USCGC Acushnet ( WMEC - 167 ) USCGC " Acushnet " ( WMEC - 167 ) was a cutter of the United States Coast Guard , homeported in Ketchikan , Alaska . She was originally USS " Shackle " ( ARS - 9 ) , a " Diver " - class rescue and salvage ship commissioned by the United States Navy for service in World War II . She was responsible for coming to the aid of stricken vessels and received three battle stars during World War II , before a long career with the Coast Guard . " Acushnet " patrolled the waters of the North Pacific and was the sole remaining World War II era ship on active duty in the US fleet upon her retirement in 2011 . United States Navy service - 1944 to 1946 . USS " Shackle " was laid down on 26 October 1942 by the Basalt Rock Company in Napa , California ; launched on 1 April 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . Walker Cochran ; and commissioned on 5 February 1944 , Lieutenant Charles G . Jenkins , Jr . , in command . At the time of its building , the country was at war and in need of more naval vessels . As a result of the necessity , three ships , identified only as " naval auxiliaries " underwent construction . The project took less than a year to complete and would become fleet rescue and salvage vessels serving in the Pacific Theater . These vessels would later all become Coast Guard cutters . " Shackle " s first station was at Pearl Harbor , Hawaii , where she served as a salvage ship in the West Pacific throughout the remainder of WWII . " Shackle " s first year was spent completing extensive salvage assignments clearing wreckage in the channels at Pearl Harbor and Midway Island . The vessel spent the rest of the year in Guam , Eniwetok , Tinian and Saipan . On February 15 , 1945 , " Shackle " sailed for the invasion of Iwo Jima where it successfully completed over 44 diving and salvage assignments . One of these was the battle repair of the which was hit by a Japanese shore battery . During March 1945 , " Shackle " served as a supporting unit for the Okinawa invasion . Between D - Day ( April 1 , 1945 ) and September 20 , 1945 , the ship completed 55 salvage and rescue operations on larger naval craft damaged by kamikaze attacks . There were 108 general alarms during the period . " Shackle " was also assigned to mine sweeping operations in the East China Sea where over 200 enemy mines of all types were sank or destroyed . " Shackle " also cleared the vital docking area of the wreckage of sunken Japanese cable laying ship at Yokosuka Naval Base , Tokyo Bay , Japan . During all of these operations the " Shackle " suffered no damage or casualties . As part of her service in the Pacific Theater Shakle received three WWII battle stars , the WWII Victory Medal , the Asiatic - Pacific Campaign Medal , the American Campaign Medal , and the Navy Occupation Service Medal . On August 23 , 1946 USS " Shackle " was commissioned into the United States Coast Guard as USCGC " Acushnet " ( WAT - 167 ) , a search and rescue vessel and was homeported in Portland , Maine . Transfer to the United States Coast Guard - 1946 . Decommissioned by the United States Navy at the end of World War II , along with her sister ships and , she was quickly transferred to the United States Coast Guard . She remained at San Diego , California , until ordered to San Francisco , California , where , on 29 June , she was decommissioned and transferred to the Coast Guard . First homeported in Portland , Maine as a Coast Guard tug , and renamed USCGC " Acushnet " ( WAT - 167 ) , she earned a sound reputation as a dependable friend to fishermen and boaters in distress . North East and International Ice Patrol Service - 1946 to 1968 . While in Portland , Maine " Acushnet " became a friend to the maritime community with her search - and - rescue endeavors . While in Maine , " Acushnet " not only served as a vessel for SAR , but also as part of the International Ice Patrol . " Acushnet " and her role in the International Ice patrol was featured in the April 22nd 1957 edition of Life Magazine . Between 1946 and 1959 , " Acushnet " responded to a major fire in Bar Harbor , Maine , salvaged a vessel that ran aground in the Kennebec River , and assisted two tankers that