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USCGC Spencer (WHEC-36)
ex
 USCGC Spencer (WPG-36) (1946 - 1965)
 USCGC Spencer (WAGC-36) (1944 - 1946)
 USCGC Spencer (WPG-36) (1937 - 1944)
 USCGC John C. Spencer (1937)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Romeo - Delta - Sierra
 NRDS
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons





Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Presidential Unit Citation- China Service Medal (extended)
Second Row - American Defense Service Medal (with fleet clasp) - American Campaign Medal (1) - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal
Third Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Fourth Row- National Defense Service Medal (2) - Vietnam Service Medal (1) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation
Fifth Row - Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (2) - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Service Medal
  • Laid down, 11 September 1935, as the Treasury Class Coast Guard Cutter John C. Spencer at New York Navy Yard
  • Launched, 6 January 1937
  • Commissioned, 1 March 1937
  • Name shortened in May of 1937 Spencer
  • Assigned to Bering Sea Patrols in 1938
  • Assigned to Neutrality Patrols on the Grand Banks in September 1939
  • Reassigned to Weather Patrols in January 1940
  • 28 October through 10 December 1940, Ingham was rearmed at the Bethlehem Co. Plant in South Boston, receiving anti-submarine and increased anti-aircraft weaponry
  • Transferred for duty with the Navy, 1 November 1941
  • Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet, on 9 January 1942.
  • Reported to New York Navy Yard for additional armament, 10 January to 9 Febraury 1942
  • Reassigned to Convoy Escort duty in the North Atlantic in February 1942
  • Converted the an AGC (combined operations and communications headquarters Ship) in 1944 at Navy Yard, Norfolk, VA., re-designated as WAGC-36
  • Conversion work completed 13 September 1944, Spencer sailed for Norfolk for shakedown, departing Norfolk, 27 September for duty in the Pacific
  • Spencer participated in operations in the Philippines at Leyte, Mariveles-Corregidor, Lingayen Gulf, Palawan and Balikpapan, Borneo
  • Following the war Spencer underwent re-conversion for peacetime service at Charleston Navy Yard for duty on ocean-weather stations, February-July 1946
  • Following re-conversion to peace time service Spencer was assigned to ocean-weather station duty in the Atlantic
  • On 1 May 1965 Spencer was re-designated as High Endurance Cutters or WHEC
  • Assigned Coast Guard Squadron Three off Vietnam in 1969, participating in Operation Market Time interdiction and coastal surveillance effort in Vietnam
  • Spencer returned to Governors Island, arriving there January 1970 were she served out the remainder of her Coast Guard career
  • Decommissioned, 23 January 1974, at CG Yard, Curtis Bay; placed in special status as an Engineering Training School (steam propulsion training; then say service as a temporary berthing facility for crews of cutters undergoing work at the CG Yard; fully decommissioned on 15 December 1980 and put up for sale.
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrap, 8 October 1981, to North American Smelting Company of Wilmington, Delaware.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 2,350 t. (lt)
    Length 327' 0"
    Beam 41' 0"
    Draft 12' 6" (max.)
    Speed 20.5 kts (max)
    Economic Cruising Range 11.0 knots (8,000 nautical miles)
    Complement
    1937
     12 officers
     4 warrant officers
     107 enlisted
     1941
     16 officers
     5 warrant officers
     202 enlisted
     1966
     10 officers
     3 warrant officers
     134 enlisted
    Armament
    1937
     three single 5"/51 cal gun mounts
     one 1-pdr
     1941
     three single 5"/51 cal gun mounts
     four single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mounts
     four .50 caliber Browning Machine Guns
     two depth charge racks
     one"Y" gun depth charge projector
     1943
     two single 5"/51 cal gun mounts
     four single 3"/50 cal dual gun mounts
     two single 20mm/80 AA gun mounts
     one Hedgehog
     six "K" gun depth charge projectors
     two depth charge racks
     1945
     two single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mounts
     four single 20mm/80 AA gun mounts
     1946
     one single 5"/38 cal dual gun mount
     one twin 40mm;/60 AA gun mount
     two single 20mm/80 AA gun mounts
     one Hedgehog
     1966
    one single 5"/38 MK30 Mod75 cal dual purpose gun mount w/ MK 52 MOD 3 director
     one MK 10-1 Hedgehog
     two (P&S) x Mk 32 MOD 5 TT
     four MK 44 MOD 1 torpedoes
     two .50 cal. MK-2 Browning Machine Guns
     two MK-13 high altitude parachute flare mortars
    Aircraft
    1937, one Curtiss SOC-4 USCG No. V159
    1938, one Grumman JF-2, USCG No. V144
    Electronics
    1942
     HF/DF: (1942) DAR (converted British FH3) ?
