USCGC Unimak ( WAVP - 379 ) USCGC " Unimak " ( WAVP - 379 ) , later WHEC - 379 , WTR - 379 , and again WHEC - 379 , was a United States Coast Guard " Casco " - class cutter in commission from 1949 to 1975 and from 1977 to 1988 . Her radio callsign was NBVG . Construction and U . S . Navy service . " Unimak " began life as the United States Navy " Barnegat " - class small seaplane tender USS " Unimak " ( AVP - 31 ) . She was laid down on 15 February 1942 at Seattle , Washington , by Associated Shipbuilders , Inc . , launched on 27 May 1942 , and commissioned on 31 December 1943 . She served in Central America , the Galapagos Islands and the North Atlantic during World War II and in Hawaii , the Aleutian Islands and the North Pacific postwar . She was decommissioned on 26 July 1946 and placed in reserve . Transferred to the U . S . Coast Guard . " Barnegat " - class ships were very reliable and seaworthy and had good habitability , and the Coast Guard viewed them as ideal for ocean station duty , in which they would perform weather reporting and search and rescue tasks , once they were modified by having a balloon shelter added aft and having oceanographic equipment , an oceanographic winch , and a hydrographic winch installed . The Navy loaned " Unimak " to the United States Coast Guard on 14 September 1948 . After undergoing conversion for Coast Guard use , she was commissioned into the Coast Guard on 3 January 1949 as USCGC " Unimak " ( WAVP - 379 ) . Coast Guard service . First period in commission 1949 - 1975 . " Unimak " was homeported in Boston , Massachusetts , from 3 January 1949 to 1 September 1956 . Her primary duty during her Coast Guard service was to serve on ocean stations to gather meteorological data . While on duty in one of these stations , she was required to patrol a 210 - square - mile ( 544 - square - kilometer ) area for three weeks at a time , leaving the area only when physically relieved by another Coast Guard cutter or in the case of a dire emergency . While on station , she acted as an aircraft check point at the point of no return , a relay point for messages from ships and aircraft , as a source of the latest weather information for passing aircraft , as a floating oceanographic laboratory , and as a search - and - rescue ship for downed aircraft and vessels in distress , and engaged in law enforcement operations . In June 1956 , " Unimak " patrolled the Newport , Rhode Island - to - Bermuda race . " Unimak " was stationed at Cape May , New Jersey , from 1 September 1956 to 7 August 1972 and used primarily for training United States Coast Guard Reserve personnel , including training cruises to Brazil and Nova Scotia . She took part in the United States Coast Guard Academy cadet cruise of August 1965 . " Unimak " was reclassified as a high endurance cutter and redesignated WHEC - 379 on 1 May 1966 . Her loan period from the Navy came to an end on 26 September 1966 , when she was transferred permanently from the Navy to the Coast Guard . On 7 March 1967 she rescued six Cuban refugees in the Yucatan Channel . On 10 March 1967 she rescued survivors from the fishing vessel " Bunkie III " in Florida waters . On 15 March 1967 , she rescued 12 Cuban refugees who were stranded on an island . On 29 May 1969 , she towed the fishing vessel " Sirocco " — which was disabled east of Fort Pierce , Florida — to safety . " Unimak " was reclassified as a training ship and again redesignated , this time as WTR - 379 , on 28 November 1969 . On 3 April 1970 , she stood by the grounded merchant ship " Vassiliki " near Mayaguana Island until a commercial tug arrived to assist " Vassiliki " . From 7 August 1972 to 31 May 1975 , " Unimak " was stationed at Yorktown , Virginia , and was again used to train Coast Guard reservists . " Unimak " was decommissioned on 31 May 1975 placed in storage at Curtis Bay , Maryland . Second period in commission 1977 - 1988 . On 22 August 1977 , " Unimak " was reactivated , again redesignated WHEC - 379 . She was home - ported at New Bedford , Massachusetts , for the rest of her Coast Guard career . During this stint in commission , she was used primarily for fisheries patrol . " Unimak " also interdicted the trafficking of illegal drugs . On 6 October 1980 , she seized the merchant ship " Janeth " southeast of Miami , Florida , carrying 500 bale s of marijuana . On 14 October 1980 , she seized the pleasure craft " Rescue " carrying approximately 500 bales of marijuana and the pleasure craft " Snail " with two tons of marijuana on board in the Gulf of Mexico . On 17 October 1980 , she seized the merchant vessel " Amalaka " southwest of Key West , Florida , carrying 1 , 000 bales of marijuana . On 19 October 1980 , she seized the fishing vessel " Wrights Pride " southwest of Key West , carrying 30 tons of marijuana . In March 1981 , while on an Officer Candidate School training cruise , she intercepted the merchant ship " Mayo " with 40 tons of marijuana on board . On 9 December 1982 , " Unimak " towed the disabled fishing vessel " Sacred Heart " away from Daid Banks , east of Cape Cod , Massachusetts , in 30 - foot ( 9 . 1 m ) seas . Between 28 January 1983 and 9 March 1983 , " Unimak " again deployed to the Caribbean for a law - enforcement patrol . On 27 February 1983 and 28 February 1983 , she towed the dismasted sailing vessel " Wandering Star " to Mathew Town , Great Iguana . On 3 March 1983 , she towed the disabled merchant vessel " Yadrina " to Mathew Town . On 30 November 1984 , " Unimak " seized the sailboat " Lola " north of Barranquilla , Colombia , carrying 1 . 5 tons of marijuana . Another drug seizure occurred on 2 November 1985 , when " Unimak " seized tugboat " Zeus 3 " and a barge south of the Dominican Republic carrying 40 tons of marijuana . Decommissioning and disposal . The Coast Guard decommissioned " Unimak " on 29 April 1988 and transferred her to the U . S . Navy . She was then sunk as an artificial reef off the Virginia coast .