Owasco class cutter

Owasco class

USCGC Owasco (WPG-39), 1945. Her World War II armament of twin 5'/38 cal gun turrets is apparent here.
Class overview
Builders:	(1) Western Pipe & Steel (2) US Coast Guard Yard
Operators:	United States Coast Guard
In service:	1945–1974
In commission:	1945–46 / 1965–74
Completed:	13
Retired:	13
General characteristics
Displacement:	1,978 fl (1966); 1,342 light (1966)
Length:	254 ft (77 m) oa; 245 ft (75 m) bp
Beam:	43 ft 1 in (13.13 m) max
Draft:	17 ft 3 in (5.26 m) max (1966)
Propulsion:	1 Westinghouse electric motor driven by a turbine. 4,000 total (1945) Fuel: 141,755 gal (Oil, 95%)
Range:	Maximum Sustained: 17.0 knots (31 km/h), 6,157 mi (9,909 km) radius (!966) Economic:10.0 knots (19 km/h), 10,376 mi (16,699 km) radius (1966)
Complement:	10 officers, 3 warrants, 130 men (1966)
Sensors and processing systems:	Detection Radar: SR, SU (1945); SPS-23; SPS-29-B; SPA-52 (1965) Sonar: QJA (1945); SQS-1, SQA-2, 55134-B; UQC-1C (1965) Fire Control Radar: Mk 26
Armament:	1945: 4 x 5"/38 (twin mounts); 8 x 40 mm/60 (2 quad mounts); 2 depth charge tracks; 6 "K" gun depth charge projectors 1 hedgehog A/S projector 1965: 1 x 5"/38; 1 x Mk 10 MOD D depth charge projector; 1 x .50 caliber MG 1973: 1 x 5"/38; 2 x 81 mm mortars; 6 x .50 caliber MGs

The Owasco-class cutter was a 255-foot (78 m) cutter class operated by the United States Coast Guard. A total of thirteen cutters in the class were built, all named after lakes. Eleven were constructed by the Western Pipe & Steel Company at San Pedro, California, while the remaining two—Mendota and Pontchartrain—were constructed by the Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay, Maryland. Initially heavily armed for World War II service and designated patrol gunboats (WPG) under the United States Navy designation system, the vessels were stripped of much of their armament shortly after the war, and in 1965 were redesignated high endurance cutters (WHEC) after the Coast Guard adopted its own designation system.

Myths have long shadowed the design history of the 255-foot (78 m) class. These cutters were to have been much larger ships, and two theories persist as to why they were shortened. The first is that they were built to replace the ships given to Great Britain under lend-lease, and Congress stipulated that the Coast Guard had to build these replacement cutters to the same size and character as those provided to the British. The second is that their length was determined by the maximum length that could pass through the locks of the Welland Canal from the Great Lakes to the St. Lawrence River. The Great Lakes shipbuilding industry brought pressure on Congress to ensure that it had the potential to bid on the contract. The first theory seems to be correct, but the second cannot be ruled out.

The Coast Guard had prepared a design for a 316-foot (96 m) cutter that was to have been an austere 327. This design was cut down into the 255-foot (78 m) ship. To accomplish this, everything was squeezed down and automated to a degree not before achieved in a turbo-electric-driven ship.