Taking on ammunition at the Navy Yard until the 4th of February, when she departed for Hampton Roads, Virginia. The convoy entered the Straits of Gibraltar on the 24th as six merchant vessels detached and seven joined the convoy. She arrived Argentia on 19 January and stood by the hull of the Army transport Joseph V. Connolly and assisted in towing her to port. It was the Boeing 314 flying boat Bermuda Sky Queen (NC-18612), on a trans-Atlantic flight from Foynes, Ireland to Gander, Newfoundland with 62 passengers and 7 crew on board. The Portent made a Hedgehog attack and dropped five depth charges on a sound contact one mile north of Bibb's attack. On the 12th three more merchant vessels joined. The Bibb, relieved of this arduous duty, continued carrying out law enforcement and search and rescue patrols. Later on the same day Ingham and a destroyer, joined with the Casablanca section and two PC escorts later departed for Casablanca with four vessels from the main convoy. At the end of World War II, each Secretary Class cutter was returned to her peace-time makeup. On the 20th Bibb investigated a sound contact, which proved to be non-submarine and was probably due to fish. The Bibb began searching for survivors and lookouts sighted large quantities of debris, including a swamped lifeboat. After she returned to service, The following year brought a number of notable seizures for drug and fisheries charges. Men felt it the minute he took command and there was not a man on the ship who would not go the extra mile for the old man. Bibb was decommissioned in 1985 and remained docked until it was transported to the Florida Keys for use as an artificial reef. Investigating a radar contact astern on the 26th it was found to be the USS SC-689 which had separated from the company during the night. Later that year, When the Grand Banks cruises were discontinued on 27 January 1940. On the 14th several high frequency direction finder bearings were reported and on the 19th the convoy made an emergency turn on a contact which later proved to be non-submarine. On March 2nd four merchant vessels detached for Gibraltar and Task Force 66 was relieved of escorting the convoy by a British task force. Assigned, 5 September 1939, to joint Navy-Coast Guard neutrality patrol in the Atlantic Ocean Reassigned as to ocean weather patrol in the Atlantic in February 1940 Transferred, 11 September 1940, to US Navy jurisdiction At the same time eight merchant vessels under escort of PC vessels were detached for Casablanca, making the total number of ships in the convoy 82, plus the oiler. Three hours later Bibb stood into the harbor and moored, remaining there until the 31st. The next day she had a sound contact and carried out an embarrassing attack, dropping two depth charges. The New York section, with the commander Task Force 60 in Bibb, now consisted of 148 ships in 8 columns. Through your actions, you have significantly contributed to the United States efforts in countering communist aggression in the Republic of Vietnam." On the 24th Bibb changed course to effect a rendezvous with convoy SC-105, joining the convoy on the 26th. A distress message from the disabled SS Agenor gave the Bibb an opportunity to resume its customary peace-time job of search and rescue. The Bibb rescued 33 more people from the nearby torpedoed freighter S.S. Kalliopi before returning to the convoy. On the 13th Task Group 21.13 joined, departing the next day. Bibb was underway again on 9 June 1943 as flagship of Task Force 66 in company with Ingham and six Navy destroyers and six French escort vessels. It lies on its side at a depth of about 130 feet (40m). On the 24th she was underway out of the swept channel with Task Force 60, consisting of six Coast Guard-manned destroyer escorts and six Navy destroyer escorts, the escort oiler USS Mattaponi (AO-41) and two French escorts, escorting convoy UGS-46 to North African ports. Cronk and Martin agreed that it was impossible to tow the Queen to safety and Cronk then ordered her sunk as a hazard to navigation. In a Coast Guard press release, Radarman Second Class Richard Nielsen of New Bedford, described the mission that took place on 24 November 1968: "South Vietnamese junks landed Regional Force troops and their U.S. Army advisors on the west side of the island while other troops came up from An Thoi. Many of Bibb's crewmen leapt into the water to assist the nearly frozen survivors, and the cutter Ingham assisted. Then she began firing on an apparent target on the port beam, but was stopped a minute later because the target could be neither seen nor heard. The Bibb then proceeded to assist Nanaste which was being escorted by USS Bowditch (AGS-21). Two depth charges were fired on an undersea contact with no visible effects. Fire Control Radar: (1945) Mk-26; (1966) Mk-26 MOD 4
