USS Manasquan ( AG - 36 ) USS " Manasquan " ( AG - 36 ) was a cargo ship that served in the United States Navy at the end of World War I , and was reacquired during World War II and converted into a meteorological patrol vessel , and was also used in testing radio navigation systems . The ship was built in 1918 as " Lake Catherine " by the Toledo Shipbuilding Company of Toledo , Ohio and taken over by the United States Shipping Board at New York City on 4 October 1918 , and commissioned the same day for duty with the Naval Overseas Transportation Service ( NOTS ) as USS " Lake Catherine " ( ID - 3568 ) , Lt . Comdr . Richard F . McNabb , USNRF , in command . Service history . World War I , 1918 – 1919 . After steaming to Norfolk and back to load cargo , " Lake Catherine " departed New York in convoy on 19 October and steamed to Rochefort , France , where she arrived on 10 November - one day before the Armistice ended the fighting on the Western Front . Assigned to coaling duty , she operated between British and French ports until 24 February 1919 when she arrived Rotterdam , the Netherlands . Two days later she began service for the U . S . Food Administration . While en route to Danzig , Germany , on 3 March , she rescued nine survivors after the German trawler " Berthold " struck a mine and sank . " Lake Catherine " continued food relief runs until 5 July when she departed Barry , Wales , for the United States . Loaded with general military cargo , she arrived New York on 8 August . She decommissioned on 15 August and was returned to the U . S . Shipping Board the same day . In merchant service , 1919 – 1941 . Subsequently , " Lake Catherine " resumed merchant service . She was renamed " Oscar J . Lingeman " in 1926 , and " Aetna " in 1937 . " Aetna " was purchased by the Maritime Commission from her owner , Mid - West Transportation Co . , Inc . , Bay City , Michigan , in 1941 , and transferred to the Navy on 14 October 1941 . Renamed Manasquan on 15 October 1941 , she was converted for use as a weather patrol ship by Bethlehem Steel Co . of East Boston , Massachusetts , and commissioned as Miscellaneous Auxiliary AG - 36 , under loan to the United States Coast Guard on 2 April 1942 . World War II , 1942 – 1946 . " Manasquan " served the important , but little praised weather patrol stations in the stormy , U - boat - infested North Atlantic . Equipped with special meteorological instruments , she plied her assigned patrol areas out of Boston , and Argentia , Newfoundland . Braving dangers of the sea and submarines , she operated in isolation for weeks at a time to collect valuable weather data used in forecasting weather for the Atlantic area , north Africa , and Axis - occupied Western Europe . Realizing the strategic importance of data collected by weather patrol ships such as " Manasquan " , the chief of the U . S . Weather Bureau wrote during World War II : " . . . the weather reports from these vessels were among the most vital meteorological information for war operations of the United Nations . . . The difficulty and hardships of service on these station vessels was fully recognized but the value of their reports more than compensated for those difficulties , and the men so serving were performing duties of high priority in the war effort . " In addition , " Manasquan " took part in the initial at - sea testing of LORAN ( long - range navigation ) system , which became of inestimable value both to naval and merchant ships and to military and commercial aircraft . As a highly accurate and reliable electronics position finding system , LORAN emerged to become a revolutionary navigation aid in all kinds of weather and at great distances from land . As a result of experiments conducted by MIT ' s Radiation Laboratory , by the Bell Telephone Laboratory , and by the National Defense Research Committee during the final months of American neutrality in 1941 , the impetus for full development occurred in the hectic months after Pearl Harbor . Under Rear Admiral Julius A . Furer , coordinator of research and development for the Secretary of the Navy , the Navy provided " active and aggressive sponsorship " for the project . Capt . Lawrence M . Harding , USCG , who later coined the word LORAN , played an important role in the research aspects of its development . By June 1942 the system was ready for environmental testing . From mid - June to mid - July " Manasquan " , equipped with special receiving instruments , successfully carried out the first shipboard tests which proved the feasibility and practicality of the system . As a result of these tests , construction and completion of the important seven - unit northwest Atlantic chain , which extended from Delaware to Greenland , was completed in less than a year . " Manasquan " continued weather patrol duty during the remainder of World War II . She collided at dock with the , causing considerable damage to the tender . In mid - 1943 she was rebuilt at the Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay , Maryland , as a gunnery practice ship . On 7 October 1944 she collided with the SS " Edward Pearce " , causing only slight damage , but destroying her sonar array . The Navy permanently transferred her to the U . S . Coast Guard on 22 October 1943 , and she continued to serve as USCGC " Manasquan " ( WAG - 273 ) . Her name was struck from the Navy List on 30 October 1943 . From 29 August 1944 to 22 February 1945 she was assigned to the Coast Guard Academy and used for training duty . Following the end of the war , she was decommissioned on 22 February 1945 , and was sold on 11 March 1946 .