USCGC Chautauqua (WHEC-41)

USCGC Chautauqua (WHEC-41)

USCG Chautauqua (WHEC-41) was an Owasco class high endurance cutter which served with the US Coast Guard from 1945 to 1973. Originally intended for World War II service, she was commissioned only days before the end of hostilities and consequently never saw combat.

Chautauqua was built by Western Pipe & Steel at the company's San Pedro shipyard. Named after Chautauqua Lake, New York she was commissioned as a patrol gunboat with ID number WPG-41 on 4 August 1945, just days before the end of World War II. In the postwar period, her ID was changed to WHEC-41 (HEC for "High Endurance Cutter" - the "W" signifies a Coast Guard vessel).