USCGC Tamaroa (WMEC-166)
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Builder: | Commercial Iron Works, Portland, Oregon |
| Launched: | July 31, 1943 |
| Commissioned (USN): | October 9, 1943 |
| Decommissioned (USN): | June 29, 1946 |
| Commissioned (USCG): | June 29, 1946 |
| Decommissioned (USCG): | February 1, 1994 |
| Fate: | Museum ship |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1,731 tons |
| Length: | 205 ft (62 m) |
| Beam: | 39 ft (11.9 m) |
| Propulsion: | 4 General Motors model 12-278 diesels with diesel-electric drive: 3,010 hp (2.2 MW) |
| Speed: | 16 knots (30 km/h) |
| Range: | 15,000 nautical miles (28,000 km) at 8 knots (15 km/h) |
| Armament (1990): | 1 x 3 in (76 mm) 50 caliber |
| Complement: | 10 officers, 74 enlisted (as of 1990) |
USCGC Tamaroa (WAT/WMEC-166) was a United States Coast Guard cutter, originally the United States Navy salvage tug USS Zuni (ATF-95). Following the USGC custom of naming cutters after Native American tribes, she is named after the Tamaroa tribe of the Illiniwek tribal group.
She was one of 70 built in her class for the US Navy. She saw action in World War II, including the Marianas, Philippines, and Iwo Jima operations. After the war she was transferred to the USCG. She was involved in the landmark tort case, Ira S. Bushey & Sons, Inc. v. United States, 398 F.2d 167 (2d Circ. 1968), in which the United States was held vicariously liable for the damage caused by the Tamaroa to a dry dock after an intoxicated seaman opened dry dock valves, causing the ship to list and slide off its blocks.
The bulk of her USGC career was spent patrolled the seas, working in drug interdiction and fisheries protection. She is perhaps most famous for a rescue described in the book The Perfect Storm (by Sebastian Junger); she rescued both the crew of the yacht Satori, as well as the crew of a downed Air National Guard helicopter. She was also the first vessel to arrive at the sinking Andrea Doria.
After she was de-commissioned from the USGC, she was donated to the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York City. After a lengthy period of being passed around, she was to be donated to the Tamaroa Maritime Foundation, a newly formed non-profit organization in Richmond, Virginia. The Foundation is intended to preserve the ship in an operational condition, and use her to educate the public. As of 2004, she is docked in Baltimore, Maryland.
