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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed by Joe Radigan

AVP-12 Casco
WAVP-370 / WHEC-370 Casco

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign: November - India - Charlie - Bravo
USS Casco (AVP-12) was transferred to the US Coast Guard and commissioned USCGC Casco (WAVP-370)
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (30 August 1942)
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3) - World War II Victory Medal
Personal Awards

Purple Heart (5-KIA, 20-WIA, 30 August 1942)
Barnegat Class Small Seaplane Tender:
  • Laid down, 30 May 1940, at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, WA.
  • Launched, 15 November 1941
  • Commissioned USS Casco (AVP-12), 27 December 1941
  • Decommissioned, 10 April 1947 and laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet
  • Reactivated and loaned to the US Coast Guard, 19 April 1949
  • Commissioned USCGC Casco (WAVP-370)
  • Redesignated (WHEC-370), 1 May 1966
  • Returned to US Naval custody in 1969
  • Struck from the Naval Register (date unknown)
  • Final Disposition, sunk as a target, Casco sunk at 1633, 15 May 1969, less than five minutes after being torpedoed a second time on her starboard side. She sank at latitude 36-40N and longitude 024-16W
  • Casco received three battle stars for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,766 t.(lt) 2,750 t.(fl)
    Length 311' 8"
    Beam 41' 1"
    Draft 13' 6"
    Speed 18.6 kts.
    Complement 215
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    one quad 40mm AA gun mount
    two dual 40mm AA gun mounts
    four dual 20mm AA gun mounts
    Propulsion diesel, two shafts, 6,000hp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Casco (AVP-12)
    Casco 43k Casco (AVP-12) entering the dry dock at Navy Yard Puget Sound, for repair of battle damage, 27 September 1942.
    Puget Sound Navy Yard photo # PW4-641, now in the collections of the US National Archives, Seattle Branch    		 Tracy White
    Casco 56k Casco (AVP-12) in the dry dock at Navy Yard Puget Sound, for repair of battle damage, 27 September 1942.
    Puget Sound Navy Yard photo # PW4-652, now in the collections of the US National Archives, Seattle Branch    		 Tracy White
    Casco 114k Casco (AVP-12) running trials off Vashon Island in Puget Sound, 3 March 1943 upon completion of battle damage repairs.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-455262, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Casco 137k Casco (AVP-12) running trials off Vashon Island in Puget Sound, 3 March 1943 upon completion of battle damage repairs.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-42040, a US Navy photo from the Bureau of Ships Collection now in the US National Archives    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Casco 69k Casco (AVP-12) in Puget Sound, 3 March 1943 upon completion of repairs. She had been torpedoed by the Japanese submarine HIJMS RO-61 in the Aleutian Islands on 30 August 1942. Her main armament has been doubled to four 5"/38 guns.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-41932, a US Navy photo from the Bureau of Ships Collection now in the US National Archives    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Casco 63k Casco (AVP-12) in Puget Sound, 3 March 1943 upon completion of repairs. She had been torpedoed by the Japanese submarine RO-61 in the Aleutian Islands on 30 August 1942.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-41933, a US Navy photo from the Bureau of Ships Collection now in the US National Archives    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Casco 96k Casco (AVP-12) in Puget Sound, 3 March 1943 upon completion of repairs. She had been torpedoed by the Japanese submarine RO-61 in the Aleutian Islands on 30 August 1942.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-41934, a US Navy photo from the Bureau of Ships Collection now in the US National Archives    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Casco 130k Casco (AVP-12) running trials off Vashon Island in Puget Sound, 3 March 1943 upon completion of battle damage repairs.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-42039, a US Navy photo from the Bureau of Ships Collection now in the US National Archives    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Casco 64k Casco (AVP-12) in Massacre Bay, Attu Island in the Aleutians in about May 1943 soon after the US recaptured the island. A PBY-5A "Catalina" patrol bomber is taking off on a patrol.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-65978, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Casco 20k Casco (AVP-12), date and place unknown Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret
    Casco 47k Casco (AVP-12),, place unknown, 1944 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret
    USCGC Casco (WAVP-370)
    Casco 91k Casco (WAVP-370), Boston, September 1960 © Richard Leonhardt
    Casco 79k Casco (WAVP-370), Boston, April 1961 © Richard Leonhardt
    Casco 35k Casco (WAVP-370), date and place unknown. Ken Laesser
    Casco 20k Casco (WAVP-370), 1969, place unknown. Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret
    View Casco (AVP-12) Battle Damage photos
    View the Casco (AVP-12)
    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
    U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office - Casco, 1949
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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 7 April 2006