USS Big Horn (AO-45)
Encyclopedia
USS Big Horn (AO-45/IX-207) was a Q-ship
of the United States Navy
named for the Bighorn River
of Wyoming
and Montana
.
Gulf Dawn, a single-screw oil tanker
, was built in 1936 at Chester, Pennsylvania
, by the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Corp. and operated by the Gulf Oil Corporation. Acquired by the Navy on 31 March 1942, she was renamed Big Horn and given the hull designation symbol AO-45 on 3 April 1942. Her conversion began at the Bethlehem Shipyard in Brooklyn, New York. She was commissioned
15 April 1942, under the command of Commander James A. Gainard, USNR, formerly master of SS City of Flint, which had become the center of an international incident at the beginning of the war, and was later sunk by a U-boat
.
for conversion to a Q-ship
. A disguised heavily-armed merchantman, the decoy ship was intended to lure unsuspecting U-boats to the surface and sink them with gunfire. While at Boston, Big Horn completed her disguise as a fleet oiler and was given extra watertight integrity — in case she was torpedoed — by the installation of thousands of sealed empty drums in her cargo tanks. That work was completed on 22 July 1942.
After two days on the degaussing range and in calibrating compasses and
radio direction finders, Big Horn proceeded to Casco Bay
for
training under Commander, Destroyers, Atlantic Fleet
. This training period was followed by a
shakedown cruise which was completed on 26 August 1942, at
which date USS Big Horn put in again at the Navy Yard, Boston,
for further alterations and repairs until 12 September.
As U-boats had been attacking bauxite
ore cargo ships in the West Indies, the Q-ship sailed south to help defend the convoy routes there on 27 August.
bound for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
, taking a position which permitted the vessel to act as a straggler. The trip was made without incident, and thereafter Big Horn was semi-attached to NOB [Naval Operating Base] Trinidad
,
with orders to operate from that base over the bauxite
route to and from
ports where that commodity was loaded. Many ships in this area had been sunk in recent weeks. Ships proceeding from Trinidad were convoyed to a designated point from which they fanned out to take various routes to their ultimate destination. Big Horn was directed to proceed to that point and drop down on independent routes to and from bauxite ports.
After joining south-bound convoy GAT-11 at Guantanamo Bay, the ship — using her old call sign of Gulf Dawn — purposefully lagged behind the convoy en route to Trinidad. No U-boats were tempted to attack, however, and the ship moored in Port of Spain
on 9 October.
On 16 October 1942, Big Horn sailed in convoy T-19 from Trinidad
to the point of separation. That same afternoon, three U-boat
s attacked the convoy, and at 15:20 in 11°00′N 61°10′W, the British steamer SS Castle Harbour was hit on the starboard side by a torpedo
and sank in less than two minutes. At almost the same time the United States steamer , coal-laden, was struck forward on the starboard side. Later she limped into Trinidad. Soon afterwards, lookouts on Big Horn sighted a U-boat
moving at periscope depth on the port beam, but in such a position that no action could be taken without damaging the United States troopship Mexico or the Egyptian ship Raz El Farog. At 16:27, lookouts on Big Horn again sighted a periscope and conning tower, on the port side, and her four-inch (100 mm) gun was trained in that direction just as a submarine chaser
crossed through the line of fire and dropped five depth charge
s. Thereafter, the cruise in these waters was continued without incident for several days and Big Horn returned to NOB Trinidad about 29 October.
A second cruise in company with a convoy from Trinidad was begun by Big Horn on 1 November 1942, to a point nearly due north of Paramaribo
, where the vessel left the convoy and proceeded on varying courses without incident until return to Trinidad
on 8 November 1942.
On 10 November 1942, USS Big Horn sailed in convoy TAG-20, with the gunboat
USS Erie
(PG-50), two PC-boats (submarine chaser
s), and a PG-boat (patrol gunboat) acting as escorts. Because of submarine warnings, the convoy changed course so that the approach to Curaçao
was made from the south and west. Because of engine difficulties, USS Big Horn dropped out of the convoy at 15:30 on 12 November 1942, in company with a Venezuela
n tanker, and arrived at a point about 1.5 miles (3 km) off Willemstad
harbor, where the Curaçao-Aruba
subsidiary convoys were joining the main convoy. At 17:02, a great volume of smoke was sighted as it rose from Erie’s stern, about 1000 yards (1000 m) on the starboard bow of Big Horn, at 12°07′N 68°58′W.
