Eastwind (WAGB 279) - Naval Cruise Book

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USCGC EASTWIND WAGB-2 79 In the calm Caribbean 4 The Coast Guard Cutter Eastwind was commissioned in San Pedro, California on June 3, 1944. The 269-foot icebreaker, destined for nearly 20 Polar expeditions completed her shakedown cruise on July 14, 1944. A month later, she reached her home port of Boston, Massachusetts. Her first mission in WW II was to Northeast Greenland. There she fought through 10-foot thick ice to rescue two men in a small boat, lost from an allied patrol. Pushing still further Northward, she sighted a German weather station on October 1, 1944. During the next 15 days, landing parties from the Eastwind captured the station, its valuable documents, and a German expeditionary vessel. The rest of the war was spent working in thick polar ice and ferreting out various enemy infiltrations. At the war's end, the icebreaker made four peacetime trips to Greenland. In 1948 she smashed a shipping path in New York's icebound Hudson River, alleviating serious supply shortages in upstate communities. From 1950 to 1954, the cutter made numerous and varied trips to the Northern and Arctic regions. Then in 1955, participation in the first Operation Deepfreeze. Since then, she has divided her time be- tween Arctic and Antarctic operations. On Nov. 3, 1960, the Coast Guard Icebreaker Eastwind prepared to chase the setting sun across the Pacific after transiting the Panama Canal enroute Anarctica to participate in Operation Deepfreeze 61. The next port of call for the glistening white 269-foot cutter would be Christchurch, New Zealand, jumping off spot for the icy wastes of McMurdo sound. A Search for a downed jet pilot, the saving of a life at sea, and a midnight buzzing by a plane though at flrst to be a Cuban bomber, highlighted the Eastwind's voyage to Panama. Two days out of Boston, the ship, which carries two helicopters, was directed to assume on scene command of a search force consisting of 12 aircraft and 4 other ships in an attempt to locate a downed Air Force F-84 jet pilot, lost on a flight from Bermuda. The search was called off after it was ascer- tained that the pilot probably had not been able to bail out.

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USCGC EASTWIND Capt. Joseph W. Naab Jr. Commanding Officer Cdr! Keith Low Eazecutifve Officer Lcdr. Edgar W. Dorr Operations Officer Lt. Richard O. Haughey Engineer Officer EDITORIAL STAFF Ens. Arthur H. Bleich Executive Editor Herbert V. Schwikert, SN Art Editor Harold H. Welch, HMCS Business Manager STAFF MEMBERS Paul E. Shanklin, YNO Roderick A. Leroy, YN2 Richard H. Rogers, RM2 Clarence L. Smith, HM2 Alfred E. Cole Jr., YN3 David E. Ray, YN3 David L. Tennent, SK3 Michael W. Schassburger, FNDO Ralph S. Sunderlin, SN The editorial staff wishes to acknowledge the cooperation of the following agencies who greatly contributed to the success of this publi- cation: U.S. Navy Task Force 43 Photo Section, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters Photo Lab, First Coast Guard District Photo Section, New Zea- land National Publicity Studies, Australian News and Information Bureau, Ceylon Government Tourist Bureau, National Tourist Organization of Greece, Italian National Tourist Bureau, National Information Secretary of Portugal. Printed in Photo-Offset by Burdette 8. Co. Boston, Mass. Text, photography, and book design by Ens. Arthur H. Bleich

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.. . , ., ,. Mfr, - , 3.-....-fin...-.'.,...............,.-. A - , . . Q- - . -- V A The following morning the Eastwind received a radio message that a Merchant Seaman on the Norwegian Tanker Borge was in serious condition with bleeding ulcers.. A rendezvous was made, and despite a vicious swell, a small boat with Ens William B. Hewitt of Needham Hts, Mass. was lowered and eight oarsmen stroked for the Borge. In the boat was the East- wind's doctor SAS Lt David R. Herr of New Providence, Pa. After emergency medical treatment was rendered, the Borge headed for the nearest port, and the boat returned to the Eastwind. Forty-seven tense minutes passed before it could be hoisted aboard, however, due to the rough condition of the sea. The Eastwind's skipper, Captain Joseph W. Naab Jr. of Freeport, Maine congratulated the men on a job well done. You hafve perfomed this operation with great skill and courage, and in the finest tradition of the sea he said. The Eastwind then resumed her course for the Caribbean, Where she was to pass within four and a half miles of the east coast of Cuba. It was midnight, off Cuba, when an unidentified aircraft was picked up on the radar. Flying without lights of any kind, it made a low pass over the ship and awakened many crew members sleeping in the cool air topside. Here comes Castro one of the men shouted. There was stillness for a moment as the presumed Cuban bomber thundered in for another low run at almost mast height. Then it flashed a recognition light and laughter sounded around the decks. lt was only a US PQV Aircraft on routine patrol. The Eastwind docked briefly at Rodman Naval Base in the Canal Zone to take on mail, supplies, and fresh water, and several crew membersjokingly talked of going ashore to buy air conditioners. That's one of the problems of an icebreaker explained Captain Naab. We're insulated for cold but we spend about amorath in tropical weathergetting there. It gets mighty hot. . High spot of the three-week voyage across the Pacific was to occur when the ship crossed the Equator and those who had never been across before would get initiated. Then a week in Christchurch, New Zealand, preparing for the big push to Antarctica, where the massive icebreaker was scheduled to smash a path for ships supplying scientific stations there. In the sunny Pacific