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

USS Atka (AG-90) / (AGB-3)
USCGC Southwind (WAGB-280)

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)
    Coast Guard 1967 - 3,052 t.(lt) 6,481 t.(fl)
    Length 269'
    Beam 63' 9"
    Draft 25' 9"
    Speed
    Max Sustained 13.4 kts, 30,929-mi radius (1967)
    Economic 11.6 kts, 32,485-mi radius (1967)
    Complement
    Navy 353
    Coast Guard 204
    Armament
    Navy - one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    Coast Guard - none
    Aircraft two helicopters
    Propulsion 6 Fairbanks Morse 10-cylinder diesels driving 6 Westinghouse DC generators which in turn drove 2 electric motors; two propellers, 5,000 SHP each
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Atka (AGB-3)
    Atka 92k Atka (AGB-3) underway in Arctic pack ice with Wyndot (AKA-92), date unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, April 1952.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Atka 70k 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 Edisto (AGB-2) and 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 Atka (AGB-3) underway, date and location unknown. David Buell
    Atka 222k Atka (AGB-3) underway, date and location unknown. David Buell
    Burton Island/Atka/Glacier 98k From left to right, Burton Island (AGB-1), Atka (AGB-3) and 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 Atka (AGB-3) in the ice at Antarctica during Operation Deep Freeze 1966. David Buell
    Atka 26k Atka (AGB-3) in the ice at Antarctica during Operation Deep Freeze 1966. Jim Noble
    Atka 15k Atka (AGB-3) in the ice at Antarctica during Operation Deep Freeze 1966. Photo by Jim Noble
    Atka 96k Atka (AGB-3) transfer Ceremony program front page Jim Noble
    USCGC Southwind (WAGB-280)
    Atka 49k Southwind (WAGB-280) underway in the ice, circa 1966-74. Ken Laesser
    Atka 69k Southwind (WAGB-280) underway, date unknown. Robert Hurst
    View the Atka (AGB-3)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    US Coast Guard Historian's Office - Southwind 1944
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2008 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 8 February 2008