On three patrols she participated in amphibious assaults on Phu Quoc Island. Also, during the mid-1930's, narcotics smuggling, mostly opium, was on the increase, and long-legged, fairly fast cutters were needed to curtail it. The Duane was directed to stand by while repairs were made. .The U.S. Coast Guard Gunboat Bibb (WPG-31) departs Pearl Harbor.; The Bibb departs for duty in Vietnamese waters, where she served from 4 July 1968 to 28 February, 1969 with Coast Guard Squadron One. Seven similar "combat cutters" were built and named for secretaries of the United States Treasury. Seven similar "combat cutters" were built and named for secretaries of the United States Treasury. The Bibb closed eastbound trans-Atlantic convoy SC-101 on 30 September 1942, screening the seven ship Iceland bound sector SCL-101 which was breaking off and forming. The ship was sunk in November 1987 just outside the coral reef tract, about six miles (10km) offshore of the island of Key Largo. The USCGC Bibb (WPG-31) was a 327-foot (100m) Secretary-Class (also known as "Treasury Class") Coast Guard ship commissioned in 1936. The conversion to AGCs consisted of the removal of most of their heavy armament, the addition of more anti-aircraft weaponry, and the construction of enclosed rooms for the addition of 35 radio receivers and 25 radio transmitters. Bibbwas named for U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (July 4, 1844 - March 7, 1845) George M. Bibb. For three days we provided the men with food and shelter as we stood by the disabled ship. On the 16th she got underway in the van of a number of Navy craft who stood out of Buckner Bay and proceeded independently in accordance with the typhoon plan. That might at 2011 two bright red lights were sighted in the convoy and it was learned that the steering machinery on one of the vessels, the SS Orbis, had broken down. Sighting Narragansett 15 miles distant, Bibb came alongside and then proceeded to the floating drydock, two and one-half miles away, and took her in tow. From 26 November to 16 December she served on Ocean Station Bravo. CGC Bibb & an 83-foot PB PRINT | E-MAIL The "Treasury" class Coast Guard cutters (sometimes referred to as the "Secretary" or 327-foot class) were all named for former secretaries of the Treasury Department. On January 6th she left Port of Spain, Trinidad, escorting U. S. Army Transport S-17 to San Juan. This standardization saved money--always paramount in the Coast Guard's considerations--and the cutters were built in U.S. Navy shipbuilding yards. The next day, after an airplane had dropped a charge directly ahead, Bibb fired a Hedgehog barrage of depth charges on a sound contact. The nearby cutter was able to repel the attack with five-inch gunfire while coming close inshore in relatively shallow water to retrieve her Medical Civil Action Program team. RDML William G. Kelly Mooring at Norfolk on the 11th three more destroyers reported to the task force and they departed the same day to escort convoy UGS-12 to North Africa ports. During this mission she destroyed eight structures and seven sampans and damaged 21 structures and 16 sampans. Because the air passenger trade was expanding both at home and overseas, the Coast Guard believed that cutter-based aircraft would be essential for future high-seas search and rescue. That operation involved several different agencies including the Coast Guard, the Navy, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and others. The Bibb also transited the Panama Canal and crossed the equator and the international date line, with appropriate ceremonies for her crew. All these planes were suicide planes which chose medium sized and large ships at anchor as their targets, and used various tactics, some attacking at night, some at dusk and others during daylight. Her next ocean station assignment was during March-April 1952 when the Bibb served on Ocean Station Charlie and then in November-December 1952 she served on Ocean Station Echo. Dedicated also to the Bibb Shipmates Assc. Robert Scheina. On 24 July 1960 she departed on a Reserve Cruise. At 0250 on the 7th she sighted four star shells in the vicinity of the convoy and a vessel was reported torpedoed. That evening 11 ships of the convoy bound for Iceland departed the main convoy with Bibb, Ingham and Schenck as escorts. The Bibb , with Ingham , departed Boston on 8 September 1943, for area "R" off Block Island Sound for anti-submarine warfare practice, which consisted of simulated depth charging and head throw weapon runs on a submerged U.S. submarine and also acted as target for PT boats in combined destroyer and PTB exercises. On the 15th a destroyer escort fired across the bow of a fishing boat to keep it clear of the convoy after the fisherman had refused to follow orders. Bibb left Hvalfjordur for Reykjavik on 18 March 1943 and stood out to sea en route to join Iceland bound convoy HXL-229A. The, The star shells marked the successful attack by a U-boat. She remained in South Boston Navy Yard until 16 January 1943 undergoing repairs to her hull and machinery. She transferred them to us as she had to depart to fulfill operational commitments. On the 15th USS. In the various areas of Coast Guard Cutter operations which included Market Time Patrol and Naval Gunfire Support, you leave behind an impressive record of operational excellence. The convoy proceeded toward Bizerte, where, on the 18th, the Bibb was relieved as escort flagship by HMS Pheasant and moored until the 20th. On 3 November we transferred them to the commercial tug Neptunia for further transfer to the tug Turmoil which then took them to Singapore.". Another merchant vessel from Casablanca joined the convoy. 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