USCGC Mellon (WHEC-717) shown with Harpoon missile launcher aft of the 76mm gun. |
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| Career | |
|---|---|
| Builder: | Avondale Shipyards |
| Laid down: | July 25, 1966 |
| Launched: | February 11, 1967 |
| Commissioned: | January 9, 1968 |
| Homeport: | Seattle, Washington |
| Fate: | Active |
| Status: | To Be Decommission 2012 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 3,250 tons |
| Length: | 378 ft (115 m) |
| Beam: | 43 ft (13 m) |
| Draught: | 15 ft (4.6 m) |
| Propulsion: | Two diesel engines and Two gas turbine engines |
| Speed: | 29 knots (54 km/h) |
| Range: | 14,000 nmi (25,900 km) |
| Endurance: | 45 days |
| Complement: | 167 personnel |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
AN/SPS-40 air-search radar |
| Armament: | Otobreda 76 mm, Phalanx CIWS |
USCGC Mellon (WHEC-717) is a U. S. Coast Guard high endurance cutter based out of Seattle, Washington. Laid down July 25, 1966 at Avondale Shipyards near New Orleans, Louisiana. Named for Andrew W. Mellon the 49th Secretary of the Treasury from 1921-1932 and launched February 11, 1967 by Mrs. John W. Warner, Jr., sponsor and granddaughter of Andrew Mellon. Mellon was commissioned January 9, 1968. She received her Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) upgrades from 1985 to 1989.
Mellon was the first and only USCG cutter to be fitted with the Harpoon missile, test firings were also conducted in January 1990. She also received an anti-submarine warfare suite including the AN/SQS-26 sonar and Mark 46 torpedoes. The ASW suite and Harpoon capability were removed due to fiscal constraints, but served as a proof of capability for all USCG cutters.[1]
In February 1974, the Mellon played a major role rescuing the crew of the Italian supertanker Giovanna Lolli-Ghetti. They survived an explosion, fire and then sinking of the tanker. At midnight Mellon was advised of a distress call from 230 miles south-east of Hawaii. At roughly 1115 the next morning Mellon reached the area where the vessel Tamerlane (Norway) was rescuing survivors from the now deserted tanker.
The survivors transferred to the Mellon for medical treatment, warm food and clean clothes. The nearby Novikov Priboya from Russia arrived to give additional medical aid. 7 of the survivors were not recovered. The rest were taken back to Honolulu on the Mellon.[2]
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:USCGC_Mellon_(WHEC-717) USCGC Mellon (WHEC-717)] at Wikimedia Commons
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