Mystery ship- Bayfield WI - Aug of 1944

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Re: Mystery ship- Bayfield WI - Aug of 1944

by Guest » January 27, 2022, 4:29 pm

There were three such conversions performed at Toledo Shipbuilding Co. to fill the icebreaker gap on the Great Lakes during WWII. In addition to the two already discussed, the third emergency conversion was the USCGC CHAPARRAL (WAGL-178), which came from the reconstruction of the former Detroit-Windsor ferry HALCYON, originally built at Great Lakes Engineering Works 1925-26.

ARROWWOOD was stationed at Cleveland, ALMOND at Grand Haven and CHAPARRAL at Sault Ste Marie. Since Bayfield, WI, where this original photo was shot is on Lake Superior, there is a higher probability that the ship in question for the original photo is actually CGC CHAPARRAL.

Re: Mystery ship- Bayfield WI - Aug of 1944

by Guest_SB » January 27, 2022, 6:43 am

Third photo down on the following page shows the Almond...looks a lot like it!

http://genealogytrails.com/mich/ottawa/ ... oto15.html

Re: Mystery ship- Bayfield WI - Aug of 1944

by Guest » January 26, 2022, 11:32 pm

Vessel is likely USCGC ALMOND WAGL-177, an emergency wartime conversion. ALMOND was stationed at Grand Haven.

Cutter file states:

Almond, 1942 (WAGL-177); ex-La Salle
A small tree (Prunus amygdalus) of the family Rosaceae and for the nutlike, edible seed of its drupe fruit.

Builder: Toledo Shipbuilding Company, Toledo, Ohio

Length: 161' 10"

Beam: 56'

Draft: 13' 6"

Displacement: 677 (fl)

Cost: $65,000 (acquisition); $234,416 (conversion)

Launched: 1922

Commissioned: 11 December 1942 (USCG)

Decommissioned: 29 September 1945

Disposition: Sold, 31 July 1946

Machinery: 1 compound reciprocating steam engine; 2 Marine fire-tube boilers; 1,700 SHP

Performance: 10.0 knots (max); 8.0 knots (economic); 1,320 mile range @ 8.0 knots

Complement: 39

Armament: None

Cutter History:

Almond was a former ferry boat that was acquired by the Coast Guard because of her icebreaking capability. She was converted to a buoy tender and was fitted with fire-fighting apparatus by the Toledo Ship Building Company. Once the conversion was complete, Almond was assigned to the 9th District and was stationed at Ignace, Michigan, Chicago, Illinois, and Grand Haven, Michigan, during the war. She conducted aids to navigation work and icebreaking.

She was decommissioned at Grand Haven on 29 September 1945 and was sold on 31 July 1946 to Mr. K. J. Eretle.

Sources:

Cutter History File, Coast Guard Historian’s Office.

Robert Scheina, U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft of World War II (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1982), pp. 21-24.

Re: Mystery ship- Bayfield WI - Aug of 1944

by Guest » January 26, 2022, 9:38 pm

Possibly the ALMOND (WAGL 177) or ARROWWOOD (WAGL 176). ALMOND was the former ferryboat La Salle; ARROWWODD was the former ferry boat CADILLAC. Both had ice breaking capabilities.

Mystery ship- Bayfield WI - Aug of 1944

by Guest » January 26, 2022, 2:48 pm

Interesting photo of a steam vessel at Bayfield, WI, in the collection of the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Caption says it’s a Coast Guard vessel at that location but it’s not rigged like an aids to navigation ship, though the hull form does have some semblance to a tender. Any ideas?

https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital ... 6Q3XT4OT8K
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