broke in half during a violent storm . On 18 February 1952 , " Acushnet " participated in what is listed as the ten most significant Coast Guard rescues . Two tankers , SS " Pendleton " and SS " Fort Mercer " , split in two in a fierce storm off Cape Cod , and " Acushnet " took 18 men off the stern of the " Fort Mercer " in heavy seas . The ships collided twice and the merchant seamen jumped to the safety of the " Acushnet " s fantail . In the year 1950 , " Acushnet " became active in the International Ice Patrol and spent a total of seven patrol months sharing that responsibility with the cutters Androscoggin and Evergreen . " Acushnet " s salvage gear was removed in late 1959 and replaced with search - and - rescue gear . From 1960 to 1968 " Acushnet " completed four towing missions for over 950 miles , assisted a vessel that broke in two , escorted four disabled vessels and assisted in two medevacs . A few of " Acushnet " s more noteworthy cases during that time frame include the following : in 1960 , it salvaged the 300 - ton USCGC " General Greene " which had been driven one hundred yards ashore in high winds . One of her more dramatic cases in Portland included the rescue of the entire crew of ten people from a disabled seagoing dredge , the " Cartagena " , which was adrift in 30 - foot seas and 75 - knot winds 200 nm off of Cape Cod on Christmas Day , 1961 . In May 1963 , " Acushnet " salvaged a crashed Coast Guard helicopter 600yrds off Duxbury Beach , Massachusetts . The fall of 1967 took " Acushnet " south , where the cutter rescued a Cuban refugee from a distressed 17 foot pleasure craft 50 nm south of Key West , Florida . Redesignated as an oceanographic ship - 1968 to 1971 . Redesignated an oceanographic ship , WAGO - 167 , on July 8 , 1968 and assigned to oceanographic , meteorological , and polar operations , she commenced duties as a research support ship . During fiscal year 1970 , she underwent conversion during which alterations were made to her hull and scientific equipment , and research and storage spaces were added at a shipyard in San Diego , California . As part of the National Data Buoy Project of NOAA " Acushnet " spent three years attached to the Office of Naval Research and the Scripps Oceanographic Institute in San Diego , California . Her primary mission on eleven extended deployments through June 1971 , the cutter aided in positioning buoys . While serving as a WAGO , " Acushnet " assisted in only one rescue case a medevac in 1970 . Caribbean service – 1971 to 1990 . In July 1971 , " Acushnet " transferred to the Gulf Coast ; and , based at Gulfport , Mississippi , she continued her oceanographic work with the National Data Buoy Center , this time aiding the Mississippi Test Facility . On August 24 , 1971 " Acushnet " , affectionately known to the crew a " NOAA ' s Ark " , arrived in Gulfport with 64 crew and a 100 - ton buoy that was towed from San Diego as its first new support assignment . Once established in Gulfport , " Acushnet " continued to play a diverse and important role in the search - and - rescue mission . In the fall of 1973 the cutter played a major role in the " Key Largo " fire south of New Orleans opposite the town of Phoenix . " Acushnet " was again called to respond after a collision on the Mississippi river . " Acushnet " and the cutter " Dependable " were presented the Coast Guard Unit Commendation for extinguishing a fire on the tanker " Key Trader " after it collided with another vessel , the Norwegian ore ship " Baune " , and burst into flames in the river . Between the years 1975 and 1978 , " Acushnet " conducted search - and - rescue research of the Gulf of Mexico shelf area , conducted the first marriage on board a Coast Guard vessel since the mid - 19th century , and made her first drug seizure of 18 tons of marijuana and 21 smugglers . In late 1978 , the cutter embarked on a patrol to participate in the Global Weather Experiment , 140 - nation effort to gather worldwide weather information . In 82 days , Cutter " Acushnet " covered over 18 , 000 miles from Peru to New Zealand . For this operation " Acushnet " received the Meritorious Unit Commendation . Additionally in 1978 , " Acushnet " was designated