USCGC Cayuga

USCGC Cayuga underway, circa 1936
History
United States
NameUSCGC Cayuga
NamesakeLake Cayuga
BuilderUnited Shipyards, Inc.
Launched7 October 1931
Commissioned22 March 1932
Decommissioned12 May 1941
Fate
United Kingdom
NameHMS Totland
NamesakeTotland Bay
Launched7 Oct 1931
Commissioned12 May 1941
DecommissionedMay 1946
IdentificationY88
Fate
  • Returned to USCG
  • May 1946
United States
NameUSCGC Mocoma
NamesakeMocoma
Recommissioned20 March 1947
Decommissioned8 May 1950
IdentificationWPG-163
FateSold on 15 July 1955
General characteristics
Class and type
Displacement2,075 long tons (2,108 t)
Length250 ft (76 m)
Draft12 feet 11 inches (3.94 m)
Propulsion1 × General Electric turbine-driven 3,350 shp (2,500 kW) electric motor, 2 boilers
Speed
  • 14.8 kn (27.4 km/h; 17.0 mph) cruising
  • 17.5 kn (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph) maximum
Complement97 (in 1940)
Armament

USCGC Cayuga was a Lake-class cutter of the United States Coast Guard launched on 7 October 1931 and commissioned on 22 March 1932.[1] She was transferred to the Royal Navy where she served as HMS Totland (Y88), a Banff-class sloop from 1941 to 1946.[2] After being returned to the USCG in 1946, she was recommissioned as USCGC Mocoma 20 March 1947.

Career

Coast Guard – Cayuga

Cayuga served the USCG for nine years in New London, Connecticut and was responsible for ice breaking in Buzzards Bay.[3] On 5 April 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt transferred ten 250-foot cutters from the United States Coast Guard to the United Kingdom as part of the Lend-Lease Act.[3]

Royal Navy – Totland

After being commissioned 12 May 1941,[4] Totland sailed to England with convoy HX 128. After a refit on the River Thames, Totland escorted convoys OS 4, SL 89, OS 12, SL 95, OS 17, SL 100, OS 22, SL 106, OS 28, SL 112, OS 40, and SL 124 with the 42nd Escort Group before being assigned to Operation Torch. After escorting convoys KMF 3, MKF 3, KMF 5, MKF 5, KMF 7 and MKF 7 in support of the North African invasion, Totland sank U-522 on 23 February 1943 while escorting the tanker convoys UC 1 and CU 1.[5] Totland then escorted convoys between Freetown and Lagos via Sekondi-Takoradi until transferred to the Kilindini Escort Force in July 1944. Totland began a prolonged refit in October 1944 until the decision to retire her in May 1945.[6]

Coast Guard – Mocoma

After service in the Royal Navy, she was returned to the USCG in 1946.[3] After reconditioning, 20 March 1947 she was recommissioned as USCGC Mocoma (WPG-163) and was placed in service to be stationed in Miami, Florida where she remained until her decommissioning on 8 May 1950. She was later sold on 15 July 1955 to an unknown party.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Helgason, Guðmundur. "USCGC Cayuga". uboat.net. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  2. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "HMS Totland (Y 88)". uboat.net. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  3. ^ a b c "Cayuga, 1932". USCG. United States Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 24 September 2008.
  4. ^ Blair, Clay (1996). Hitler's U-Boat War, The Hunters 1939–1942. Random House. p. 744. ISBN 0-394-58839-8.
  5. ^ Blair, Clay (1998). Hitler's U-Boat War, The Hunted 1942–1945. Random House. p. 197. ISBN 0-679-45742-9.
  6. ^ "HMS Totland, cutter". Naval-history.net. Retrieved 1 September 2011.