View source for USCGC Nettle

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{{Infobox Ship Career
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|Ship country=USA
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1968}}
|Ship name=   
|Ship namesake=a plant of the genus, ''Urtica''<ref name=USCGhistorian2>[http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Nettle_1947.pdf Coast Guard Historian website]</ref>
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|Ship builder=[[Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp.]], [[Decatur, Alabama]]
|Ship original cost=$805,494<ref name=Scheina119>Scheina, p 119</ref>
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|Ship laid down=1944, at Decatur, Alabama
|Ship launched=     
|Ship sponsor=          
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|Ship completed=as U.S. Army Transport ''FS-396'', 18 January 1945 (Coast Guard manned)
|Ship acquired=               
|Ship commissioned=as USAT ''FS-396'', 18 January 1945 (Coast Guard manned)<ref name=USCGhistorian2>[http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Nettle_1947.pdf Coast Guard Historian website]</ref>
|Ship recommissioned=as USCGC ''Nettle'' (WAK-169), 1 October 1947<ref name=Scheina118>Scheina, p 118</ref>              
|Ship decommissioned=9 January 1968
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|Ship nickname="Noodle", "Grey Ghost"<ref name=USCGhistorian1>[http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Cutternicknames.pdf Coast Guard Historian website]</ref>
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|Ship fate=transferred to [[Philippine Coast Guard]], 9 January 1968 as BRP ''Limasawa'' (AE-79)
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{{Infobox Ship Characteristics
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|Ship type=Army 381 design
|Ship tonnage=           
|Ship displacement=     540 tons
|Ship tons burthen=           935 tons
|Ship length=           176'
|Ship beam=                33'
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|Ship draft=               10'
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|Ship propulsion=two 500hp General Motors 6-278A [[diesel engine]]s, twin screws<ref name=Wertheim551>Wertheim, p 551</ref>
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|Ship speed=14 knots, 4000 mile range
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|Ship complement=4 officers, 26 enlisted (1945)     
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|Ship sensors=SO-8 (1955), SC (1966)
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|Ship armament=1 x 40mm/60 gun (1945)
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'''USCGC ''Nettle'' (WAK-169)''' was a [[United States Coast Guard]] [[Design 381 coastal freighter]] acquired from the [[United States Army]] and was designated as '''USAT ''FS-396''''' during [[World War II]] Army operations. She was transferred to the United States Coast Guard in 1947, and used for servicing [[aid to navigation|aids to navigation]] and providing logistics support for Coast Guard manned [[LORAN]] stations in the Pacific Ocean.

==Army cargo service==
The USAT ''FS-396'' was constructed by [[Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp.]] at their shipyards at [[Decatur, Alabama]] for the [[U.S. Army Transportation Corps]] and commissioned 18 January 1945. It was manned by the [[U.S. Coast Guard]] for a period of one year and was used as a cargo ship to carry supplies to [[Kwajalein Atoll]] until being decommissioned on 18 January 1946. ''FS-396'' was transferred to the Coast Guard after the Army decommissioned her and on 1 October 1947 was recommissioned as USCGC ''Nettle'' (WAK-169) after being refit for use as an aids to navigation tender.

==Coast Guard service==
From 1947 to 1952 ''Nettle'' hauled supplies and equipment to Kwajalein in the [[Marshall Islands]]. ''Nettle'' was homeported Guam in 1952 and provided logistical support for LORAN stations at [[Ulithi]], [[Saipan]], [[Cocos]], Kwajelein, and [[Kwadak Island]] as well as servicing aids to navigation at [[Tinian]] and [[Rota]] in the [[Mariana Islands]]. The homeport for ''Nettle'' was changed to [[Naval Station Sangley Point]], [[Cavite, Philippines]] in August 1953 and she provided logistical support for LORAN stations at [[Bataan]], [[Batanes]], [[Naulo Point]], [[Zambales]], [[Talumpulan]], [[Busuanga]], [[Tarumpitao Point]], [[Palawan]], and [[Panay]].<ref name=Scheina119>Scheina, p 119</ref> While underway from Bataan on 1 September 1958, ''Nettle'' spotted and assisted the capsized junk ''Low Kow Wong How'' and rescued two of the crew. She was able to right the junk with her deck crane and dewater it; then continue her mission to deliver supplies to Naulo Point.<ref name=USCGhistorian2>[http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Nettle_1947.pdf Coast Guard Historian website]</ref> During another search and rescue case on 2 August 1962, she searched the waters in the vicinity of Caballo Island for 29 hours looking for the missing crew of a downed [[U.S. Navy]] P5M seaplane with 13 persons on board; unfortunately there were no survivors found.<ref name=USCGhistorian2>[http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Nettle_1947.pdf Coast Guard Historian website]</ref> During May 1966 ''Nettle'' delivered construction materials from Bangkok for a new LORAN station to be located at [[Con Son Island]].<ref name=Larzelere200>Larzelere, p 200</ref> ''Nettle'' was transferred to [[Philippine Coast Guard]], 9 January 1968 as BRP ''Limasawa'' (AE-79)<ref name=Wertheim551>Wertheim, p 551</ref>

==Notes==

;Footnotes
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;Citations
{{Reflist|2}}

==References cited==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Larzelere|first=Alex|year=1997|title=The Coast Guard at War, Vietnam, 1965-1975|publisher=Naval Institute Press, Annapolis|isbn=978-1-55750-529-3}}
* {{cite book|last=Scheina|first=Robert L.|year=1990|title=U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft, 1946-1990|publisher=Naval Institute Press, Annapolis|isbn=978-0-87021-719-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Wertheim|first=Eric|year=2007|title=Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World, 15th Edition|publisher=Naval Institute Press, Annapolis|isbn=978-1-59114-955-2}}
{{refend}}

 
{{Design 381 coastal freighters}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nettle (WAK-169)}}
[[Category:Design 381 coastal freighters]]
[[Category:Ships built in Alabama]]
[[Category:1945 ships]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]]