a Medium Endurance Cutter ( WMEC 167 ) and was formally assigned law enforcement and search - and - rescue missions . In August – September 0f 1979 , Mobile , Alabama , was hit by hurricane Frederick while " Acushnet " was there in drydock , although no damage occurred to the cutter . Her first patrol out of drydock was immediately canceled and " Acushnet " was sent to pick up survivors of a collision between an oil tanker and a merchant vessel . From May 17 to June 6 , 1980 , " Acushnet " participated in the largest immigration crisis in the history of the Coast Guard , the Mariel Boat Lift from Cuba . The cutter escorted the vessel " Red Diamond " with 800 refugees into Key West . In addition , she assisted 35 boats , aided 120 refugees directly , and fueled two 41 - foot Coast Guard boats . For her efforts , the cutter received the Humanitarian Service Award . During its time in Gulfport , " Acushnet " interdicted nearly 200 Cuban and Haitian refugees , retrieving some of them from shark - infested waters . Drug interdiction during the rest of the ' 80s ' proved to be successful . In 1980 , " Acushnet " seized 52 tons of marijuana . Between September and November of the same year , " Acushnet " confiscated marijuana on 7 vessels totaling a seizure of over 76 tons . Between 1987 and 1989 " Acushnet " had yet two more seizures of marijuana and hashish oil valued at over 1 . 5 million . West Coast Service - 1990 to 1998 . " Acushnet " moved to Eureka , California in July 1990 . During a September patrol , a lookout spotted floating objects in the water . These " objects " were the three crew members of the fishing boat " Miss Patty " , which had capsized before it could radio for help . During Operation Sandtrap in July 1991 , " Acushnet " intercepted the sailing vessel " Malekula " carrying twelve tons of hashish from Indochina . The cutter pulled 32 bales from the burning and sinking " Malekula " , despite efforts by smugglers to scuttle the sailboat . In October 1991 , " Acushnet " made her first trip to the waters of Alaska . The cutter was diverted for two weeks to coordinate anti - pollution efforts when the 518 - foot " Hyundai No . 12 " ran hard aground near the Shumagin Islands . She also responded to a mayday call made by the fishing vessel " Tonquin " in the Gulf of Alaska , rescuing one man out of a five man crew from stormy and frigid waters during a five - day search . The cutter coordinated a search involving several fishing boats and a tanker in the area . As a result , three additional crew members were rescued . Alaska / Bering Sea Patrol Service - 1999 to 2011 . As the majority of " Acushnet " s patrols became Alaska Patrols , in 1998 she moved to Ketchikan , Alaska where she was employed in law enforcement , fisheries , and search and rescue missions in Alaska . This considerably shortened her transit time to the Bering Sea . On 23 February 2007 " Acushnet " was designated as the " oldest commissioned cutter " in the fleet following the decommissioning of USCGC " Storis " . She carries gold hull numbers to show this distinction , and the formal title of " Queen Of The Fleet " . She was scheduled for decommissioning in late 2008 . In March 2008 letters to the editor appeared in the Boston Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram calling for Boston and Portland to consider the Acushnet as a possible museum ship . The 2008 decommissioning was canceled and " Acushnet " continued to conduct patrols in Alaska until March 2011 when she was auctioned as surplus property by the GSA . Decommissioning . On 11 March 2011 , " Acushnet " was decommissioned and retired from active duty after more than 67 years of service . USCGC Smilax succeeded " Acushnet " as the Coast Guard ' s oldest commissioned cutter . According to the " Juneau Empire " the Acushnet ' s duties would be undertaken by a new Fast Response Cutter . According to the Coast Guard ' s 2010 budget the replacement Fast Response Cutter was not scheduled for arrival in Ketchikan until 2014 . A Fast Response Cutter ' s endurance at sea is only five days . Awards and honors . " Acushnet " has been rewarded for outstanding service on many occasions . Her decorations include :