USCGC Eastwind

{{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image= USCGC Eastwind (WAGB-279).JPG |image_caption= }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |country=United States |flag={{shipboxflag|United States|coast guard}} |name= |namesake= |owner= |operator=U.S. Coast Guard. |registry= |route= |ordered= |awarded= |builder=Western Pipe and Steel Company, San Pedro, California |original_cost= |yard_number= |way_number= |laid_down=23 June 1942. |launched=3 June 1944. |sponsor= |christened= |completed= |acquired= |commissioned=1944. |recommissioned= |decommissioned=1968. |maiden_voyage= |in_service= |out_of_service= |renamed= |reclassified= |refit= |struck= |reinstated= |homeport= |identification=WAG-279. WAGB-279. |motto= |nickname=''Republic of Nantucket Cutter (RONC) Ice Brother''. |honours= |honors= |captured= |fate=Sold for scrap, 1972 |notes=USCG callsign: ''NRFB''. |badge= }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |class=Coast Guard, Auxiliary, General, (WAG). Coast Guard, Auxiliary, General, (Ice) Breaker, (WAGB). |type= |tonnage= |displacement=approx 6,515 tons full load. |length={{convert|269|ft|m|abbr=on}}. |beam={{convert|63.5|ft|m|abbr=on}}. |height= |draught= |draft={{convert|25.7|ft|m|abbr=on}}. |depth= |hold_depth= |decks= |deck_clearance= |ramps= |ice_class=Wind class heavy icebreaker. |power=*Diesel-electric: *6 × Fairbanks-Morse model 8-1/8OP, 10-cylinder opposed piston engines at {{convert|2,000|shp|abbr=on|lk=in}}, each driving a Westinghouse DC electric generator. |propulsion=2 × Westinghouse Electric DC electric motors driving the 2 aft propellers, 1 × {{convert|3000|shp|abbr=on}} Westinghouse DC electric motor driving the detachable and seldom used bow propeller. |speed=16.8 knots. |range= |endurance= |test_depth= |boats= |capacity= |troops= |complement= |crew= |time_to_activate= |sensors= |EW= |armament= |armour= |armor= |aircraft= |aircraft_facilities= |notes= }} }} '''USCGC ''Eastwind'' (WAGB-279)''' was a ''Wind''-class icebreaker that was built for the United States Coast Guard. Completed in time to see action in World War II, she continued in USCG service under the same name until decommissioned in 1968.

==Construction== ''Eastwind'' was the second of five Wind-class of icebreakers built for the United States Coast Guard. Her keel was laid down on 23 June 1942 at Western Pipe and Steel Company shipyards in San Pedro. She was launched on 6 February 1943 and commissioned on 3 June 1944.<ref name="Jane’s(98)">{{cite book |year=1998 |title=Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II |publisher=Crescent Books (Random House) |page=[https://archive.org/details/janesfightingshi00fran/page/308 308] |isbn=0517-67963-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/janesfightingshi00fran/page/308 }}</ref><ref name="Silverstone">Silverstone, Paul H.(1965): ''U.S. Warships of World War II''. Doubleday and Company, pg. 378</ref><ref name="USCG Eastwind">{{cite web|url=http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Eastwind_1944.asp|title=USCG Eastwind|work=U.S. Coast Guard Cutter History|publisher=United States Coast Guard|access-date=2012-12-12}}</ref>

Wind-class icebreakers had hulls of unprecedented strength and structural integrity, with a relatively short length in proportion to the great power developed, a cut away forefoot, rounded bottom, and fore, aft and side heeling tanks. Diesel electric machinery was chosen for its controllability and resistance to damage.<ref name="USCG Icebreaking History">{{cite web|url=http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Icebreakers.asp|title=USCG Icebreaking History|work=U.S. Coast Guard Cutter History|publisher=United States Coast Guard|access-date=2012-12-12}}</ref>

''Eastwind'', along with the other Wind-class icebreakers, was heavily armed for an icebreaker because her design was crafted during World War II. Her main battery consisted of two twin-mount 5 in (130 mm) deck guns.<ref name="Jane’s(98)" /> Her anti-aircraft weaponry consisted of three quad-mounted Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft autocannons<ref name="Silverstone" /> and six Oerlikon 20 mm autocannons. She also carried six K-gun depth charge projectors and a Hedgehog as anti-submarine weapons. After the war her aft 5” mount was replaced by a helicopter deck, and by 1951 her forward mount had also been removed.<ref name="USCG Eastwind"/>

==History== [[File:Coast Guard Icebreakers and Navy Task Group in Arctic Mission (21438172403).jpg|300px|right|thumb|USCGC ''Eastwind'' in foreground during operations in Greenland fjord during 1952 with USCGC ''Northwind'' in distance]] ''Eastwind'' ferried 200 US army troops which captured the last German weather station in Greenland, ''Edelweiss II'', on 4 October 1944. She also seized the German trawler ''Externsteine'', which was resupplying the base. ''Externsteine'' was later commissioned in the US Coast Guard as USCGC ''Eastbreeze''<ref>Dege, Wilhelm and Barr, William (2004). ''War north of 80: the last German Arctic weather station of World War II''. University of Calgary Press, Introduction, p. XXX. {{ISBN|1-55238-110-2}}</ref> and later commissioned as the US Navy ship {{USS|Callao|IX-205|6}}.

