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History of the Bibb (WHEC-31) * |
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The United States Coast Guard Cutter Bibb, named after George M. Bibb (secretary of the Treasury under President John Tyler, is one of seven 327 foot "Secretary class" vessels originally built for the Coast Guard. Designed to meet the changing missions of the Coast Guard as the country emerged from Prohibition, she was built at the U.S. Navy Yard, Charleston, South Carolina, launched on January 14, 1937, and placed in commission on March 10, 1937. At her first home port in Norfolk, Virginia, the Bibb's assigned duties included search and rescue, boarding for law enforcement, regatta patrols and Coast Guard Academy cadet cruises. In 1939, Bibb operated jointly with the Navy as part of a destroyer squadron to assist shipping in the North Atlantic. On September 11, 1941, Bibb was transferred to the Navy by Executive Order. After undergoing extensive conversion, including increased weaponry, she assumed convoy and patrol duties in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and the familiar waters of the North Atlantic. Fortunately, her search and rescue mission was not altogether abandoned; in September of 1942 she picked up 61 survivors of the British Merchant Ship SS Penmar. On February 7, 1943, the Bibb rescued 202 survivors from the U.S. Merchant Ship SS Henry S. Mallory and 33 survivors from the SS Kalliopi. In one day the Bibb had pulled 235 men and one small puppy from the stormy waters of the North Atlantic. This feat has rarely been matched by any other single ship. In January 1945, the Bibb steamed to the Pacific theatre to serve as landing operations flagship in the Okinawa Campaign. After the war, the Bibb returned to the Coast Guard, underwent reconversion, and resumed her peacetime duties. On October 14, 1947, while fighting high winds and heavy seas, Bibb recovered all 69 survivors aboard the transoceanic airliner Bermuda Sky Queen, which had been forced to ditch in the North Atlantic. A year later she sped into 40 ft seas to save 40 men from the sinking fishing schooner Caspar. From June 1968 to March 1969, during the Vietnam Era, the Bibb served under Coast Guard Squadron Three on the Coastal Surveillance Force's "Operation Market Time", on patrol along the Republic of Vietnam coast. In May of 1969 the Bibb returned to her home port of Boston and resumed her duties as a North Atlantic Ocean Station Vessel. In October 1973 her home port was changed to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where she continued her primary missions: to enforce the U.S. maritime laws from New England to the Caribbean, search and rescue missions, cadet training, and military preparedness. On September 30 1985 she was decommissioned and turned over to the U.S. Maritime Administration for disposal. She was sunk on November 27, 1987, seven miles off the shore of Key Largo, Florida, to become an artificial reef. The Bibb now rests on her starboard side in 130 feet of seawater, about a quarter mile from her sister ship the Duane.
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GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS: Hull Displacement (tons) 2,589 (full load) Length 327 ft Beam 41ft, 2in Draft 13ft, 7in Machinery Main Engines Two Westinghouse double-reduction geared turbines Main Boilers Two Babcock & Wilson sectional express, air encased Shaft Horsepower 6,200 total Propellers Twin, three blade, nine ft. diameter Performance 19.5 knots Armament One five in./38 dual purpose gun Four 50 Cal. Machine Guns Complement (Peacetime) Officers 12 Enlisted 116 Current Location Key Largo, FL Approximately 1 mile South of Molasses Reef
* This is only a part of it, but it should suffice as a basic representation. |
