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Ship goes ashore for repair, rehab: The Roger B. Taney, the last craft from the attack on Pearl Harbor still afloat, is in dry dock for six weeks of cleaning, painting and refurbishing.
By Tom Pelton
Sun Staff
March 15, 2003
The 2,700-ton warship rose slowly out of Curtis Bay, its black belly pebbled by barnacles and pocked with rust. Water sloughed from the propellers, each taller than the helmeted dockworkers. Twenty-four electric winches hauled inch-thick cables until the World War II-era ship was free of the water for the first time in decades.
The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Roger B. Taney - the last survivor of the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor still afloat - lumbered forward atop a wooden cradle mounted on a train car with 112 wheels. A tanklike vehicle pulled on a bar hitched to the ship's stern.
Capt. William Cheever, commander of the Coast Guard's shipyard just south of Baltimore, smiled yesterday as he watched the historic ship roll past him - a clam hitching a ride on the keel - on its way to dry dock.
The 327-foot cutter, normally docked as a museum in the Inner Harbor , will be cleaned, painted and repaired during the next six weeks as part of a $400,000 federally funded project to keep the 67-year-old ship well maintained.
"We certainly did take it out for dry-docking at an important time - that's a lot of corrosion right there along the waterline," Cheever said, pointing to a reddish-brown belt of rust running the length of the hull. "That's something that we'll need to address. And those rust pockmarks up there? That's serious stuff."
Shipyard workers will use high-powered water guns to blast away the barnacles, rust and old paint. Then they will inspect the hull, welding sections that need repairs. Finally, they will apply coats of epoxy and paint, said John Kellett, director of the nonprofit Baltimore Maritime Museum, which maintains the Taney and other historic ships docked in the Inner Harbor.
"A ship in service normally gets dry-docked for maintenance every couple years," Kellett said. "It's been more than 20 years for the Taney, and it's important that we keep it in good condition because it means so much historically. The Coast Guard used it not only in World War II, but in Vietnam, the war on drugs during the 1980s and everywhere else."
Built in Philadelphia in 1936, the Taney was named for the former attorney general and secretary of the treasury in President Andrew Jackson's administration who later became chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. The ship was tied up at Pier 6 in Honolulu during the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
During that war, the warship - which had two 5-inch guns and four anti-aircraft guns -served as a command post during the invasion of Okinawa, shot down four Japanese aircraft and escorted convoys across the Pacific, Atlantic and Mediterranean.
It bombarded enemy positions during the Vietnam War and intercepted drug traffic in the Caribbean during the 1970s and 1980s. The Taney was taken out of commission in 1986.
Several Coast Guard veterans who served aboard the Taney were on hand yesterday to watch the cutter hauled out of the water.
Capt. Ivan Luke, who served on the ship from 1981 to 1984, recalled the Taney crew rescuing a family with children aboard a 50-foot sailboat that foundered during a storm off Cape Hatteras in 1982. As 25-foot waves tossed the craft, its sails shredded, a team of sailors launched a rescue boat and pulled the family to safety.
"They were grateful to see us, that's for sure," said Luke. "It was dark, the sea was so rough, and the [rescue] boat got damaged banging up against the side of the ship. ... But it's really satisfying when you actually save somebody's life."
Tim Firme, 47, who maintains weapons systems at the Coast Guard station, said he has a lot of emotional attachment to the ship, on which he served from 1981 to 1983.
"The Taney is near and dear to my heart, because she was the first ship I ever served on," Firme said. "She's got a tremendous amount of history behind her, from Pearl Harbor on through the 1980s. It's good to see that we're taking good care of her."
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http://www.uscg.mil/hq/reserve/magaz...1999/Taney.htm
The Day that Lives in Infamy: The Coast Guard at Pearl Harbor
By Dr. Robert Browning, Coast Guard Historian
Painting by Keith Ferris
On the quiet Sunday morning of Dec. 7, 1941, an initial attack force of 183 Japanese naval aircraft attacked approximately 100 ships of the United States Navy at Pearl Harbor. This strategic surprise attack on America's largest Pacific naval base truly became a day of infamy. Today it is clearly the most recognizable of all American battles or events. Historians have well-documented the Navy's role in the attack, but have all but forgotten that Coast Guard vessels also participated. The Coast Guard, while only a small force at Pearl Harbor, actively took part in the battle.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt began transferring portions of the Coast Guard piecemeal to the Navy several months before the attack. In May and June, various vessels were transferred, the 14th Coast Guard District went to the Navy in August, and the whole service that November. All six of the Coast Guard's 327-foot cutters had been transferred to the Navy at least a month before the rest of the Service due to their value as escort ships. Stationed in Honolulu were the 327-foot cutter Taney, the 190-foot buoy tender Kukui, two 125-foot patrol craft, Reliance and Tiger, two 78-foot patrol boats and a couple of smaller craft.
