Celtic, IX-137
Of or pertaining to the Celts or their language.
Builder: Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Quincy, Massachusetts
Length: 485'
Beam: 62' 6"
Draft: 31' 6"
Displacement: 20,000
Cost:
Launched: 1921
Commissioned: 17 January 1944 (USCG crew reported aboard)
Decommissioned: 6 February 1946 (USCG crew removed)
Disposition: Turned over to the War Shipping Administration
Machinery:
Performance:
Maximum Speed: 10.0 knots
Economic/Cruising Speed:
Complement: 114
Electronics:
Armament: 1 x 4"; 1 x 3"
History:
The Celtic (IX-137) was built in 1921 as Kerry Patch by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Quincy, Mass.; acquired by the Navy 17 January 1944; and commissioned the same day, Lieutenant J. S. Loring, USCG, in command, with a Coast Guard crew.
Acquired at Noumea, New Caledonia, Celtic sailed 15 February 1944 for duty as station tanker, successively, at Efate and Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides; Port Purvis, Gavutu, and Empress Augusta Bay in the Solomons; and at Noumea itself until 31 March 1945, when she joined a convoy for Leyte, arriving 25 May. Here she served as station tanker until 1 July, sailing then for duty off Okinawa from 17 July. Her support of the occupation continued until 29 October when she cleared for Mobile, Alabama, arriving 11 December.
A career of humble but essential service ended with her decommissioning 6 February 1946. Celtic was delivered to the War Shipping Administration for disposal 24 December 1946.
Sources:
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
Robert Scheina. U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft of World War II. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1982.