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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Menemsha (AG-39)
USCGC Menemsha (WAG-274)


USS Menemsha (AG-39) was manned by the US Coast Guard during World War II
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Steel-hulled cargo ship:
  • Built in 1918 as SS Lake Orange at McDougall-Duluth Co., Duluth, MN.
  • Acquired by the Buffalo Steamship Corp, Buffalo, N.Y, renamed John Gehm
  • Acquired by the Maritime Commission from her owners, Bison Steamship Corp., in 1941
  • Acquired by the Navy 19 September 1941
  • Renamed Menemsha (AG-39), 15 October 1941
  • Converted for Naval service as a weather patrol ship at Maryland Drydock Co., Baltimore, MD.
  • Commissioned USS Menemsha (AG-39), under loan to the U.S. Coast Guard, 20 January 1942
  • Decommissioned, date unknown
  • Transferred to the Coast Guard
  • Re-commissioned USCGC Menemsha (WAG-274), 22 October 1943
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 30 October 1943
  • Decommissioned by the Coast Guard, date unknown
  • Final Disposition, scrapped in 1951
    Specifications:
    Displacement 2,580 t.
    Length 261'
    Beam 43' 6"
    Draft 20' 3"
    Speed 10 kts.
    Compliment 58
    Armament
    one single 4"/50 gun mount
    four single .30 cal. machine guns
    two depth charge projectors
    Propulsion triple expansion reciprocating steam engine, single shaft, 1,200shp

    i>US Navy photo # 2611 (42)
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    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    USS Menemsha (AG-39)
    BB-40 New Mexico 783k Menemsha (AG-39) being assisted out of her berth by the harbor tug YT-213 at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, VA., 31 December 1941. In the foreground is the battleship New Mexico (BB-40) Across the pier from Menemsha is the new destroyer O'Brien (DD-415). She would be torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-15 on 15 September 1942 and sank 19 October 1942 while en route to Pearl Harbor for repairs. Pieter Bakels
    Menemsha 18k Menemsha (AG-39) underway, 22 January 1942. Gunter Krebs
    USCGC Menemsha (WAG-274)
    Menemsha 40k Menemsha (WAG-274) underway, date and place unknown. Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
    View the Menemsha (AG-39)
    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
    U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office - Menemsha (AG-39) (WAG-274)
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To The Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The Miscellaneous (AG) 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 14 December 2007