USS ''Cook Inlet'' (AVP-36) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

''Barnegat''-class small

seaplane tender A seaplane tender is a boat or ship that supports the operation of seaplanes. Some of these vessels, known as seaplane carriers, could not only carry seaplanes but also provided all the facilities needed for their operation; these ships are rega ...

in commission from 1944 to 1946. She tended

seaplanes A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

and earned one

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

for her service. After the war, she was transferred to the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

, and was in commission as the

Coast Guard cutter United States Coast Guard Cutter is the term used by the U.S. Coast Guard for its commissioned vessels. They are or greater in length and have a permanently assigned crew with accommodations aboard. They carry the ship prefix USCGC. History ...

USCGC ''Cook Inlet'' (WAVP-384), later WHEC-384, from 1949 to 1971. She saw service in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

during her Coast Guard career, receiving two

campaign star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

s for her operations during the conflict. Transferred to

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

in 1971, she operated as the

Republic of Vietnam Navy The Republic of Vietnam Navy (RVNN; ; ''HQVNCH'') was the naval branch of the South Vietnamese military, the official armed forces of the former Republic of Vietnam (or South Vietnam) from 1955 to 1975. The early fleet consisted of boats fro ...

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

RVNS ''Trần Quốc Toản'' (HQ-06) until South Vietnams collapse in April 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War. She fled to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and in 1976 was transferred to the

Philippine Navy The Philippine Navy (PN) ( tgl, Hukbong Dagat ng Pilipinas, , Sea Army of the Philippines) ( es, Armada de Filipinas, , Ejército del Mar de las Filipinas) is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It has an e ...

, which never commissioned her, instead using her as a source of spare parts for her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

s, the s, before discarding her in 1982.

Construction and commissioning

''Cook Inlet'' (AVP-36) was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 23 August 1943 at Lake Washington Shipyard at

Houghton, Washington Houghton is one of the lakeside neighborhoods of the city of Kirkland, Washington. Consisting mostly of upscale, single-family homes, Houghton overlooks Lake Washington and is one of the wealthier districts of the Eastside suburbs of Seattle. ...

. She was launched on 13 May 1944, sponsored by Mrs. H. K. Stubbs, wife of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Stubbs, and commissioned on 5 November 1944.

United States Navy service

World War II

''Cook Inlet'' departed

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, on 15 January 1945 and arrived at

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, on 21 January 1945. She tended

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

s at

Hilo Hilo () is a census-designated place (CDP) and the largest settlement in Hawaii County, Hawaii, Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States, which encompasses the Hawaii (island), Island of Hawaii. The population was 44,186 according to the 2020 United ...

, Hawaii, from 25 January 1945 to 31 January 1945. ''Cook Inlet'' arrived off

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

on 26 February 1945 to serve with the escort and patrol group based there, and from 2 March 1945 to 14 March 1945 was on an

air-sea rescue Air-sea rescue (ASR or A/SR, also known as sea-air rescue), and aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (AMSAR) by the ICAO and International Maritime Organization, IMO, is the coordinated search and rescue (SAR) of the survivors of emergenc ...

station during the

invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...

. ''Cook Inlet'' rescued 27 survivors of downed

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

s. She was still on duty at Iwo Jima when hostilities with

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ended on 15 August 1945, bringing

to a close.

Honors and awards

''Cook Inlet'' received one

for

service.

Post-World War II

''Cook Inlet'' remained on duty off Iwo Jima until 29 November 1945, when she sailed to

Jinsen Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, for duty as station tender. She then returned to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, calling at Iwo Jima and Pearl Harbor before reaching

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, California, on 22 January 1946.

Decommissioning

''Cook Inlet'' was decommissioned and placed in reserve in the

Pacific Reserve Fleet The United States Navy maintains a number of its ships as part of a reserve fleet, often called the "Mothball Fleet". While the details of the maintenance activity have changed several times, the basics are constant: keep the ships afloat and ...

on 31 March 1946.

