USS Calypso (AG-35)

The third USS Calypso (AG-35) was launched 6 January 1932 for the United States Coast Guard as USCGC Calypso (WPC-104) by the Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. She was initially stationed at San Diego, California, and transferred to Baltimore, Maryland in 1938. She was transferred from the Coast Guard to the U.S. Navy on 17 May 1941 and commissioned the same day.[2][3]

For other ships with the same name, see USS Calypso.

Calypso as Circle Line XI in 2008.
History
United States
NameUSS Calypso
NamesakeCalypso
BuilderBath Iron Works
Launched6 January 1932
Acquired17 May 1941
Commissioned17 May 1941
Decommissioned20 January 1942
IdentificationAG-35
United StatesUnited States
NameCircle Line XI
OwnerCircle Line Sightseeing Cruises
Acquired1955
In service1958
Out of service2008
FateRetired 2008
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeThetis-class patrol boat
Displacement357 tons
Length165'
Beam25'3"
Draft13'2"
Speed16 knots

Calypso was based at the Washington Navy Yard as a tender to her sister ship, the presidential yacht Potomac. In this capacity, her operations were confined largely to the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay until 22 July 1941, when she put out for a cruise to Nova Scotia. During a portion of this cruise she had on board President Franklin D. Roosevelt, bound for the famous Atlantic Conference in Argentia Bay, Newfoundland, with Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom. Her other movements were to provide cover for the president's travels. Returning to Washington, D.C., on 23 August, Calypso was decommissioned 20 January 1942 and returned to the Coast Guard.[3]

Calypso served as a Coast Guard-crewed cutter on the Eastern Sea Frontier defending the East Coast from German submarine attacks on merchant shipping and stationed at Norfolk, Virginia.[4] She rescued 42 people from SS Buarque and 54 people from Arbutan in February and March 1942. On 15 September 1943 she rescued 60 sailors from the torpedoed patrol vessel USS Plymouth despite heavy seas and sharks.[2] The Coast Guard subsequently decommissioned her on 18 July 1947.[5]

In 1955, Calypso was acquired by Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises of Manhattan, New York and converted into a tour boat. She was renamed Circle Line XI and provided river-based tours of New York City for over 50 years before being retired in 2008.[6] She was replaced by a new vessel named Circle Line Manhattan.[7]

Citations
  1. Dropkin: The Thetis Class Coast Guard Patrol Boats
  2. Canney, p 108–109
  3. DANFS
  4. Scheina (1982), p 38
  5. Scheina (1990), p 61
  6. Priolo: USCGC Calypso (WPC-104)
  7. Circle Line's WWII Cutter May Take Its Final Manhattan Cruise

References used
  • This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
  • "Circle Line's WWII Cutter May Take Its Final Manhattan Cruise". Going Coastal Magazine. 15 September 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  • Canney, Donald L. (1995). U.S. Coast Guard and Revenue Cutters, 1790–1935. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland. ISBN 978-1-55750-101-1.
  • Dropkin, Les (January 2002). "The Thetis Class Coast Guard Patrol Boats" (PDF). Potomac Association.
  • Priolo, Gary P. "USCGC Calypso (WPC-104)". NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive. Nav Source Naval History. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  • Scheina, Robert L. (1982). U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft of World War II. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland. ISBN 978-0-87021-717-3.
  • Scheina, Robert L. (1990). U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft, 1946–1990. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland. ISBN 978-0-87021-719-7.
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