Trillium, 1946
WAK 170; ex-FS-397
A genus of the lilaceous plants; the three-leaved nightshade; so called because all the parts of the plant are in threes.
Builder: Ingalls Shipbuilding Company, Decatur, Alabama
Commissioned: 1945 (Army); 23 August 1946 (USCG)
Decommissioned: 15 November 1950
Length: 176' 1"
Beam: 32'
Draft: 10'
Displacement: 935 tons
Propulsion: 2 General Motors diesel engines; 1,000 SHP; twin propellers
Performance:
Max: 13.7 knots; 4,000 mile range
Economic:
Deck Gear: 15-ton capacity boom
Complement: 30
Armament: 1 x 40mm/60
Electronics: SO-8 radar
History:
The Army FS-397 was acquired by the Coast Guard after World War II to assist in the construction and logistic support of the Service's LORAN chain in the Pacific. She was commissioned Trillium on 1 October 1947 and was given the hull number and designation WAK-170. She was assigned to the 14th Coast Guard District and was based out of Honolulu, Hawaii. She provided logistic support to Okinawa, Guam, Eniwetok and among the Hawaiian Islands. On 9 November 1947 she transferred to Guam and provided logistic support to Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Kwajalein, and the Philippines. From 15 June to 15 November 1950 she was stationed at San Francisco, California. In September, 1950 she towed the cutter Hermes from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii to Alameda, California.
She was decommissioned on 15 November 1950 and was transferred to the U.S. Navy.
Sources:
Cutter History File. USCG Historian's Office, USCG HQ, Washington, D.C.
Robert Scheina. U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft, 1946-1990. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1990.