USCGC Morris (WSC-147)

For ships with a similar name, see USS Morris.

USCGC Morris (WSC-147)
Active class patrol boat, 1962
Career (United States)
Name:	USCGC Morris
Namesake:	Robert Morris
Operator:	U.S. Coast Guard (1927-1941) (1946-1971) U.S. Navy (1941-1946) Sea Scouts (1971-2015) Liberty Maritime Museum (2015-present)
Builder:	American Brown Boveri Electric Corporation, Camden, New Jersey
Cost:	US$63,163
Launched:	4 April 1927
Commissioned:	19 April 1927
Decommissioned:	7 August 1971
Identification:	IMO number: 367323170 Callsign: WDE2300 Pennant number: WSC/WMEC-147
Fate:	Donated to Liberty Maritime Museum
Status:	Museum ship at Sacramento River
General characteristics
Class & type:	Active-class patrol boat
Displacement:	232 tons (trial)
Length:	125 ft (38 m)
Beam:	23 ft 6 in (7.16 m)
Draft:	7 ft 6 in (2.29 m)
Installed power:	After 1938 re-engining: 1,200 brake horsepower (0.9 megawatt)
Propulsion:	As built: Two 6-cylinder 300 brake horsepower diesel engines After 1938 re-engining: Two 800 brake horsepower General Motors diesel engines
Speed:	As built: 10 knots In 1945: 12 knots (maximum); 7 knots (economical)
Range:	In 1945: 2,900 nautical miles (5,370 kilometers) at 10 knots; 4,000 nautical miles (7,400 kilometers) at 7 knots
Complement:	20 (3 officers, 17 enlisted men) (1930) 46 (5 officers, 41 men) (1945)
Sensors and processing systems:	Sonar (1945) QCO-1 Detection radar (1960) SPS-23
Armament:	In 1927: 1 x 3-inch (76.2-millimeter) 23-caliber gun In 1941: 2 x depth charge tracks In 1945: 1 x 3-inch (76.2-mm) 23-caliber gun , 2 x single 20-mm 80-caliber gun mounts, 2 x depth charge tracks, 2 x Mousetraps1 x 3-inch (76.2-mm) 23-caliber gun1 x 3-inch (76.2-mm) 23-caliber gun In 1960: 1 x single 40-mm 60-caliber antiaircraft gun mount

USCGC Morris (WSC-147), was a 125 ft (38 m) United States Coast Guard Active-class patrol boat in commission from 1927 to 1971. She was named for Robert Morris, (1734–1806) who was appointed in 1789 as United States Senator from Pennsylvania. In May 1966, she was redesignated as (WMEC-147).

Development and design

Alert-class were designed for trailing the "mother ships" along the outer line of patrol during Prohibition. They were constructed at a cost of $63,173 each. They gained a reputation for durability that was only enhanced by their re-engining in the late 1930s; their original 6-cylinder diesels were replaced by significantly more powerful 8-cylinder units that used the original engine beds and gave the vessels an additional 3 knots. All served in World War II, but two, the Jackson and Bedloe, were lost in a storm in 1944. Ten were refitted as buoy tenders during the war and reverted to patrol work afterward.

Originally designated WPC, for patrol craft, they were re-designated WSC, for sub chaser, in February 1942, during World War II. The "W" appended to the SC (Sub Chaser) designation identified vessels as belonging to the U.S. Coast Guard. Those remaining in service in May 1966 were re-designated as medium endurance cutters, WMEC.

Construction and career

Morris was laid down and launched by American Brown Boveri Electric Corporation, Camden on 4 April 1927. She was commissioned on 19 April 1927.

Her command was transferred to the US Navy in 1941 until 1946.

In May 1966, she was redesignated as WMEC-147.

USCGC Morris was the last Active-class to be decommissioned. She is preserved at the Liberty Maritime Museum in Sacramento, California since 2015.

See also

• Rum Patrol

References

• Canney, Donald L. (1995). U.S. Coast Guard and Revenue Cutters, 1790–1935. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland. ISBN 978-1-55750-101-1. 
• Flynn, Jim; Lortz, Ed; Lukas, Holger (March 2018). "Answer 39/48". pp. 23–25. ISSN 0043-0374. 
• Johnson, Robert Irwin (1987). Guardians of the Sea, History of the United States Coast Guard, 1915 to the Present. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland. ISBN 978-0-87021-720-3. https://archive.org/details/guardiansofseahi00john. 
• Scheina, Robert L. (1982). U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft of World War II. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland. ISBN 978-0-87021-717-3. 
• Scheina, Robert L. (1990). U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft, 1946–1990. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland. ISBN 978-0-87021-719-7. 

Websites

• "13 May 1986". Daily Chronology of Coast Guard History. U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office. http://www.uscg.mil/history/Chron/Chronology_May.asp. Retrieved 3 February 2014. 
• "Crawford, 1927" (asp). Cutters, Craft & U.S. Coast Guard-Manned Army & Navy Vessels. U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office. http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Crawford1927.asp. Retrieved 2 February 2014. 
• "Record of Movements, Vessels of the United States Coast Guard, 1790–December 31, 1933". U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Transportation. http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/RecordofMovements.pdf. Retrieved 2 February 2014. 
• "R/V Crawford 1956–1969". History of WHOI Ships. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. https://www.whoi.edu/main/legacy-of-exploration. Retrieved 2 February 2014.