Erie had been torpedoed on the starboard side aft. Big Horn called General Quarters, increased speed to 11 knots (22 km/h) and proceeded for the scene of action, but repeated orders from Willemstad forced Big Horn to alter course at 17:25 and proceed to Willemstad. Erie swung into the wind; efforts to subdue the fire were unsuccessful. The gunboat was finally beached, officers and crew abandoning ship.
On 21 November 1942, USS Big Horn proceeded from Curaçao
with a convoy bound for New York, The convoy proceeded on a course for Guantánamo with a Dutch
gunboat and four SC-boats as escorts. Other vessels joined convoy at Guantánamo until on
leaving that meeting point there were 45 ships and five escorts in company. The remainder of the cruise to New York via Caicos Passage was uneventful, and Big Horn anchored in The Narrows
in New York Harbor
at 20:40 on 1 December 1942. During the next few weeks,
Big Horn entered the Todd Shipyard at Hoboken, New Jersey
, for what proved to be nine weeks of repair work and alterations.
The latter included the installation of a mousetrap
, a hedgehog
depth charge
projector, and a DF (direction finding) radio receiver.
, the following day. On 19 February 1942, Lieutenant Commander
Farley assumed command of a newly organized Task Group consisting of Big Horn and three 173-foot (53 m) PC-boats: PC-560, PC-617, and PC-618. Antisubmarine measures had been so successful that no vessels had been sunk in coastal waters since July 1942. This Task Group was designed to hunt U-boats in the central Atlantic; the three PC-boats would escort Big Horn, which would act as bait and support in antisubmarine combat, as well as fuel and supply ship for the escorts.
During the period from 2 March to 14 March, this Task Group conducted training exercises in Long Island Sound
with the submarine Mingo
(SS-261) supplied for the purpose by ComSubLant, During the next two weeks the Task Group made a shakedown cruise.
After a short trip to New York between 20 March and 28 March, the Task Group continued antisubmarine training against Muskallunge
(SS-262) until 9 April. Big Horn and the two subchasers then sailed south in Task Group 21.8 (TG 21.8) to New York, arriving there on 9 April.
Convoy UGS-7A sailed on the morning of 14 April 1943, and the special Task Group joined up off New York and continued in company until 08:00 on 21 April, when the Group left the convoy and dropped astern 25 nautical miles (45 km), proceeding as straggler-with-escorts, although the escorts remained far enough astern so that they would not be visible to an enemy submarine sighting Big Horn. The cruise was uneventful during the next two weeks.
After several changes of course, Big Horn was at 29°00′N 28°10′W (about 500 miles (900 km) south of the Azores
) at noon of 3 May 1943. Early that morning, Big Horn had made radar contact with a suspected U-boat at a range of about six miles (11 km) and sent the two PCs to investigate. At 11:04, PC-618 reported a submarine on the surface, distant about six miles (11 km). At 12:35, Big Horn got a sound contact and delivered a hedgehog attack just after sighting a periscope on the starboard bow at 12:42, followed by a heavy swirl as the U-boat dove. At 13:33 a second attack was delivered and the contact was lost. At 15:40 the contact was regained at 3,700 yards (3.4 km) and at 15:54, speed five knots (9 km/h), Big Horn delivered a third attack. About five of the hedgehog
projectiles (which detonate only on contact) exploded about 12 seconds after they entered the water, and Big Horn continued in to drop depth charge
s. Considerable light oil came to the surface and continued to spread for two hours. At 01:03 on 4 May an oil patch was visible over an area of 200 to 300 yards (about 200 m). By daylight that morning, all traces of the oil slick were gone. As none of the vessels in the Group were able to establish contact during the next 44 hours, it was presumed that one submarine had been destroyed; that the other U-boat which had been sighted by the PC-618 had moved out of the area. A postwar review of German U-boat losses, however, indicated that no submarines were sunk on that date in this area.
Continuing on a homeward course, the Commanding Officer of Big Horn attempted to use the COMINCH (Commander in Chief, United States Fleet
) daily submarine estimates as guides for fruitful changes of course, but after several attempts had failed to produce results, the Task Group Commander recorded in his log, on 13 May 1943:
After returning to New York on 17 May, the ship underwent another overhaul between 19 May and 16 July.