United States Coast Guard service

''Barnegat''-class ships were very reliable and seaworthy and had good habitability, and the Coast Guard viewed them as ideal for ocean station duty, in which they would perform weather reporting and

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 ...

tasks, once they were modified by having a

balloon A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or light so ...

shelter added aft and having

oceanographic Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics ...

equipment, an oceanographic

winch A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) or otherwise adjust the tension of a rope or wire rope (also called "cable" or "wire cable"). In its simplest form, it consists of a spool (or drum) attache ...

, and a hydrographic winch installed. After World War II, the U.S. Navy transferred 18 of the ships to the Coast Guard, in which they were known as the ''Casco''-class cutters. The Navy loaned ''Cook Inlet'' to the Coast Guard on 20 September 1948. After undergoing conversion for Coast Guard use, she was commissioned into the Coast Guard on 15 January 1949 as USCGC ''Cook Inlet'' (WAVP-384).

Service history

North Atlantic

''Cook Inlet''s home port was

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, throughout her Coast Guard career of almost 23 years. She served in the

North Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, where her primary duty was to serve on ocean stations to gather

meteorological Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...

data. While on duty in one of these stations, she was required to patrol a 210-square-mile (544-square-kilometer) area for three weeks at a time, leaving the area only when physically relieved by another Coast Guard cutter or in the case of a dire emergency. While on station, she acted as an aircraft check point at the

point of no return The point of no return (PNR or PONR) is the point beyond which one must continue on one's current course of action because turning back is dangerous, physically impossible or difficult, or prohibitively expensive. The point of no return can be a ...

, a relay point for messages from ships and aircraft, a source of the latest weather information for passing aircraft, as a floating

laboratory, and as 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 ...

ship for downed aircraft and vessels in distress, and she engaged in law enforcement operations. On 12 October 1953, ''Cook Inlet'' rendezvoused with the Coast Guard cutter USCGC ''Chambers'' (WDE-491) in the Atlantic to take a medical patient from ''Chambers'' which ''Chambers'' had evacuated the previous day from the merchant ship ''Neva West''. She then transported that patient to medical facilities ashore. ''Cook Inlet'' took part in the United States Coast Guard Academy

cadet A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...

cruise of August 1965. On 28 January 1966, ''Cook Inlet'' rescued survivors in of a swamped pleasure craft. Between 3 and 8 February 1966, she escorted the distressed

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

n merchant vessel ''Arion'' to Bermuda. On 8 April 1966, she assisted the burning Norwegian passenger-freighter ''Viking Princess'', sending a fire and rescue party aboard ''Viking Princess'' to fight her fires; rushing from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in a three-hour voyage, the U.S. Navy

also assisted ''Viking Princess'', taking 13 survivors of the ship aboard from the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

merchant ship ''Chungking Victory'' and transporting them to Guantanamo Bay. In 1969, "Cook Inlet" transported Jacques Piccard and other scientific personnel to Portland after their research sub, the "Ben Franklin" surfaced after its month long, 1400 mile journey, drifting in the Gulf stream. USCG Cook Inlet Fire Support Vietnam 1971

USCG Cook Inlet Fire Support Vietnam 1971

''Cook Inlet'' was reclassified as a

high endurance cutter The designation of high endurance cutter (WHEC) was created in 1965 when the United States Coast Guard adopted its own designation system. High endurance cutters encompass the largest cutters previously designated by the United States Navy as gu ...

and re-designated WHEC-384 on 1 May 1966. Her loan period from the Navy came to an end on 26 September 1966, when she was transferred permanently from the Navy to the Coast Guard. On 8 January 1968, ''Cook Inlet'' evacuated a crewman in medical distress from the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

merchant ship ''California''.

Vietnam War

''Cook Inlet'' was assigned to Coast Guard Squadron Three in

on 2 July 1971. Coast Guard Squadron Three was tasked to operate in conjunction with U.S. Navy forces in

Operation Market Time Operation Market Time was the United States Navy, Republic of Vietnam Navy and Royal Australian Navy operation begun in 1965 to stop the flow of troops, war material, and supplies by sea, coast, and rivers, from North Vietnam into parts of Sout ...

, the interdiction of North Vietnamese arms and munitions traffic along the coastline of

during the

. The squadron's other Vietnam War duties included fire support for ground forces, resupplying Coast Guard and Navy patrol boats, and search-and-rescue operations. ''Cook Inlet'' served in this capacity until 21 December 1971.