     Radar: (1945) SC-4, SGa; (1966) AN/SPS-29D, AN/SPA-52
     Fire Control Radar: (1945) Mk-26; (1966) Mk-26 MOD 4
     Sonar: (1945) QC series; (1966) AN/SQS-11
    Fuel Capacity NSFO 135,180 gallons (547 tons)
    Propulsion
    two Westinghouse double-reduction geared turbines
    two Babcock & Wilcox sectional express, air-encased, 400 psi, 200° superheat boilers
    two 9' three-bladed propellers, 6,200shp (1966)
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USCGC Spencer (WPG-36) (1937 - 1944)
    Spencer
    10013604    		 32k USCGC Spencer (WPG-36) underway off New York Navy Yard, 13 June 1937
    U.S. Coast Guard photo # 200227-G-G00001025    		 U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office
    Spencer
    10013605    		 184k USCGC Spencer (WPG-36) underway in 1943, location unknown. Note camouflage, similar to British "Western approaches"
    U.S. Naval History and heritge Command photo # 50130    		 U.S Naval History and Heritage Command
    Spencer
    10013606    		 300k USCGC Spencer (WPG-36) underway in 1the North Atlantic on Convoy Escort duty, circa 1942-1944.
    U.S. Coast Guard photo # unknown    		 Wikipedia
    Spencer
    10013608    		 176k Crew of USCGC Spencer (WPG-36) watch as a depth charge explodes near U-175, North Atlantic, 500nm WSW of Ireland, 17 Apr 1943.
    U.S. Coast Guard photo # unknown    		 Wikipedia
    USCGC Spencer (WAGC-36) (1944 - 1946)
    Spencer
    10013602    		 60k Port broadside view of U.S. Coast Guard combat cutter USCGC Spencer (WAGC-36) as an amphibious force flagship standing off the U.S. Navy Yard, Norfolk, Va., 26 September 1944.
    U.S. Coast Guard photo # 200227-G-G00001027    		 Robert Hurst
    USCGC Spencer (WPG-36) (1946 - 1965)
    Spencer
    10013601    		 290k USCGC Spencer (WPG-36) underway enroute to Ocean Station Dog, 20 May 1950
    U.S. Coast Guard photo # 200227-G-G00001027    		 US Coast Guard Historian's Office
    USCGC Spencer (WHEC-36) (1965 - 1980)
    Spencer
    10013603    		 52k USCGC Spencer (WHEC-36) underway, date and location unknown.
    U.S Coast Guard photo # 200227-G-G00001026    		 US Coast Guard Historian's Office
    Spencer
    10013607    		 98k USCGC Spencer (WHEC-36) plaque
    Amazon, Navy Emporium    		 Wikipedia
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR. Smith, Edward Hanson (Iceberg), USCG (RCS 1913) :RADM1 March 1937 - October 1938
    02CDR. Zeusler, Frederick August, USCG (USCGA 1911) :RADMOctober 1938 - 1 June 1941
    03CDR. Fritzsche, Edward Henry, USCG (USCGA 1922)1 June 1941 - 1943
    04CDR. Berdine, Harold Sloop, USCG (USCGA 1925) :RADM1943 - 1943
    05CDR. Capron, Walter Clark, USCG (USCGA 1928)1943 - 1944
    06CDR. Hinnant, James Reed, USCG (USCGA 1931)1944 - 1946
    07CDR. Hawley, William Porter, USCG (USCGA 1929)1946 - 1947
    08CAPT. Fairbank, John Edwin, USCG (USCGA 1927)1947 - 1948
    09CAPT. Phannemiller, George Milton, USCG (USCGA 1927)1948 - 1950
    10CAPT. Capron, Walter Clark, USCG (USCGA 1928)1950 - 1952
    11CDR. Zittel, Karl Otto Alfred, USCG (USCGA 1932)1952 - 1953
    12CAPT. Doebler, Harold Joseph, USCG (USCGA 1930)1953 - 1954
    13CAPT. Greeley, Quentin McK., USCG (USCGA 1931)1954 - 1956
    14CAPT. Stanley, John Theodore, USCG (USCGA 1931)1956 - July 1958
    15CAPT. Scalan, Bernard Edward, USCG (USCGA 1935)July 1958 - August 1960
    16CAPT. Allen Jr., Edward Carlton, USCG (USCGA 1938) :RADMAugust 1960 - July 1961
    17CAPT. Paine, James Woodrow, USCG (USCGA 1940)July 1961 - 1963
    18CDR. Clark, Robert Jessup, USCG (USCGA 1937)1963 - 1964
    19CAPT. Tibbitts Jr., Lewis Walter, USCG (USCGA 1943)1964 - 1966
    20CAPT. Zinck, William Joseph, USCG (USCGA 1944)1966 - 1968
    21CAPT. Welliver II, Marc, USCG (USCGA 1946)1968 - 1970
    22CDR. Kelly, James Riordan, USCG (USCGA 1952)1970 - 1972
    23CDR. Irwin, James C., USCG (USCGA 1953) :VADM1972 - 23 January 1974
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    USCGC Spencer WPG/WAGC/WHEC 36; (ex-John C. Spencer)
    U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office
    Back To the Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Amphibious Command Ship (AGC) Photo Index
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    This Page Is Created And Maintained By Gary P. Priolo.
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    Last Updated 27 October 2023