On her final cruise as a Q-ship, Big Horn again she served as the flagship of a small Task Group which included only two other vessels: PC-618 and PC-617. Commander L. C. Farley had relieved Captain Gainard as Commanding Officer of Big Horn on 24 June because of the illness of the latter. The Task Group departed New York on 20 July 1943, and proceeded to Norfolk, where convoy UGS-13 made up and sailed on the morning of 27 July. On 29 July, Big Horn straggled from the convoy and streamed her Mark 29 gear. For the next few days she trailed the convoy, distant about fifty miles (90 km). On 4 August, U-boats were reported by COMINCH to be operating in the vicinity of 38°N, 38°W, and the Task Group changed course to intercept. On 6 August, a submarine was sighted in 41°31′N 36°11′W and attacked by PC-618 with mousetraps which failed to explode. Thereafter the contact was not regained. An expanding box search was carried out during the next few days without results, then the group moved northward of the Azores. Planes from the escort aircraft carrier
USS Card
(CVE-11) were sighted several times during this period and it later transpired that some of these planes had made definite kills of U-boats during that period. Big Horn was not so fortunate, in spite of frequent changes of course to intercept submarines reported by COMINCH. The cruise continued in the general area and as far south as the latitude of Dakar
, during the last weeks of August and throughout September. During the last week of September, a new search area was tried far to the north of the Azores, but again without success; then the homeward leg of the cruise was executed without event. Big Horn and her escorts stood up Ambrose Channel
on 7 October 1943.
On 14 October, COMINCH directed that Big Horn should be retained in active service but that no alterations or extensive repairs should be made without specific authorization of COMINCH.
After training exercises in the New London area with a friendly sub from 29 October through 10 November, Big Horn made one more uneventful cruise in company with PC-617 and PC-618. On 11 November, the Task Group returned to New York to refuel and provision; on 15 November, the Task Group departed in company and proceeded on an eastward course until they had reached the hunting ground north of the Azores
on 27 November. Searches were unsuccessful.
Big Horn then steamed back to New London on 30 November, whence she conducted training in Long Island Sound
, before departing on a third "decoy" cruise on 19 December. Although she operated near a suspected U-boat concentration in the waters off Bermuda
, the Q-ship and her two subchasers had no contacts and returned to New York empty-handed on 30 December.
In summarizing this cruise, the Commanding Officer of Big Horn wrote
as USCGC Big Horn (WAO-124) to join Asterion
(AK-100) on weather-patrol duty in the North Atlantic, under the supervision of the United States Coast Guard
and manned by Coast Guard officers and crew. The ship was assigned to the 1st Naval District and operated out of Boston. Her main duty was to conduct 25-day patrols on the Coast Guard's mid-ocean weather stations and report on surface and aerial weather conditions. These reports were used to determine air-ferry routes across the Atlantic and to reroute shipping around storm concentrations. Because her antisubmarine equipment still remained intact, she could take offensive action if such opportunities presented themselves. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
on 22 January 1944.
on 21 March and reported to
the Service Force, Pacific Fleet, that same day.
Steaming west, Big Horn stopped at Pearl Harbor
in early April before sailing on to the Marshall Islands
, where she anchored at Ulithi
on 1 May. Assigned to Service Squadron 10 (ServRon 10), the shuttle tanker carried oil to Kossol Roads
and Peleliu
in the Western Carolines
in early May before moving on to Tacloban in the Philippines
later in the month. Returning to Ulithi on 3 June, she loaded more oil and delivered it to Leyte on the 9th. Over the next eight weeks, Big Horn carried out three more of these shuttle missions from Ulithi to Leyte. The tanker sailed to Okinawa on 11 August and she was at that island on 15 August 1945, when her crew heard the news of the Japanese surrender.
Departing Okinawa on 29 September, Big Horn steamed to Japan
, where she was assigned duty as a station tanker at Nagoya
on 3 October. She remained there through January 1946. After transferring her cargo of oil to Beagle
(IX-112), the shuttle tanker got underway for home on 25 February. After a refueling stop at Pearl Harbor, she passed through the Panama Canal
in early April and moored at Mobile, Alabama
, on 15 April.
Big Horn then proceeded to New Orleans, Louisiana
. She was decommissioned on 6 May 1946, and her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
on 3 July 1946. Berthed at Orange, Texas
, the ship was subsequently delivered to the Maritime Commission for disposal on 22 November 1946.
Q-ship
Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, Decoy Vessels, Special Service Ships, or Mystery Ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open fire and sink them...
of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
named for the Bighorn River
Bighorn River
The Bighorn River is a tributary of the Yellowstone, approximately long, in the western United States in the states of Wyoming and Montana. The river was named in 1805 by fur trader François Larocque for the Bighorn Sheep he saw along its banks as he explored the Yellowstone River.The upper...
of Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
and Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
.
Gulf Dawn, a single-screw oil tanker
Tanker (ship)
A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and the liquefied natural gas carrier.-Background:...
