Acacia, 1927
WAGL-200
(ex-General John P. Story)Builder:
Fabricated Shipbuilding Corporation and Coddington Engineering Company, Milwaukee, WisconsinLength:
172'Beam:
32'Draft:
11' 6"Displacement:
1,130 tonsCost: $
540,000; conversion cost was $55,481.50Commissioned:
1920 (U.S. Army); 14 April 1927 (USLHS)Decommissioned:
N/ADisposition:
Sunk by the U-161 on 15 March 1942Machinery:
2 Allis Chalmers compound, inverted, reciprocating steam engines; 2 Page & Burton watertube boilers; 1,000 SHP; twin propellers.Performance & Endurance:
Max:
11.0 knotsCruising: 10.0 knots; 1,800 mile range
Deck Gear:
20-ton capacity boomComplement:
28Armament:
None; WWII ?Electronics:
NoneClass History:
Acacia was a Speedwell-class mine planters originally built for the U.S. Army in 1918 and 1919. Six were transferred to the U.S. Lighthouse Service at no cost in 1922. The original intent was for these vessels to serve a dual purpose: mine-planter in case of a war, and lighthouse tender during peacetime. Unfortunately, this conversion proved to be impracticable and too expensive and they were modified exclusively for service as tenders at a cost of between $41,022 to $110,963. Each had a turtleback forecastle installed and their anchors were mounted high to prevent the ship from being hung up on a buoy she was servicing. A steel main deck was added forward; new windows were installed in the pilothouse, and a new refrigerating plant was added. All vessels were then commissioned from 1923 to 1927 with new names.
Tender History:
Acacia was assigned to the San Juan area April 21, 1927. The ship’s field of operations included Puerto Rico and adjacent islands, Virgin Islands, Guantanamo Bay, and Cuba. Although the ship was designated as a lighthouse tender, it also was used to perform construction and repair of small structures, piers, etc. in addition to her work of tending aids to navigation. After the Hurricane San Felipe on September 13, 1928, the crew nicknamed themselves "The Acacia Construction Company" because of the number of repairs they performed. She ran aground off Fajaro, Puerto Rico, in September 1932 during a hurricane but was safely refloated.
The ship's main mission was in to repair aids to navigation equipment, in which they maintained approximately 255 during its time in service. The crew supported shore lights, unwatched lights, lighted buoys, unlighted buoys and beacons, and radio beacons on both the Panama Canals Atlantic and Pacific sides, the western Caribbean, Morro Puercas and the Jicarita Island Lights.
In addition, the Acacia rendered numerous salvage services involving vessels and persons in distress. The most notable was the rescue of the Brazilian training ship Ainirante Saldanha. The vessel and its crew were given up for lost after the ship had run aground off San Juan Harbor Entrance July 25, 1938. The Acacia rescued her crew, and the rescue created a celebration in Brazil and gained the attention of international officials.
On March 15, 1942, while en route from Curacao, Netherlands West Indies to Antigua, British West Indies, the Acacia was sunk by shellfire from the German submarine U-161. The entire crew of Acacia was rescued. She was the only tender sunk by enemy action during the war.
Sources:
Tender File, Coast Guard Historian's Office
Douglas Peterson. United States Lighthouse Service Tenders, 1840-1939. Annapolis: Eastwind Publishing, 2000.
Robert Scheina. U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft of World War II. Annapolis: Naval Institute Proceedings, 1982.
Richard D. White, Jr. "Aids to Navigation in Puerto Rico 1927-1942: History of the Buoy Tender Acacia." Revista / Review Interamericana IV (Winter 1974-1975), pp. 518-525.
________. "The Sinking of the Tender Acacia." The Keeper’s Log (Fall 1991), pp. 18-21.