USCGC Bibb
{{Short description|Secretary-Class Coast Guard ship}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=USCGC Bibb WPG-31.jpg |Ship caption=USCGC Bibb (WPG-31) }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United States|coast guard-1915}} |Ship name=Bibb |Ship namesake=George M. Bibb |Ship ordered= |Ship builder= Charleston Navy Yard |Ship laid down=15 August 1935 |Ship launched=14 January 1937 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= 10 March 1937 |Ship decommissioned= 30 September 1985 |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honours= |Ship fate=Sunk as an artificial reef off the Florida Keys on 28 November 1987 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class=Treasury Class cutter |Ship displacement= 2,350 (1936) |Ship length= {{cvt|327|ft|0|in}} |Ship beam= {{cvt|41|ft|0|in}} |Ship draught= |Ship draft= {{cvt|12|ft|6|in}} (max.) |Ship propulsion= 2 x Westinghouse double-reduction geared turbines; 2 x Babcock & Wilcox sectional express, air-encased, 400 psi, 200° superheat 5,250 (total shaft horse power) |Ship speed= {{convert|19.5|kn|km/h}} |Ship range= 13.0 knots, {{convert|7000|mi|km|adj=on|abbr=on}} range |Ship complement=*1937: 12 officers, 4 warrants, 107 enlisted
|Ship sensors=*Radar: (1945) SK, SG-1; (1966) AN/SPS-29D, AN/SPA-52.
|Ship EW=HF/DF: (1943) |Ship armament=*1936:
|Ship armour= |Ship armor= |Ship aircraft=*Curtiss SOC-4, USCG No. V172 (1937–1938)
|Ship notes= }} |
The USCGC Bibb (WPG-31) was a {{convert|327|ft|m|adj=on}} Secretary-Class (also known as "Treasury Class") Coast Guard ship commissioned in 1936. Seven similar "combat cutters" were built and named for secretaries of the United States Treasury. Bibb was named for U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (July 4, 1844 – March 7, 1845) George M. Bibb.
History
Bibb saw service in World War II. The ship fought in the Battle of the Atlantic serving as a convoy escort. In February 1943, the convoy came under attack and the {{SS|Henry R. Mallory}} was torpedoed. Capt. Raney ignored the order to leave the survivors and went back and rescued 202 men from the icy waters. In 1944 Bibb provided convoy escort between the United States and North Africa — mainly to Bizerte in Tunisia. In January 1945 Bibb left Charleston, South Carolina for service in the Pacific theater where, as an AGC, she served temporarily as the flagship for Commander, Mine Craft, Pacific Fleet. Bibb is credited with destroying one Japanese kamikaze aircraft in action at Karema Retto.
In peacetime the Bibb spent time on ocean station providing weather information and beacons to trans-Atlantic traffic. While on ocean station, the Bibb came to the rescue of the airliner, the Bermuda Sky Queen. In the Vietnam War, the Bibb transported John Kerry after he was shot on his Swift boat.
Fate
Bibb was decommissioned in 1985 and remained docked until it was transported to the Florida Keys for use as an artificial reef. The ship was sunk in November 1987 just outside the coral reef tract, about six miles (10 km) offshore of the island of Key Largo. It lies on its side at a depth of about {{convert|130|ft|m}}. Nearby, a second Treasury-Class ship, the USCGC Duane (WPG-33) was also sunk as an artificial reef.
The Bibb rests at {{coord|24|59.71|N|80|22.77|W |display=inline,title}}.
Noteworthy crewmembers
Among those serving on Bibb was James A. Watson, a rear admiral who was the onsite ranking officer in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Watson was an Engineering Officer/Student Engineer (1978–1980).{{cite web |url=http://www.uscg.mil/flag/lantaread.asp |title=USCG: Flag/SES Bios - Commander Coast Guard Atlantic Area |publisher=Uscg.mil |date=2010-05-26 |access-date=2010-06-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326142921/http://www.uscg.mil/flag/lantareaD.asp |archive-date=2010-03-26 |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Bibb1935.asp|title=USCG Bibb|work=U.S. Coast Guard Cutter History|publisher=United States CoastGuard|access-date=2012-12-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170430192944/http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Bibb1935.asp|archive-date=2017-04-30|url-status=live}}
World War II convoys escorted
| class="wikitable"
!Convoy !Escort Group !Dates !Notes |
| SC 81
| |Iceland shuttle |
| ON 97
| |Iceland shuttle |
| SC 84
| |Iceland shuttle |
| SC 85
| |Iceland shuttle |
| ON 106
| |Iceland shuttle |
| ON 110
| |Iceland shuttle |
| ON 124
| |Iceland shuttle |
| SC 97
| |Iceland shuttle |
| ON 132
| |Iceland shuttle |
| SC 101
| |Iceland shuttle |
| ON 140
| |Iceland shuttle |
| SC 105
| |Iceland shuttle |
| Convoy SC 107
| |Iceland shuttle |
| ON 144
| |Iceland shuttle |
| ON 148
| |Iceland shuttle |
| Convoy SC 118
| |Iceland shuttle |
| HX 226
| |Iceland shuttle |
| ON 169
| |Iceland shuttle |
| HX 227
| |Iceland shuttle |
| Convoy SC 121
| |Iceland shuttle |
| Convoys HX 229/SC 122
| |Iceland shuttle |
| ON 173
| |Iceland shuttle |
In popular culture
The USCGC Bibb appeared in the 1952 film Walk East on Beacon at the film's climactic end.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.cutterbibb31.com/ Bibb shipmates association]
- [https://www.history.uscg.mil/Browse-by-Topic/Assets/Water/All/Article/2081996/bibb-1937/ uscg.mil/history: USCGC Bibb]
- [https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/b/bibb-iii.html history.navy.mil: USCGC Bibb]
{{Treasury class cutter}}
{{1987 shipwrecks}}
{{Recreational dive sites|wresit}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bibb (WPG-31)}}
Category:Treasury-class cutters
Category:Ships of the United States Coast Guard
Category:Shipwrecks of the Florida Keys
Category:Maritime incidents in 1987