=Honors and awards

= ''Cook Inlet'' earned two

s for her Vietnam War service, for: *Consolidation I 16 July 1971 – 9 August 1971, 27 August 1971 – 15 September 1971, 1 October 1971 – 24 October 1971, and 22 November 1971 – 30 November 1971 *Consolidation II 1 December 1971 – 15 December 1971

Decommissioning

The Coast Guard decommissioned ''Cook Inlet'' in South Vietnam on 21 December 1971, the day her Vietnam War tour ended.

Republic of Vietnam Navy service

On 21 December 1971 – the day the Coast Guard decommissioned her – ''Cook Inlet'' was transferred to South Vietnam, which commissioned her into the

as the

RVNS ''Trần Quốc Toản'' (HQ-06). By mid-1972, six other former ''Casco''-class cutters – known in the Republic of Vietnam Navy as the s – also were in South Vietnamese service. They were the largest warships in the South Vietnamese inventory, and their 5-inch (127-millimeter) guns were South Vietnam's largest naval guns. ''Trần Quốc Toản'' and her sisters fought alongside U.S. Navy ships during the final years of the Vietnam War, patrolling the South Vietnamese coast and providing gunfire support to South Vietnamese forces ashore. When South Vietnam collapsed at the end of the Vietnam War in late April 1975, ''Trần Quốc Toản'' became a ship without a country. She fled to Subic Bay in the

, packed with South Vietnamese

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s. On 22 and 23 May 1975, a U.S. Coast Guard team inspected ''Trần Quốc Toản'' and five of her sister ships, which also had fled to the Philippines in April 1975. One of the inspectors noted: "These vessels brought in several hundred refugees and are generally rat-infested. They are in a filthy, deplorable condition. Below decks generally would compare with a garbage scow."

Philippine Navy

The Republic of the Philippines took custody of ''Trần Quốc Toản'' after her arrival in 1975, and the United States formally transferred her to the Philippines on 5 April 1976. She did not enter

service; instead she and her sister ship were cannibalized for spare parts to allow the Philippines to keep four other sister ships – all former South Vietnamese ships known in the Philippine Navy as the s – in commission in the Philippine Navy. The former ''Trần Quốc Toản'' was discarded in 1982 and probably scrapped.United States Coast Guard Historians Office at http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/CookInlet1949.asp

References

* for USS ''Cook Inlet'' (AVP-36) * for USS ''Wilkinson'' (DL-5)
NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive USS Cook Inlet (AVP-36) USCGC Cook Inlet (WAVP-384 / WHEC-384)
* ttp://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/CookInlet1949.asp United States Coast Guard Historian's Office: ''Cook Inlet'', 1949 WHEC-384 Radio call sign: NYLWbr>United States Coast Guard Historian's Office: ''Mackinac'', 1949 WHEC-371USS Chambers (DE-391) & USCGC Chambers (WDE-491)United States Coast Guard Historian's Office: ''Gresham'', 1947 AGP-9; AVP-57; WAVP / WHEC / WAGW-387 ex-USS Willoughby Radio call sign: NODBUnited States Coast Guard Historian's Office: ''McCulloch'', 1946 WAVP / WHEC-386

*Chesneau, Roger. ''Conways All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946''. New York: Mayflower Books, Inc., 1980. . *Gardiner, Robert. ''Conway's All the Worlds Fighting Ships 1947-1982, Part I: The Western Powers''. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1983. . * Gray, Randal, Ed. ''Conways All the Worlds Fighting Ships 1947-1982 Part II: The Warsaw Pact and Non-Aligned Nations''. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1983. . * Moore, John, Captain, RN, FRGS, Ed. ''Janes Fighting Ships 1973-1974''. London: Janes Yearbooks, 1973. No ISBN number.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook Inlet (AVP-36) Barnegat-class seaplane tenders Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Republic of Vietnam Navy Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Philippine Navy 1944 ships World War II seaplane tenders of the United States Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the United States Coast Guard Ships of the United States Coast Guard Casco-class cutters Vietnam War patrol vessels of the United States Alaska-related ships Weather ships Vietnam War frigates of South Vietnam Trần Quang Khải-class frigates Ships built at Lake Washington Shipyard