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USS Cuyahoga (AG-26)
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Class:        CUYAHOGA (AG-26)
Design:        USCG, 125'
Displacement (tons):        200 light, 235 full
Dimensions (feet):        125' oa, 120.0' wl x 23.3' e x 6.3' mn, 6.8' mx
Original Armament:        --
Later armaments:        --
Complement:        --
Speed (kts.):        14
Propulsion (HP):        600
Machinery:        Diesel, 2 screws

Construction:
AG Name Acq. Builder Keel Launch Commiss.
26 CUYAHOGA 29 May 33 American Brown Boveri -- 27 Jan 27 1 Apr 35

Disposition:
AG Name Decomm. Strike Disposal Fate MA Sale
26 CUYAHOGA 17 May 41 17 May 41 17 May 41 USCG --

Class Notes:
No FY (transferred). Between November 1926 and May 1927 the American Brown Boveri Electric Corp. of Camden, N.J., launched 33 new 125-foot cutters for the Coast Guard. These vessels were designed to operate on the outer line of patrol during Prohibition, where they were to trail smugglers' mother ships. They gained a reputation for durability that was enhanced by their re-engining in the late 1930s, during which the original 300 HP diesels were replaced with diesels of 500 to 800 HP and speed increased from 10 to 13 knots. 16 of these ships remained in use in the 1960s.

The Navy acquired one of these cutters, CUYAHOGA, in 1933 to serve as a tender and escort for the Presidential yachts POTOMAC (also a former Coast Guard cutter) and SEQUOIA. Navy data suggest that received the engine upgrade before acquisition. Except for a short period in commission between 1 Apr 35 and 27 Jul 35 she served "in service, not in commission." She was originally listed as District Unclassified and given a YX file symbol (probably YX-21). (This, like the symbol IX, was used only for filing correspondence and was not an "official number," i.e. a hull number.) The vessel was given the official number AG-26 on 30 Nov 37. She was replaced as Presidential escort by CALYPSO (AG-35) in May 1941. She was recommissioned in the Coast Guard and ended up serving as a cutter longer than any of her sisters. On 20 Oct 78 CUYAHOGA was in collision with the Argentine motor vessel SANTA CRUZ II near the mouth of the Potomac River and sank with the loss of 11 of her crew.

Ship Notes:
AG Name Notes
26 CUYAHOGA ex CUYAHOGA (WPC-157). Comm. by USCG 3 Mar 27, decomm. 27 May 33. Used as escort for Presidential yachts, initially listed as District Unclassified with file symbol YX-21, classified AG-26 30 Nov 37. Returned by Navy and recomm. in USCG 17 May 41. Sunk in collison 20 Oct 78.

Page Notes:
AG        1935
Compiled:        07 Sep 2009
© Stephen S. Roberts, 2002-2009