At the time of the attack, Taney lay at Pier Six in Honolulu Harbor, Reliance and the unarmed Kukui both lay at Pier Four and Tiger was on patrol along the western shore of Oahu. All were performing the normal duties for a peacetime Sunday.
At 6:45 a.m. while on regular patrol, Tiger intercepted a dispatch from the destroyer Ward which claimed the destruction of an enemy submarine. Thirty-five minutes later, Tiger detected an underwater object on its rudimentary sonar apparatus near Barber's Point. Believing that this might also be a submarine, Tiger maneuvered to get a better position and stopped both engines to reduce sonar interference. Hearing motor noises, Tiger continued trailing the sound toward the harbor entrance. The small cutter tracked the object toward the left side of the channel but abandoned the search when it ran into shoal water.
Tiger continued its patrol toward the Pearl Harbor entrance, passing the open harbor anti-submarine net before 8 o'clock. At around 8 a.m., to the surprise of the men on board, the 'buck and a quarter' cutter came under fire. The fire came from an undetermined source and fell within 100 yards. LTJG William J. Mazzoni called the crew to general quarters and observed Japanese planes heading southwest away from Pearl Harbor. Manning the anti-aircraft guns, he ordered no return fire because of the extreme range of the aircraft. Tiger immediately headed for her designated war-time station off the entrance to Honolulu Harbor. For the remainder of the day, the patrol vessel lay at the entrance and observed the air attack, being out of range to help defend against either of the attacks.
Taney had worked out of Honolulu since its commissioning in 1936. As the Japanese planes began their attack, Taney lay moored at Pier Six in Honolulu Harbor six miles away from the naval anchorage. After the first Japanese craft appeared over the island, Taney's crew went to general quarters and made preparations to get underway. The anti-aircraft battery as well as all other guns were ready to fire with their full crew and three officers at their stations within four minutes. While Taney did not participate in the initial attacks by the Japanese, the high-level bombers of the second phase of the battle offered the cutter the opportunity to enter the fray. Just after 9 a.m., after the second wave of planes began their attack, Taney fired on some scattering formations of high altitude enemy aircraft with its 3-inch guns and 50-caliber machine guns. The extreme range of the bombers limited the effect of the fire and the guns were secured after 20 minutes. According to a report filed by Taney's commanding officer during Pearl Harbor, CDR Louis B. Olson, 27 rounds of three-inch shrapnel were fired from Taney during these attacks. Taney is also credited with preventing the destruction of the Honolulu Power Plant by successfully fending off a five-plane glide-bombing run against the plant.
Other Coast Guard vessels also participated. The 78-foot patrol boat designated CG-8, lay moored to Pier Four in Honolulu Harbor when the Japanese struck. Within minutes the crew of six, led by BM1 Boyd C. Maddox, was at general quarters and prepared to get underway. At approximately 9 a.m., CG-8 moved to Sand Island to pick up the depot keeper while bombs exploded nearby. The buoy tender Kukui, also at Pier Four, remained there because she had no armament to fight the Japanese. CG-8 proceeded back across the channel to Kewalo Basin and was strafed by Japanese aircraft while en route. At the basin, CG-8 prohibited the small private vessels and sampans from leaving until the owners could be cleared by Naval Intelligence.
After the two waves of Japanese planes withdrew from Pearl Harbor, Coast Guard small craft secured the port areas, blacked out all navigational aids and stationed guards along the waterfront. Tiger maintained a patrol off the harbor entrance during the night. In the darkness, the cutter was fired on by overly anxious Army units along the shore.
The buoy tender Walnut also unexpectedly became involved in one of the far actions of the attack. The Japanese sent a force of destroyers to Midway Island to neutralize any American naval forces there. That night, about 1,000 miles northwest of Hawaii, these destroyers shelled Midway Island. At 9:30 p.m., the unarmed Walnut, stationed there for ATON duty, observed gun flashes from the northwest. Shells began landing within 100 feet of the ship, but Walnut remained anchored during the 30-minute attack. Unharmed, the tender later steamed to Hawaii and received guns and depth charges to safely perform ATON duty during the war.
The role of the Coast Guard during the battle, while not crucial to the outcome, is worth repeating. The Service would provide invaluable assistance during the war, participating in every theatre and all major amphibious campaigns, providing crucial convoy protection, and ensuring port security and the safe handling of munitions. Five of every six Coast Guardsmen serving during World War II were reservists: 6,800 Reserve officers, 300 Reserve warrant officers, and over 135,200 Reserve enlisted. The Coast Guard may have been the smallest armed branch but it was a major component of the war effort.
CGC Taney in the 1940s
[ 16. March 2003, 02:39 AM: Message edited by: Crapgame ]
