USCGC MCLANE (WMEC-146)
Type: Patrol Craft
Length: 125 feet
Address:
USCGC McLane was authorized during Calvin Coolidge's administration as one of a class of 1933 "Rum Chasers" for use during prohibition. She and her sisters were the last military vessels built for the U.S. Government that carried an auxiliary sail rig. Until the onset of World War II, McLane was based at a number of west coast stations. Her World War II duties took McLane to Ketchikan, Alaska where she was manned by a Coast Guard crew, but under Navy operational control. On July 9, 1942, working with a Coast Guard manned Navy patrol craft, she established sonar contact with a Japanese submarine known to be in the area. After a day long chase during which she dropped numerous depth charges, a large oil slick appeared on the surface, and no further contact with the sub was to be had. Sources indicate the Japanese submarine RO-32 was lost in the area at this time, and McLane is generally credited with the sinking. Following the war, McLane resumed her law enforcement and search and rescue duties, operating out of Sitka, Alaska; Aberdeen, Washington; and finally Brownsville, Texas. She was decommissioned in 1969, and acquired by a Sea Scout group in Chicago. She was acquired by the USS Silversides and Maritime Museum in 1993.
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