U.S. Coast Guard Cutter History Program
ATF / WAT / WATF / WMEC-153
A Native American tribe which inhabited the banks of the Redwood Creek in
Builder: Charleston Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, Charleston, South
Length: 205' 3"
Beam: 38' 7"
Draft: 16' 10"
Displacement: 1,641 tons
Launched: 1 December 1944
Commissioned: 5 April 1945 (USN); 5 October 1956
Decommissioned: 19 June 1991
Disposition: Returned to USN
Machinery: 4 electric motors driven by 4 Allis Chalmers generators driven by
4 General Motors diesel engines; 3,000 BHP; single propeller
Maximum Speed: 16.5 knots
Economic/Cruising Speed: 10.1 knots; 13,097 mile range
Complement: 8 officers, 68 enlisted (1961); 10 officers, 69 enlisted (1991)
Electronics: SPN-25 detection radar (1961)
Armament: 1 x 3"/50; 2 x .50 caliber machine guns (mounted on bridge wings
when in use); small arms
, a Cherokee-Class fleet ocean tug, was launched on 1
December 1944 by Charleston Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Charleston,
South Carolina. She was sponsored by Mrs. C. G. Thigpen and was
commissioned by the Navy on 5 April 1945, under the command of LT O. L.
Guinn, USN. Chilula
stood out from Norfolk 14 May 1945 for Algiers,
Louisiana, arriving 19 May. She took section 58 of ABSD-7 in tow, and
sailed 27 May for the Canal Zone, arriving Cristobal 5 June. Between 7 and
12 June she towed ABSD sections through the Panama Canal. Clearing Balboa
16 June she reached Eniwetok 31 July for towing duties. She left Eniwetok 8
September, entered Tokyo Bay 20 September, and until 11 January 1946
operated from Yokosuka. Between 11 January and 28 January, she voyaged from
Yokosuka to Tsingtao towing YO-17. Chilula
sailed from Yokosuka 3
April for Orange, Texas, and was placed out of commission in reserve on 8
She was lent to the Coast Guard on 9 July 1956. She was converted for Coast
Guard use at the Coast Guard Yard, Curtis Bay, Maryland, and after
conversion, she was commissioned by the Coast Guard on 5 October 1956, under
the command of CDR Roy M. Hutchins, USCG. She was first designated as
WAT-153 and this quickly changed to WATF-153. She was assigned to Morehead
City, North Carolina, and was used for law enforcement and search and rescue
duties, including towing disabled vessels to safety.
On 26 September 1961 she responded to an explosion and fire aboard the
tanker USNS Potomac
which had been discharging her cargo at Morehead City,
North Carolina. Chilula
fought the fire and was designated as the "On Scene
Commander" for the incident.
In October 1963 during a hurricane Chilula
, under the command of CDR Richard W. Young,
towed the mothballed Navy destroyer escort Fogg
to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where
relieved of her tow by a Navy tug.
On 1 May 1966, her designation was changed to WMEC-153 in a Coast Guard-wide
effort to simplify the service's classifications of its larger cutters. On
24 July 1967 she rescued four from the disabled F/V Dorothy Bee
Lookout. On 28 September 1967 she assisted the grounded M/V Wolverine
10 miles west of Cuba. On 25 February 1968 she escorted the distressed
Liberian tanker Potomac
130 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras to Wilmington,
North Carolina. On 5 December 1968 she towed the abandoned yacht Good Hope
70 miles east of Cape Fear to Morehead City, North Carolina. On 7 December
1968 she recovered seven bodies after the F/V Fenwick Island
On 20 May 1969 she towed the F/V Glen Echo
to Morehead City. On 1 June 1969
she was officially removed from the Navy List. On 30 December 1969 she
towed the disabled tanker N. W. Cokey
90 miles southeast of Cape Fear until
relieved by a commercial tug. On 2 May 1970 she towed the disabled USS
100 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras until relieved by USS
. On 4 July 1970 party from cutter helped fight a fire in downtown
Morehead City. On 28 October 1970 she towed the disabled F/V Sheela L
15 miles southeast of Cape Lookout to safety. On 30 October 1970 she towed
the disabled tug Linda
to Georgetown, South Carolina. On 6 November 1970
she rescued five from the M/V Caribbean Mist
150 miles off Cape Fear.
On 6 February 1973 Chilula
was off the Virginia Capes towing a "runaway"
liberty ship that had broken away from the German tug Seetrans
when her crew
spotted 10 waterspouts heading for the cutter when they passed through a
squall. Her commanding officer at that time, CDR J. R. Mitchell, reported
that they managed to avoid nine of the spouts but one hit the cutter,
causing minor damage.
In 1975 she was transferred to Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, where she was
based out of until she was decommissioned. On 12 August 1984 she seized the
, carrying 3 tons of marijuana, in the Windward Passage. On 18 May
1985 she seized the F/V Tripolina
for fishing inside a closed area. In July
1985 she seized a F/V carrying marijuana 30 miles southeast of Cuba. In
November 1986 she rescued eight from the P/C Skivvy Waver
240 miles east of
the Delaware River during a heavy storm.
was decommissioned on 19 June 1991 and was returned to the Navy.
Cutter History File, U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office.
NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Scheina, Robert. U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft, 1946-1990. Annapolis, MD:
Naval Institute Press, 1990.