Sticks" from Southeast Asia, valued at $16.8 million, were seized. ''Modoc'' crewmen boarded the ''MV Cigale'' to thwart an attempt to scuttle the vessel then towed ''MV Cigale'' to the Empire docks in Coos Bay and later to Portland, Oregon. ''Modoc'' received the Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation for the action.

After 8 years of U.S. Navy service, 5 years with the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and 20 years of U.S. Coast Guard service,
''Modoc'' was decommissioned on 31 May 1979 at Coast Guard Base Seattle. ''Modoc'' was placed on "Inactive, Out of Commission, In Reserve" status. Her final commanding officer was Lieutenant Commander C. G. Boyer, US Coast Guard. Her crew cross-decked to her replacement, the 180-foot tender ''Citrus'' (WLB-300). ''Modoc'' was later sold. In 2004, she was renamed ''Modoc–Pearl'' and was used as a bed and breakfast inn at Gig Harbor, Washington.

Earthrace Conservation

''Modoc'' was purchased by Pete Bethune's Earthrace Conservation in 2019 for use as the organization's base of operations.

Awards

*Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation
*Coast Guard Battle Efficiency "E" Ribbon
*American Campaign Medal
*Asian-Pacific Campaign Medal
*World War II Victory Medal
*Navy Occupation Medal
*National Defense Service Medal (2 awards)

Citations

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagaduce
1944 ships
Ships built in Orange, Texas
Sotoyomo-class tugs
Modoc