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USCGC Nourmahal (WPG 122)



Call sign:
Nan - Zebra - Dog - Oboe

ex-USS Nourmahal (PG-72)
ex-USCGC Nourmahal (WPG-72)


Nourmahal served the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard
Patrol Gunboat:

  • Built in 1928 by Krupp Iron Works (Friederich Krupp Germaniawerft, A.G.), Kiel, Germany as the yacht Nourmahal
  • Acquired by the Coast Guard 21 March 1940
  • Commissioned USCGC Nourmahal (WPG 72), 21 August 1940
  • Acquired by the Navy 3 March 1942 but still under Coast Guard control
  • Commissioned USS Nourmahal (PG-72), 9 April 1943
  • Transferred to the Navy 29 June 1943
  • Returned to the Coast Guard 29 December 1943 and reclassified WPG-122
  • Struck from the Naval Register 12 January 1944
  • Decommissioned 30 May 1946
  • Returned to Navy custody in May 1947
  • Transferred to the Maritime Administration for disposal 18 July 1948
  • Sold for scrap by the Maritime Administration 11 September 1964 to Hughes Bros., Inc. of Hampden, ME

    Specifications:

  • Displacement (1941) 2,250 t. - (1945) - 3,200 t.
  • Length 263' 10"
  • Beam 41' 6"
  • Draft 18' 5"
  • Speed 15 kts.
  • Complement (1941) - 107, (1945) - 111
  • Armament: (1941) two 4"/50 gun mounts, six .50 cal. and eight .30 cal. machine guns and two depth charge tracks; Armament (1945) two 4"/50 gun mounts, six 20mm mounts, eight .30 cal. machine
    guns, two depth charge tracks, four depth charge projectors and two mousetraps
  • Propulsion: Two 3,200hp Sulzer Brothers 6-cylinder diesel engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Yacht Nourmahal
    Nourmahal 38k . Jim Rogers
    USS Nourmahal (PG 72)
    Nourmahal 76k Joe Radigan
    Nourmahal 125k c. July 1942 Robert Hurst
    Nourmahal 103k c. 1943 Joe Radigan
    Nourmahal 51k c. 1943
    She is not yet fitted with radar (SF radar was installed in 1945). Light machine guns were later replaced with 20mm mounts as they became available
    Photo from "U.S. Coast Guard Cutters and Craft of World War II" by Robert L. Scheina    		 Robert Hurst
    Nourmahal 308k At Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, sometime between April-December, 1943
    National Archives photo 26-G-4431    		 Mike Green
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR Harold Conklin Moore, USCG - Retired as Vice AdmiralNovember 1941 - August 1942
    02LT Hugh M. Godsey, USN10 December 1942 - 1943
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History: Nourmahal (PG–72), a yacht built in 1928 by the Krupp Iron Works, Kiel, Germany, was acquired by the Navy from William Vincent Astor by bareboat charter agreement 3 March 1942, to be operated under Navy ownership by the Coast Guard. She was designated Nourmahal (PG–72) 9 April 1943 and purchased by the Navy 29 June in accordance with an option in the original charter agreement.

    Nourmahal transferred to the Coast Guard 29 December and was struck from the Navy List 12 January 1944. Until the end of April 1946 she served the Coast Guard based at Boston, Mass., principally on ocean station weather patrol. Thereafter she provided towing services at the Coast Guard Yard, Curtis Bay, Md. She returned to the custody of the Commandant of the 5th Naval District in May 1947 for berthing at Norfolk. Transferred to the Maritime Administration 18 July 1948, she was assigned to the James River Maritime Reserve Fleet. She was sold by the Maritime Administration 11 September 1964 to Hughes Brothers, Inc. for scrap.

    ******************************************************

    Coast Guard Cutter History: Nourmahal (PG-72), a yacht built in 1928 by the Krupp Iron Works, Kiel, Germany, was first received from William Vincent Astor on 21 August 1940 for service as a weather station vessel in the Coast Guard Reserve fleet. She was reconditioned at the Coast Guard Yard from 22 September through 1 December 1941 and was then assigned to New York. She departed the Yard and sailed for Norfolk for outfitting and supplies on 1 December 1941 and then relieved USCGC Spencer on Weather Station #2 on 29 December. On 19 January 1942 she sailed for New York. She was then transferred to Navy control under a bareboat charter from William Vincent Astor on 3 March 1942 but still maintained a Coast Guard crew. She was designated Nourmahal (PG-72) 9 April 1943 and purchased by the Navy 29 June in accordance with an option in the original charter agreement.

    Nourmahal transferred to the Coast Guard 29 December and was struck from the Navy List 12 January 1944. Until the end of April 1946 she served the Coast Guard based at Boston, Massachusetts, escorting convoys from New York to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and back as well as duty as the flagship of the Commander, Eastern Sea Frontier. After 1 April 1944 she was assigned to U.S. Atlantic Fleet sailed as a weather observation vessel through 1946. Thereafter she provided towing services at the Coast Guard Yard, Curtis Bay, Md.

    She returned to the custody of the Commandant of the 5th Naval District in May 1947 for berthing at Norfolk. Transferred to the Maritime Administration 18 July 1948, she was assigned to the James River Maritime Reserve Fleet. She was sold by the Maritime Administration 11 September 1964 to Hughes Brothers, Inc. for scrap.

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