Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Callao (IX-205)
ex
 USCGC Eastbreeze (1944)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal

USS Callao (IX-205) was captured as a war prize by USCGC Eastwind (WAG-279)
Callao Class Test Experimental Ship:
  • Built in 1943-44 as Externsteine at P. Smit, Jr., Shipyard, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, for the German Navy
  • Captured 15-16 October 1944 by USCGC Eastwind, off Greenland
  • Commissioned, USCGC Eastbreeze by her prize crew, 15 October 1944
  • Decommissioned, at Boston and turned over to the US Navy in October 1944
  • Commissioned Miscellaneous Unclassified USS Callao (IX-205), 24 January 1945, at Boston, MA., LT. D. O. Newton, USNR, in command
  • Decommissioned, 10 May 1950
  • Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown
  • Final Disposition, sold, 30 September 1950, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,015 t.
    Length 183'
    Beam 30' 10"
    Draft13' 11"
    Speed 10 kts.
    Complement 78
    Armament assorted German anti-aircraft weaponry
    Propulsion
    one vertical triple-expansion steam engine
    one Scotch boiler
    single propeller, 750shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    KMS Externsteine
    Callao 50k KMS Externsteine stuck in the ice off Greenland after being captured by the Coast Guard in October 1944.
    US Coast photos    		 Robert Hurst
    Callao 29k
    Callao 55k USCG sailors raise the US Ensign aboard KMS Externsteine while she was stuck in the ice off Greenland after being captured by the Coast Guard in October 1944.
    US Coast photos    		 Robert Hurst
    USCGC Eastbreeze
    Callao 30k GMC Webster USCG, christens the German armed trawler KMS Externsteine as the Coast Guard ship USCGC Eastbreeze, while the trawler was stuck in the ice off Greenland after being captured by the Coast Guard in October 1944.
    US Coast photos    		 Robert Hurst
    Callao 179k USCGC Eastbreeze enters Boston harbor, 14 December 1944. Eastbreeze was captured off the northeast coast of Greenland during an attempt to set up a weather station. Note the American flag flying over the Nazi swastika.
    AP Wirephoto    		 Brian Miller
    USS Callao (IX-205)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Back to the Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The Miscellaneous Unclassified Ship (IX) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.
    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 21 June 2019