On 19 January 1949 ''Eastwind'', underway from Boston, Massachusetts to Baltimore, Maryland was struck starboard amidships by the tanker SS ''Gulfstream'' sailing to the Persian Gulf from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania off of Cape May, New Jersey and severely damaged. The collision and resultant fire killed 13 crewmen. USCGC ''Gentian'' and USCGC ''Sassafras'' assisted ''Eastwind'' in firefighting and rescue operations.<ref>Tragedy Stalks The Sea: An Account of The Eastwind Disaster. U.S. Coast Guard Magazine, March 1949. Accessed 13 DEC 2021</ref>

In 1952, during an Arctic Cruise, for the first time were launched stratospheric balloons from the deck of the ship. The balloon carried scientific instruments to perform cosmic ray studies and rockoons, rockets to be launched once the balloon was in the stratosphere. Captain Oliver A. Peterson, Commanding.

In the Antarctic summer of 1955-1956 she participated in Antarctic exploration activities as part of Task Force 43 of Operation Deep Freeze. Crossing the Antarctic Circle on December 25, 1955, Captain Oliver A. Peterson, Commanding.

In October 1960, as part of Operation Deep Freeze, she departed Boston, passed through the Panama Canal, crossed the Pacific, visited New Zealand and McMurdo Sound. Leaving Antarctica, she traveled the Indian Ocean, came through the Suez Canal, crossed the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to return home in May 1961. This tour made the ''Eastwind'' the first cutter ever to circumnavigate the globe.<ref>[http://www.uscg.mil/history/faqs/firstsindex.asp U.S. Coast Guard Firsts, Lasts and/or Record Setting Achievements]</ref> Two mountains in Antarctica, Mount Schmidtman and Mount Naab, were named after her captains during this period: Captain R.D. Schmidtman, USCG commanded the vessel in 1960, and Captain Joseph Naab, Jr., USCG commanded her during 1961 and 1962. In 1966 she left Boston MA in September for Operation Deep Freeze '67' returned April 1967. Captain William Benkert, Commanding.

In March and April 1968,<ref>{{cite book |last=Scheina |first=Robert L. |date=1990 |title=U.S. Coast Guard Cutters and Craft, 1946-1990 |location=Annapolis |publisher=Naval Institute Press |page=101 |isbn=0-87021-719-4}}</ref> CAPT C. William Bailey, Commanding, ''Eastwind'' entered the Great Lakes to aid with icebreaking duties, during a particularly severe ice winter. Her deep polar draft became problematic in the shallow Great Lakes, which required carrying minimal fuel (to lessen draft) and frequent refueling. ''Eastwind'' returned to Boston Spring 1968, and replenished for Arctic East Summer deployment.

In early June 1968, ''Eastwind'' departed Boston and participated in Arctic East Summer 1968, CAPT C. William Bailey, Commanding. After opening the shipping route to Thule AFB on July 4, 1968, ''Eastwind'' continued oceanographic studies in the Greenland Sea and Disko Island regions. ''Eastwind'' sailed into Sondestrom Fjord to measure calving glacier outfalls. Later in Disko Bay (Bugt) a propeller shaft bearing started to separate. The shaft was clamped and the ship limped back to Boston mid-Summer 1968, on one propeller shaft, for drydock repairs in East Boston. This negated a planned liberty port call in Edinburgh, Scotland. ''Eastwind'' departed Boston 3 weeks later and returned to salvage the remaining Arctic-East summer navigation season in the Greenland Sea. Returning to Boston in early November, ''Eastwind'' departed Boston mid-November 1968 and traveled to the USCG Yard at Curtis Bay, Baltimore. She was Decommissioned early Dec 1968, and remained mothballed at Curtis Bay with a caretaker crew, until being sold for scrap.

In 1972 she was sold for scrap and last seen at the breaking yards in New Jersey in 1976 or 1977.

==Notes== {{reflist}}

==References== * {{DANFS}} *http://Eastwind1952.com {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080520015537/http://eastwind1952.com/ |date=2008-05-20 }} *http://stratocat.com.ar/bases/20e.htm Historical record of balloons launched from the USCGC ''Eastwind''. *US Department of Homeland Security. United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.http://www.uscg.mil/history/

==External links== * [https://images.google.com/hosted/life/f?q=Explorations+source:life&imgurl=049391bdee936698 1956 photo from archives of ''Life'' Magazine]{{Dead link|date=November 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }} * {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20031018180825/http://www.jacksjoint.com/eastwind-1952-artic-cruise.htm The Arctic Cruise of the ''Eastwind'' - 1952]}} * [http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Eastwind_1944.asp U.S. Coast Guard Cutter History, ''Eastwind''] * [http://eastwindassoc.org/ The Eastwind Association]{{Dead link|date=November 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }} * United States Coast Guard, Historian's Office. United States Coast Guard. U.S. Department of Homeland Security. [https://www.history.uscg.mil/] Accessed 20 DEC 2021. {{Wind class icebreaker}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eastwind}} Category:Wind-class icebreakers Category:1944 ships Category:Ships built in Los Angeles