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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Patch at left contributed by Bill Valashinas, plaque at right by Jack Treutle

USCGC Southwind (WAGB-280)
ex
 USS Atka (AGB-3) (1950 - 1966)
 USCGC Southwind (WAGB-280) (1944 - 1945)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Romeo - Foxtrot - Charlie
 NRFC
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal - Antarctica Service Medal (3)
Burton Island Class Icebreaker:
  • Authorized as Miscellaneous Auxiliary (AG-90)
  • Laid down, 20 July 1942, at Western Pipe & Steel Co., San Pedro, CA.
  • Launched, 8 May 1943
  • Commissioned USCGC Southwind (WAGB-280), 15 July 1944, CDR. R. M. Hoyle, USCG, in command
  • Decommissioned, 25 March 1945 and transferred (loaned) under terms of the Lend-Lease Program, to the USSR, renamed Kaptian Belusov
  • Returned to US Naval custody 28 December 1949, at Yokosuka, Japan
  • Commissioned USS Atka (AGB-3), 1 October 1950, at Yokosuka
  • Decommissioned, 31 October 1966 and transferred to the US Coast Guard
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 November 1966
  • Commissioned USCGC Southwind (WAGB-280), 18 January 1967
  • Decommissioned, circa 1974
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement
    As Built - 3,575 t.(lt) 6,515 t.(fl), 5,425 t.(lim)
    Coast Guard 1967 - 3,052 t.(lt) 6,481 t.(fl)
    Length 269'
    Beam 63' 6"
    Draft 25' 9"
    Speed
    Trial Speed 16 Kts.
    Max Sustained 13.4 Kts, 30,929-mi radius (1967)
    Economic 11.6 Kts, 32,485-mi radius (1967)
    Complement
    Navy
    Officers - 21
    Enlisted - 332
    Coast Guard 204
    Armament
    Navy
    two twin 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mounts
    three quad 40mm AA gun mounts
    two depth charge tracks
    Coast Guard - none
    Aircraft two helicopters
    Fuel Capacities
    Diesel - 10,185 Bbls
    Gasoline - 7,200 Gals
    Propulsion
    six Fairbanks Morse 10-cylinder diesels driving six Westinghouse DC generators
    two 200Kw 240V D.C. diesel-drive Ship's Service Generators
    three propellers, two aft, 13,000shp, one forward
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USCGC Southwind (WAGB-280)
    Atka 50k USCGC Southwind (WAGB-280) moored pierside, during her commissioning ceremony, 15 July 1944, at Western Pipe & Steel Co., San Pedro, CA.
    USCG Photo.    		 Robert Hurst
    Atka 169k USCGC Southwind (WAGB-280) possibly the ship's commissioning ceremony, 15 July 1944, at Western Pipe & Steel Co., San Pedro, CA. Paul Rebold
    Atka 165k USCGC Southwind (WAGB-280) at anchor probably in the vicinity of San Pedro, CA., in July 1944 sometime before or after her commissioning on 15 July 1944. Paul Rebold
    USS Atka (AGB-3)
    Atka 92k USS Atka (AGB-3) underway in Arctic pack ice with USS Wyndot (AKA-92), date unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, April 1952.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Atka 70k USS Atka (AGB-3) hove to in Arctic ice. Notice the crew members on the ice, date unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, December 1956.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Edisto/Atka 70k USS Edisto (AGB-2) and USS Atka (AGB-3) moored together at Goose Bay, Labrador, 18 June 1960. Photo by PH1 Class Scott
    US Navy photo # USN 1051798, from DANFS.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Atka 379k USS Atka (AGB-3) underway, date and location unknown. David Buell
    Atka 222k USS Atka (AGB-3) underway, date and location unknown. David Buell
    Atka 101k USS Atka (AGB-3) underway in Boston Harbor in March 1965 following the addition of a helicopter hanger at her stern.
    Boston Naval Shipyard photo ASF #1533, Boston National Historical Park Collection, NPS Cat. No. BOSTS-10307.    		 Stephen P. Carlson, Preservation Specialist, Boston NHP, Charlestown Navy Yard. Boston, MA.
    Burton Island/Atka/Glacier 98k From left to right, USS Burton Island (AGB-1), USS Atka (AGB-3) and USS Glacier (AGB-4) pushing an iceberg out of the channel near McMurdo Station, Antarctica, 29 December 1965.
    US Navy photo from DANFS.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Atka 246k USS Atka (AGB-3) in the ice at Antarctica during Operation Deep Freeze 1966. David Buell
    Atka 26k USS Atka (AGB-3) in the ice at Antarctica during Operation Deep Freeze 1966. Jim Noble
    Atka 15k USS Atka (AGB-3) in the ice at Antarctica during Operation Deep Freeze 1966. Photo by Jim Noble
    Atka 96k USS Atka (AGB-3) transfer Ceremony program front page Jim Noble
    USCGC Southwind (WAGB-280)
    Atka 49k USCGC Southwind (WAGB-280) underway in the ice, circa 1966-74. Ken Laesser
    Atka 69k USCGC Southwind (WAGB-280) underway, date and location unknown. Robert Hurst

    For more photos and information about USS Atka / USCGC Southwind, see;
  • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
  • CDR. Joseph H. Judith USN Photo Collection
  • US Coast Guard Historian's Office - Southwind 1944
  • Commanding Officers
    • Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 10 June 2011