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USRC Onondaga, ca. 1914
History
United States
Name	USRC Onondaga
Namesake	Lake Onondaga, New York
Operator	list error: <br /> list (help) U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, 1898–1915 U.S. Coast Guard, 1915–1923
Awarded	30 March 1897
Builder	Globe Iron Works, Cleveland, Ohio,
Cost	US$193,800
Yard number	72
Completed	13 August 1898
Commissioned	24 October 1898
Decommissioned	5 November 1919
Fate	Sold for scrap, 16 September 1924
General characteristics
Displacement	1,190 long tons (1,210 t)
Length	205 ft 6 in (62.64 m)
Beam	32 ft (9.8 m)
Draft	13 ft 2 in (4.01 m)
Installed power	Triple-expansion steam engine
Speed	16 knots (max)
Complement	73
Armament	4 × 6-pounder rapid fire guns (1915)

USRC Onondaga was an Algonquin-class cutter built for the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service for service on the Great Lakes. Because of the Spanish-American War, she was cut in half shortly after completion and transported to Ogdensburg, New York for service on the Atlantic coast although the war ended before she could be put into service. She served as a patrol vessel at various Atlantic coast ports before World War I and was transferred to U.S. Navy control during the war.

Construction

The United States Revenue Cutter Service cutter Onondaga was built at Cleveland, Ohio in 1898 by the Globe Iron Works. She was a steel-hulled vessel equipped with a triple-expansion steam engine, Scotch boilers, and a single screw. She was one of the first RCS cutters built with electric generators to supply current for lights and call bells. Before Onondaga could be completed, she was transferred to U.S. Navy control because of the outbreak of the Spanish-American War on 24 March 1898 and the contractor was directed to cut the ship in half for transport to Ogdensburg, New York. She was reassembled and was finally accepted for service by the government 13 August and returned to Department of the Treasury control on 17 August at the conclusion of hostilities. She was placed in commission 24 October at Ogdensburg and ordered to report for duty at Boston, Massachusetts.

History

1899–1917

After Onondaga arrived at Boston, she was received winter cruising orders to patrol the area from the St. Croix River to Nantucket Shoals. During February 1899, she was tasked with breaking ice in the harbor at Sullivan, Maine. On 8 December 1899, she received orders transferring her to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with patrol area set from Great Egg Harbor to Fort Monroe, Virginia including Delaware Bay. While stationed at Philadelphia, she also had a temporary assignment escorting Marine Hospital Service ship Senator from Hampton Roads, Virginia to Havana, Cuba in June 1900. In September 1900 she was temporarily assigned to Galveston, Texas. Onondaga was also utilized to cover other RCS cutter's patrol areas when they were laid up for repairs. On 1 July 1902, Onondaga conveyed Maine Senator William P. Frye and party from New York City to Portland, Maine. On 7 April 1904, she received orders to return to Galveston, Texas and tow USRC Galveston to the Revenue Cutter Service Depot at Curtis Bay, Maryland for major yard repairs. On 10 December 1904, the tug Boyer collided with the stern of Onondaga necessitating extensive repairs at Kensington Shipyard Company, Philadelphia. Repairs were completed 7 February 1905 and she sailed for Norfolk, Virginia to patrol for the remainder of her winter cruise. On 11 November she was notified that all winter patrols were to be based out of Norfolk while summer patrols were conducted out of Philadelphia. After 13 April 1907, all patrols were based out of Norfolk with occasional temporary duty at Tompkinsville, New York while the cutters normally stationed there were in shipyards for repairs. On 29 October she had a wireless telegraph installed at Norfolk On 7 June 1909, Onondaga was placed out of commission at the RCS Depot for repairs. She sailed without commission to Norfolk for additional repairs and returned to the RCS Depot 30 September. Repairs were completed 6 November and with re-commissioning she returned to normal patrol duties. On 23 May 1912, she was at Philadelphia representing the Revenue Cutter Service at the convention of Permanent International Association of Navigation Congresses. On 9 May 1913, Onondaga received Secretary of the Treasury William Gibbs McAdoo and party aboard for a cruise from Baltimore, Maryland to Richmond, Virginia.

