Cadet Cruise

Made in 1940, this U.S. Coast Guard film shows the Cadet Cruise made by the USCG's class of 1940. The USCG cutter Bibb was deployed to South America with the cadets on board, and visits made to a variety of Central and South American ports. A transit of the Panama Canal is made, and Lima and Santiago visited along with Cartagena. Bibb is quite a storied sip. Built in 1936, the USCGC Bibb (WPG-31) was a 327-foot (100 m) Secretary-Class (also known as "Treasury Class") Coast Guard ship named for U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (July 4, 1844 March 7, 1845) George M. Bibb. The ship saw service in World War II and fought in the Battle of the Atlantic serving as a convoy escort and in one incident rescued 202 men from the sea. In 1944 Bibb provided convoy escort between the United States and North Africa — mainly to Bizerte in Tunisia. In January 1945 Bibb left for service in the Pacific theater. 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. It was decommissioned in 1985 and remained docked until it was transported to the Florida Keys for use as an artificial reef.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• none