Ship.27s history USCGC Burton Island (WAGB-283)

1 ship s history

1.1 u.s. navy, 1947–1966
1.2 coast guard, 1966–1978
1.3 decommissioning , sale

ship s history
u.s. navy, 1947–1966

on 17 january 1947, burton island, loaded supplies, steamed san diego ross sea, antarctica met units of tf 68 on first antarctica development project, operation highjump. after returning antarctica, burton island departed 25 july 1947 point barrow expedition alaska.

from april 1948 december 1956, burton island participated in 19 arctic , alaskan cruises, including operation windmill. during operation windmill in antarctic burton island flagship of cdr gerald l. ketchum, usn commander of task force 39. duties on cruises varied including, supply activities, helicopter reconnaissance of ice flows, scientific surveys, underwater demolition surveys, , convoy exercises.

in march 1949, burton island redesignated agb-1.

one prominent excursion submarines uss seadragon (ssn-584) , uss skate (ssn-578) in 1962, in torpedoes tested underneath polar ice pack after 2 submarines had rendezvoused @ north pole.

burton island, atka (agb-3), , glacier (agb-4) pushing iceberg out of channel in silent land near mcmurdo station, antarctica, 29 december 1965.


us coast guard, 1966–1978

on 15 december 1966, u.s. navy transferred vessel, along of icebreakers, united states coast guard , renumbered wagb-283. after transfer, burton island stationed @ long beach, california , used icebreaking operations. starting in 1967 through 1978, burton island went on 8 different deep freeze operations antarctic. in operations, burton island responsible creating , maintaining aids navigation, clearing channels through ice supply vessels, laying cables, delivering , dispatching u.s. mail @ remote stations , vessels, search , rescue, fisheries patrol, law enforcement, , giving dental , medical treatment @ remote native alaskan communities. in addition deep freeze operations, burton island served floating platform scientific surveys , research around alaska , other isolated polar areas. burton island conducted numerous search , rescue (sar) missions.

from october 1967 april 1968 participated in operation deep freeze 68. october 1968 april 1969 participated in operation deep freeze 69. november 1969 april 1970 participated in operation deep freeze 70 , accompanying icebreaker uscgc edisto (wagb-284) disabled. november 1970 april 1971 participated in operation deep freeze 71 , again accompanying icebreaker uscgc staten island (wagb-278) disabled. august september 1971 conducted oceanographic survey along north slope, alaska. february march 1972 conducted scientific survey in cook inlet, alaska. november 1972 april 1973 participated in operation deep freeze 73. june july 1973 conducted oceanographic research in alaskan waters. november 1974 april 1975 participated in operation deep freeze 75. 13 november 1975 26 february 1976 participated in operation deep freeze 76. july september 1976 deployed arctic. 9 november 1976 7 april 1977 participated in operation deep freeze 77. during deployment in december, 1976, carried out numerous search-and-rescue missions @ wellington, new zealand, following torrential downpour. 9 july 1977 8 september 1977 undertook cruise arctic ocean, during time crew constructed several radar navigation towers along north coast of alaska , conducted gravity surveys of arctic ocean. 20 november 1977 1 april 1978 participated in operation deep freeze 78. mid-1977 9 may 1978 stationed @ naval supply center oakland oakland, california , used icebreaking.

decommissioning , sale

she decommissioned on 9 may 1978. excerpt maritime administration letter dated 21 november 1995 indicates ultimate fate:

the maritime administration sold vessel auction under pd-x-1033 dtd. 17 august 1980. vessel awarded levin metals corporation, san jose, california on 7 october 1980, under contract no. ma-9868 $261,000.00 burton island scrapped of 28 april 1982.




^ tales of cold war submariner dan summitt, 2004.
^ levin metals corporation, 1800 monterey highway, san jose, california 95112