Almond, 1942 (WAGL-177); ex-La Salle
A small tree (Prunus amygdalus) of the family Rosaceae and for the nutlike, edible seed of its drupe fruit.
Builder: Toledo Shipbuilding Company, Toledo, Ohio
Length: 161' 10"
Beam: 56'
Draft: 13' 6"
Displacement: 677 (fl)
Cost: $65,000 (acquisition); $234,416 (conversion)
Launched: 1922
Commissioned: 11 December 1942 (USCG)
Decommissioned: 29 September 1945
Disposition: Sold, 31 July 1946
Machinery: 1 compound reciprocating steam engine; 2 Marine fire-tube boilers; 1,700 SHP
Performance: 10.0 knots (max); 8.0 knots (economic); 1,320 mile range @ 8.0 knots
Complement: 39
Armament: None
Cutter History:
Almond was a former ferry boat that was acquired by the Coast Guard because of her icebreaking capability. She was converted to a buoy tender and was fitted with fire-fighting apparatus by the Toledo Ship Building Company. Once the conversion was complete, Almond was assigned to the 9th District and was stationed at Ignace, Michigan, Chicago, Illinois, and Grand Haven, Michigan, during the war. She conducted aids to navigation work and icebreaking.
She was decommissioned at Grand Haven on 29 September 1945 and was sold on 31 July 1946 to Mr. K. J. Eretle.
Sources:
Cutter History File, Coast Guard Historian’s Office.
Robert Scheina, U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft of World War II (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1982), pp. 21-24.