At the outbreak of World War I, 5 August 1914, Onondaga was authorized for duty in enforcing neutrality laws in the Chesapeake Bay area. On 19 October 1914 she was placed out of commission at the RCS Depot for overhaul and the crew was transferred to the RCS Academy training vessel, USRC Itasca When the Revenue Cutter Service merged with the United States Life-Saving Service to form the United States Coast Guard on 28 January 1915, she became known as USCGC Onondaga, a United States Coast Guard cutter. She was recommissioned 29 January 1915 and her crew was returned from Itasca. During the summer of 1915, Lieutenants Elmer F. Stone and Norman B. Hall of the Onondaga proposed to use aircraft to increase the search capabilities of the cutter. With the approval the commanding officer, Captain Benjamin M. Chiswell, they flew scouting missions in a airplane loaned to them by a representative of the Curtiss Aeroplane Company. On 16 October 1915 she was assigned a winter patrol area from Great Egg Harbor, New Jersey to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina with a homeport of Cape Lookout, North Carolina The next year on 17 October her patrol was changed to the area from Cape Romain, South Carolina to Cape Canaveral, Florida with a homeport of Savannah, Georgia. She patrolled this area until being recalled to the USCG Depot 31 March 1917. On 5 April Onondaga was decommissioned in preparation to being transferred to the Navy for service in World War I.

World War I

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Transferred to the United States Navy on 9 April 1917 by Executive Order for World War I service, she continued to perform patrol, escort, and rescue operations out of Savannah.

The highlight of her naval service occurred on 20 February 1918, when she rescued the entire crew of the British steamship SS Veturia after she foundered on Diamond Shoals off the North Carolina coast. For acting in the best tradition of the seagoing services, Captain Frederick C. Billard, USCG, commanding officer of the cutter—together with the entire crew—received a commendation on 20 May from the British Admiralty.

At the end of hostilities, Onondaga was returned to the United States Department of the Treasury to resume her Coast Guard service. She resumed patrol and rescue operations out of New London, Connecticut, until 1920, at which time she transferred to Baltimore, Maryland. She continued to operate out of Baltimore until 1923, when she decommissioned and was sold for scrap.

Notes

Footnotes

1. The major overhaul of Galveston also included a name change. She was renamed Apache 30 December 1904
2. Colton claims that after being sold Onondaga was converted to a barge.

Citations

1. ^ "Onondaga, 1898", Cutters, Craft & U.S. Coast Guard-Manned Army & Navy Vessels, U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office
2. ^ Record of Movements, p 51
3. ^ Colton, Tim, "Globe Iron Works, Cleveland Ohio", shipbuildinghistory.com, Shipbuilding History
4. ^ Canney, p 56
5. Record of Movements, p 57
6. Evans, p 158
7. Canney, p 49
8. ^ Record of Movements, p 52
9. Record of Movements, p 53
10. ^ Record of Movements, p 54
11. Record of Movements, p 55
12. ^ Record of Movements, p 56
13. "U.S. Coast Guard General Order No. 1", Historic Documents & Publications, U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office
14. Register of the officers, vessels and stations of the United States Coast Guard, August 1, 1915, U.S. Government Printing Office, p 58
15. Evans, p 188

References used

• "Onondaga, 1898" (PDF). Cutters, Craft & U.S. Coast Guard-Manned Army & Navy Vessels. U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
• "Record of Movements, Vessels of the United States Coast Guard, 1790–December 31, 1933 (1989 reprint)" (pdf). U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Transportation.
• Register of the officers, vessels and stations of the United States Coast Guard, August 1, 1915. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1915.
• "U.S. Coast Guard General Order No. 1" (pdf). Historic Documents & Publications. U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
• Canney, Donald L. (1995). U.S. Coast Guard and Revenue Cutters, 1790–1935. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland. ISBN 978-1-55750-101-1.
• Colton, Tim. "Globe Iron Works, Cleveland Ohio". shipbuildinghistory.com. Shipbuilding History. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
• Evans, Stephen H. (1949). The United States Coast Guard 1790–1915: A Definitive History. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland.
• Johnson, Robert Irwin (1987). Guardians of the Sea, History of the United States Coast Guard, 1915 to the Present. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland. ISBN 978-0-87021-720-3.
• King (1989), Irving H. (1989). The Coast Guard Under Sail: The U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, 1789–1865. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland. ISBN 978-0-87021-234-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
• Larzelere, Alex (2003). The Coast Guard in World War I: An Untold Story. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland. ISBN 978-1-55750-476-0.

External links

• Photo gallery at navsource.org

• Patrol vessels of the United States
• Cutters of the United States Navy
• Ships of the United States Revenue Cutter Service
• Ships of the United States Coast Guard
• 1898 ships
• World War I patrol vessels of the United States
• Ships built in Ohio