United States Coast Guard Academy - Tide Rips Yearbook (New London, CT)

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SEBAGO CRUISE U.S.C.G.C. Sebaco The U.S.C.G.C. SEBAGO is a 255 foot cutter, approximately 2200 tons displacement, tur- bo-electric drive, boiler pressure about 600 psi. 4000 shaft horsepower. She has a beam in the neighborhood of forty feet, and since she has a fairly high metacentric height, her motion in a seaway left something to be de- sired. There is a designed drag of 3 feet (in certain low circles, this class has been jestingly referred to as the Fiasco Class — jokingly, of course.) She had loran and radar and the usual R.D.F. Due to the fact that men were Ijeing dis- charged from the service as rapidly as pos- sible at that time, there existed a severe manpower shortage, with the net result that the Bag was manned with only a skeleton crew. She had just left the yard at Curtis Bay, and there was considerable work of the protective maintenance type to be per- formed — and, you guessed it, we did the per- forming. It got so that we even shied away from using tooth brushes — they reminded us too much of the wire brushes. We stood watches similar to the ones we stood on the Mackinaw — with the addition of 2 1 hour duty as Navigator — this jol) con- sisted mainly of hiding out up in the weather shack, plotting our positions, and taking a squint at the bridge ' s chart to make sure that we were in the general area. This por- tion of the cruise was marked by numerous formations — it was almost a sure thing that as soon as you lay down, or even looked at a book (textbook, of course I there would be a raucous request for our immediate presence on the fantail . There were note- books to be filled out, and quizzes to be taken in gunnery, engineering, and nav. The liberty on this cruise was what might be termed scanty — Antigua proved to be one of the better ports, and when that hap- pens, you might as well stay on board. There did happen to be an Army base there, and the day was marked by long streams of tired cadets wending their way across the island in search of ice-cream and cokes. We also made a stop in the Virgin Islands, and in Bermuda. When we hit Nassau, the local in- habitants very nicely threw a dance for us, which we all enjoyed. Nevertheless, we did gain considerable practical experience, and our first real insight into the hidden mech- anisms and inner workings of the sei-vice.

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Flying down to Bermuda Six men from 49 were chosen to crew on the two Academy schooners, with Joe Ward, Garry Crispell, and Dick Cox on the Tera- grani. and Bill Shaw, Jack Stackweather, and Jack Clark aboard the Curlew. These six remained at the Academy during leave, and pi-epared the boats. By June 25th both were in Newport awaiting the start of the Ber- muda Race. , ABOARD THE CURLEW: We got under weigh on the afternoon of the 26th in a breeze strong enough to blow the jib topsail sheets. There was a heavy fog, and all sight of the rest of the fleet was soon lost. The wind held for four days, and we remained on the starboard tack. It was fine sailing, and the Curlew kept her rail awash most of the time. The best 24 hour run was about 200 miles, and we found out later that the Curlew was second at this point. We were counting on a wind shift to the eastward in this area, however, and we lay in a flat calm about 60 miles from Bermuda for several days, when it failed to material- ize. The Teragram made port about five hours after we did. The Curlew remained in Bermuda six days and then started for home. The return trip was very rough; one night seven men were laid up with seasickness, leaving only three to work the ship. When we arrived in New London we were dead tired but happy, with one of the best times of our lives just be- hind us, and a ten day leave in the imme- diate future. 30 Starbo ird tuck .vk