USCGC Winnebago ( WHEC - 40 ) USCG " Winnebago " ( WHEC - 40 ) was an " Owasco " class high endurance cutter which served with the US Coast Guard from 1945 to 1973 . Originally intended for World War II service , she was commissioned only weeks before the end of the war and consequently did not see combat until her deployment in the Vietnam War more than 20 years later . " Winnebago " was built by Western Pipe & Steel ( WPS ) at the company ' s San Pedro shipyard . Named after Lake Winnebago , Wisconsin , she was commissioned as a patrol gunboat with ID number WPG - 40 on 21 June 1945 . In the postwar period , her ID was changed to WHEC - 40 ( HEC for " High Endurance Cutter " - the " W " signifies a Coast Guard cutter ) . Peacetime service . " Winnebago " was home ported in Miami , Florida , from 1945 to April 1946 and used for law enforcement , ocean station , and search and rescue operations . From April 1946 to February 1948 she was performing similar duties from her new base at Boston , Massachusetts . She was subsequently laid up at the Coast Guard Yard , Curtis Bay , Maryland , until September 1948 . She was then stationed at U . S . Coast Guard Base Sand Island , Honolulu , Territory of Hawaii , later , the State of Hawaii from November 1949 to March 1972 . In celebration of Hawaii statehood day , the " Winnebago " in full dress , was open to the public . The Ship ' s Company paraded in downtown Honolulu for the celebration . She was again used for law enforcement , ocean station , and search and rescue operations . While on ocean station duty , the cutter ' s crew took hourly weather observations , provided communications , air navigation and meteorological information to commercial and military aircraft and merchant ships . She stood ready to respond to any requests for assistance from aircraft or ships in distress . Ocean Station Victor , her primary station , was located about half - way between Midway Island and Japan and covered . Typically Ocean Station patrols lasted 72 days . Four cutters alternated duty on the station . It took seven days to reach the station from Honolulu . After a 21 - day patrol the cutter was relieved and then steamed to Yokosuka , Japan , for two weeks of rest and replenishment . She then returned to the ocean station for another 21 - day patrol before returning to Honolulu . Run aground at Pearl Harbor On 26 March 1962 while making the entrance to Pearl Harbor " Winnebago " ran aground and became stranded on Tripod Reef . The cutter was extricated within a few days by Navy tugboats . Rescue operations In November 1963 , while serving on Ocean Station Victor , " Winnebago " steamed to the assistance of the disabled " MV Green Mountain State " . The cutter rendezvoused with the flooding merchantman and removed her crew . " Winnebago " ' s crew managed to stop the flooding and got the merchantman under tow . The cutter then towed the merchantman 810 miles to Midway Island . For this rescue the crew was awarded the Coast Guard Unit Commendation . On 26 December 1964 the British " MV Southbank " was tossed by a 40 - foot wave onto a reef 400 yards off Washington Island in the South Pacific . On board were two women , 57 crewmen , and 49 Gilbertese laborers bound for Fanning Island , 60 miles distant . Using lifeboats the shipwrecked women and men escaped safely to the beach where the Washington Island natives cared for them until they were rescued by " Winnebago " . Medical procedures On 27 May 1965 , " Winnebago " medevaced a disabled seaman from the Japanese " FV Tsuru Maru No . 8 " south of Honolulu . In May 1966 , her medical officer , a U . S . Public Health Service officer , performed an appendectomy on a " Winnebago " crewmen . " Winnebago " then rendezvoused with the where " Winnebago " ' s medical officer performed another appendectomy on a " Navasota " crewman . Later in the same month , " Winnebago " rendezvoused with the Japanese " MV Shoei Maru " where the doctor amputated the foot of a 17 - year old seaman . In May 1967 , she medevaced an injured crewman from the " Shoeu Maru " and transferred him to the " Texas Maru " . Vietnam War . " Winnebago " was assigned to Coast Guard Squadron Three , Vietnam , from 20 September 1968 to 19 July 1969 as part of Operation Market Time . Her commanding officer during the deployment was CDR Bruce W . Dewing . While serving in Vietnamese waters , " Winnebagos " ' gun crews destroyed or damaged 42 enemy bunkers , two observation towers , and a large base and several staging areas . In addition , her gunners hit an enemy " infiltration trail and a complex of enemy tunneling that connected underground storage facilities " , that also caused heavy secondary explosions and fires . The cutter " investigated more than 1 , 500 vessels for infiltrators and enemy arms shipments " . Her medical staff also treated over 50 South Vietnamese " for a variety of ailments " . She participated in four search - and - rescue operations as well , including rescuing " eight Vietnamese , 17 Greeks , and 35 Filipinos " who were rescued from their " sinking ships " during the cutter ' s deployment . Return to peacetime operations . On 25 February 1970 , " Winnebago " transferred a medical team to assist MV " Sylvia Lykes " near Midway Island . Eventually , " Winnebago " was stationed at Wilmington , North Carolina , from March 1972 to 27 February 1973 and used for law enforcement , ocean station , and search and rescue . She visited Curaçao from 6 to 8 March 1972 " for the purpose of goodwill and rest and recreation " while she was shifting her home ports . Decommissioning . " Winnebago " was decommissioned on 27 February 1973 and sold for scrap the following year .