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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

ASR-8 Coucal

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Uniform - Delta - November
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons





Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation
Second Row - Navy Battle "E" Ribbon - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
Third Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal
Fourth Row - Korean Service Medal - Vietnam Service Medal (4) - Philippines Liberation Medal
Fifth Row - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)
Chanticleer Class Submarine Rescue Ship:
  • Laid down, 30 September 1941 at Moore Shipbuilding and Dry Dock, Co., Oakland, CA.
  • Launched, 28 May 1942
  • Commissioned USS Coucal (ASR-8), 22 January 1943, LCDR. D. H. Byerly, USNR, in command
  • During the Vietnam War Coucal was participated in the following campaigns:
    Vietnam War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive
    20 to 30 June 1966     		Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VII
    27 to 30 November 1970
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase II
    1 to 31 July 1966     		Vietnam Ceasefire
    19 to 22 and 26 to 28 May 1972

  • Decommissioned, (date unknown)
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 15 September 1977
  • Laid up at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF) Pearl Harbor, HI., maintenance category X
  • Final Disposition, sunk as a target, 19 January 1991
  • During the Vietnam War Coucal earned four campaign stars
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,780 t.(lt) 2,045 t.(fl)
    Length 251' 4"
    Beam 42'
    Draft 16'
    Speed 14.5kts.
    Complement 102
    Armament
    two single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts
    eight 20mm AA gun mounts
    four depth charge tracks
    Propulsion diesel-electric, single screw, 3,000hp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed By
    /Source
    Coucal 152k Amidship looking aft plan view of Coucal (ASR-8) at Mare Island, 30 January 1946. Coucal was undergoing repairs at Mare Island from 3 December 1945 to 3 February 1945.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 437-46.    		 Darryl Baker
    Coucal 138k Amidship looking forward plan view of Coucal (ASR-8) at Mare Island, 30 January 1946. Ships aft of Coucal are from left to right: Elkhart (APA 80, Tazewell (APA 209), YD-33, and Phaon (ARB 3)
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 440-46.    		 Darryl Baker
    Coucal 51k Coucal (ASR-8) underway, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, November 1949    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Coucal 58k Coucal (ASR-8) underway, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Henry "Hank" Wristen. FTCS USN Ret
    Coucal 136k Coucal (ASR-8) moored at Pearl Harbor, 13 February 1966 ©Richard Leonhardt
    Coucal149kCoucal (AS-8), moored pierside with two unidentified submarines moored to her port side.
    US Navy photo courtesy of US Submarine Veterans Association.    		 US Submarine Veterans Association
    View the Coucal (ASR-8)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center web site
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Back to the Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Ship Photo Index Back To The Submarine Rescue Ship (ASR) Photo Index
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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 9 February 2007