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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed by Joe Radigan

USCGC Casco (WHEC-370)
ex
 USCGC Casco (WAVP-370) (1949 - 1966)
 USS Casco (AVP-12) (1941 - 1947)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - India - Charlie - Bravo
 NICB
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)

USS Casco (AVP-12) was transferred to the US Coast Guard following WWII
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, CDR. T. S. Combs in command
  • During World War II USS Casco was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Aleutians operation
    Attu occupation, 12 May to 2 June 1943     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 26 April to 30 June 1945
    Marshall Islands operation
    Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, 4 February 1944     		 

  • 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
    Officers 14
    Enlisted 201
    Aviation Unit Accommodations
    Officers 59
    Enlisted 93
    Largest boom capacity 10 t.
    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
    Ships Service Generators
    two diesel-drive 100Kw 450V A.C.
    two diesel-drive 200Kw 50V A.C.
    Fuel Capacities
    Diesel 1,955 Bbls.
    Gasoline 84,340 Gals.
    Propulsion
    two General Motors 12-288 Diesel engines
    single Fairbanks Morse Main Reduction Gears
    Ships' Service Generators
    two Diesel-drive 100Kw 450V A.C.
    two Diesel-drive 200Kw 450V A.C.
    two propellers, 6,080shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Casco (AVP-12)
    Casco 43k USS 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 USS 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 USS 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 USS 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 USS 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 USS 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 USS 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 USS 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 USS 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 USS Casco (AVP-12), date and location unknown Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret
    Casco 47k USS Casco (AVP-12), location unknown, 1944 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret
    USCGC Casco (WAVP-370 / WHEC-370)
    Casco 91k USCGC Casco (WAVP-370), Boston, September 1960 © Richard Leonhardt
    Casco 79k USCGC Casco (WAVP-370), Boston, April 1961 © Richard Leonhardt
    Casco 35k USCGC Casco (WAVP-370), date and place unknown. Ken Laesser
    Casco 20k USCGC Casco (WHEC-370), 1969, place unknown. Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret
    USS Casco (AVP-12)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    USS Casco (AVP-12) Battle Damage photos
    U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office - Casco, 1949
    USS Barnegat AVP-10 Class Seaplane Tenders
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Ship Type Index Back To The Small Seaplane Tender (AVP) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 13 January 2012