U.S. Coast Guard Service in The Pacific 1947-1967
Upon commissioning in 1947, Gresham was assigned to the 12th Coast Guard District, with her home port at Alameda, California. Her first ocean station patrol was at Ocean Station Fox, and began with her departure for the patrol on 26 March 1948. For the next few months she conducted naval mine and coastal patrols and served on Ocean Station Fox and Ocean Station Able.
During July 1949, Gresham was among the ships patrolling the Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii. On 9 September 1949 she assisted the British merchant ship SS Pacific Enterprise, which had run aground two nautical miles (3.7 kilometers) north of the Point Arena Light Station in thick fog.
On 8 January 1950 Gresham was assigned to Ocean Station Peter in the Pacific; cutter USCGC Winnebago (WPG-40) relieved her on 29 January 1950. Later in 1950 she served on Ocean Station Nan and Ocean Station Oboe.
In 1951 Gresham served on Ocean Station Uncle and Ocean Station Sugar. On 16 June 1951 cutter USCGC Chautauqua (WPG-41) relieved her on Ocean Station Sugar, and she proceeded to Yokosuka, Japan. She repeated the cruise from Ocean Station Sugar to Yokosuka in March 1952 and February 1954.
On 22 May 1955, Gresham assisted merchant ship SS David Thompson, which was adrift in the Pacific. During July 1955 she again escorted the Transpacific Yacht Race.
After several more weather patrols, Gresham departed Alameda on 13 August 1956, for Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, via Port Angeles, Washington, on a U.S. Coast Guard Reserve training cruise. On 30 September 1956, she was relieved from Ocean Station November by cutter USCGC Pontchartrain (WPG-70). On 17 October 1956, Pontchartrain rescued passengers of the passenger ship Sovereign of the Skies; Gresham left Alameda and rendezvoused with Pontchartrain at San Francisco Light Station on 19 October 1956 as Pontchartrain brought in the rescued passengers.
Tragedy struck Gresham on 17 December 1958 while she was relieving cutter USCGC Klamath (WPG-66) on Ocean Station Romeo. The ships were in a line-ahead formation with Gresham 500 yards (457 m) ahead of Klamath and transferring mail to Klamath when a large wave engulfed Gresham's quarterdeck, injuring 11 enlisted men, inflicting a severe head injury on Ensign George T. Bergman, and washing Bergman overboard. The cutters could not recover Bergman.
During 1959 and 1960, Gresham served on Ocean Station November seven times. During this period, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Henry Cabot Lodge, arranged for Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to tour San Francisco Bay while Khrushchev was visiting San Francisco, California, during his September 1959 state visit to the United States. Gresham was in port at Alameda at the time, and was chosen to carry Khrushchev on his tour of the bay.
Gresham continued her duties on Ocean Station November throughout the next few years. On 1 May 1966, she was reclassified as a high endurance cutter and redesignated WHEC-387.
Read more about this topic: USCGC Gresham (WAVP-387)
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