"The Capture of the German Naval Auxiliary Externsteine " Topic

I found this a very interesting read and one I didn't know of. Especially about the Coast Guard Icebreakers Eastwind & Southwind. I was aware of some of the actions of the Coast Guard during the War but this was one I wasn't LOL. Could be an interesting scenario IMO. Robert

The Capture of the German Naval Auxiliary Externsteine by the Coast Guard Icebreakers Eastwind & Southwind in Greenland, 1944

"They were two of a total of five large icebreaking vessels of the "Wind" class. These vessels had the distinction of being the first U.S. ships designed and built specifically as icebreakers. Coast Guard engineers worked with designers from the Gibbs & Cox Company to design these new cutters and the final products were unique in many respects.

Their wide 269-foot long hulls were constructed of high tensile steel with a labyrinth of heavy frames and stiffeners that served as the ship's skeleton, making them capable of standing up to tremendous pressure. Their powerful diesel-electric drive developed enough horsepower to push the vessel on top of an ice flow, where its 6,515 ton displacement would crush it. Each icebreaker sported a bow-mounted propeller to clear the smashed ice as the icebreaker moved forward. For movement through heavy ice each ship had heeling tanks on either side of the hull which could shift 150,000 gallons of ballast from one side of the ship to the other in only 90 seconds. This shifting of ballast would allow the ship to "rock" its way through almost any ice. They were also heavily armed with four 5-inch 38-caliber guns mounted in two twin turrets, anti-aircraft cannons and machine guns, depth charges, and a J2F amphibian aircraft. These cutters were unique and versatile additions to the Coast Guard fleet."

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Fascinating story – thanks!

Doug

Thanks elsyrsyn. I found this as to what happened to the Externsteine after the capture from Wiki. so take with a grain of sat of course. Robert

"USS Callao (IX-205), an unclassified miscellaneous vessel, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Callao, a seaport in Peru. She was built in 1943 and 1944 by P. Smit, Jr. Shipyard, in Rotterdam, Holland, as Externsteine for the Kriegsmarine. The ship was originally named for the unusual Externsteine rock formation investigated by Heinrich Himmler for evidence of cultural significance to early Teutonic folklore and history. Externsteine was employed as a weather observation ship off Shannon Island on the northeast coast of Greenland[2] to aid forecasting of storm events tactically significant to North Atlantic and European combat operations, but was captured on the night of 15 October–16 October 1944 by USCGC Eastwind."

"The United States Coast Guard prize crew brought her into Boston, Massachusetts, by way of Reykjavík and NS Argentia, Newfoundland. There she was commissioned into the United States Navy on 24 January 1945 with Lieutenant D. O. Newton, USNR, in command.

Between 30 January 1945 and 4 February she was outfitted at Philadelphia Navy Yard for special experimental work for the Bureau of Ships, and for the next five years carried out tests in the area of Cape May, New Jersey, and Cape Henlopen, Delaware. She was decommissioned on 10 May 1950, and sold 30 September 1950."

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I love the white sheets used as camouflage. Robert

Now if I could get these in 1/600 . Robert

It looks like there were 3 Callao before with 2 in the USN.

1.Callao, a Spanish Navy gunboat that fought in the Spanish-American War.

2.USS Callao (YFB-11), a U.S. Navy gunboat captured from Spain and in U.S. service from 1898 to 1923.

3.USS Callao (ID-4036), a U.S. Navy transport in service in 1919.

What is the USN process for renaming ships in the USN?
Robert

Doe anyone also know of any photos of the renamed Externsteine after its capture? Robert