, was built in 1936 at Chester, Pennsylvania
Chester, Pennsylvania
Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 33,972 at the 2010 census. Chester is situated on the Delaware River, between the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.- History :...
, by the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Corp. and operated by the Gulf Oil Corporation. Acquired by the Navy on 31 March 1942, she was renamed Big Horn and given the hull designation symbol AO-45 on 3 April 1942. Her conversion began at the Bethlehem Shipyard in Brooklyn, New York. She was commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
15 April 1942, under the command of Commander James A. Gainard, USNR, formerly master of SS City of Flint, which had become the center of an international incident at the beginning of the war, and was later sunk by a U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
.
Atlantic Fleet
Sailing to Boston on 23 April, Big Horn entered the Boston Navy YardBoston Navy Yard
The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was...
for conversion to a Q-ship
Q-ship
Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, Decoy Vessels, Special Service Ships, or Mystery Ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open fire and sink them...
. A disguised heavily-armed merchantman, the decoy ship was intended to lure unsuspecting U-boats to the surface and sink them with gunfire. While at Boston, Big Horn completed her disguise as a fleet oiler and was given extra watertight integrity — in case she was torpedoed — by the installation of thousands of sealed empty drums in her cargo tanks. That work was completed on 22 July 1942.
After two days on the degaussing range and in calibrating compasses and
radio direction finders, Big Horn proceeded to Casco Bay
Casco Bay
Casco Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine on the southern coast of Maine, New England, United States. Its easternmost approach is Cape Small and its westernmost approach is Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth...
for
training under Commander, Destroyers, Atlantic Fleet
U.S. Atlantic Fleet
The United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...
. This training period was followed by a
shakedown cruise which was completed on 26 August 1942, at
which date USS Big Horn put in again at the Navy Yard, Boston,
for further alterations and repairs until 12 September.
As U-boats had been attacking bauxite
Bauxite
Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, in a mixture with the two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite, and small amounts of anatase TiO2...
ore cargo ships in the West Indies, the Q-ship sailed south to help defend the convoy routes there on 27 August.
1942
The first cruise of USS Big Horn began on 27 September 1942, when the ship proceeded from New York with a convoyConvoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
bound for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, taking a position which permitted the vessel to act as a straggler. The trip was made without incident, and thereafter Big Horn was semi-attached to NOB [Naval Operating Base] Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
,
with orders to operate from that base over the bauxite
Bauxite
Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, in a mixture with the two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite, and small amounts of anatase TiO2...
route to and from
ports where that commodity was loaded. Many ships in this area had been sunk in recent weeks. Ships proceeding from Trinidad were convoyed to a designated point from which they fanned out to take various routes to their ultimate destination. Big Horn was directed to proceed to that point and drop down on independent routes to and from bauxite ports.
After joining south-bound convoy GAT-11 at Guantanamo Bay, the ship — using her old call sign of Gulf Dawn — purposefully lagged behind the convoy en route to Trinidad. No U-boats were tempted to attack, however, and the ship moored in Port of Spain
Port of Spain
Port of Spain, also written as Port-of-Spain, is the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third-largest municipality, after San Fernando and Chaguanas. The city has a municipal population of 49,031 , a metropolitan population of 128,026 and a transient daily population...
on 9 October.
On 16 October 1942, Big Horn sailed in convoy T-19 from Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
to the point of separation. That same afternoon, three U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
s attacked the convoy, and at 15:20 in 11°00′N 61°10′W, the British steamer SS Castle Harbour was hit on the starboard side by a torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
and sank in less than two minutes. At almost the same time the United States steamer , coal-laden, was struck forward on the starboard side. Later she limped into Trinidad. Soon afterwards, lookouts on Big Horn sighted a U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
moving at periscope depth on the port beam, but in such a position that no action could be taken without damaging the United States troopship Mexico or the Egyptian ship Raz El Farog. At 16:27, lookouts on Big Horn again sighted a periscope and conning tower, on the port side, and her four-inch (100 mm) gun was trained in that direction just as a submarine chaser
Submarine chaser
A submarine chaser is a small and fast naval vessel specially intended for anti-submarine warfare. Although similar vessels were designed and used by many nations, this designation was most famously used by ships built by the United States of America...
crossed through the line of fire and dropped five depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s. Thereafter, the cruise in these waters was continued without incident for several days and Big Horn returned to NOB Trinidad about 29 October.
A second cruise in company with a convoy from Trinidad was begun by Big Horn on 1 November 1942, to a point nearly due north of Paramaribo
Paramaribo
Paramaribo is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 250,000 people, more than half of Suriname's population...
, where the vessel left the convoy and proceeded on varying courses without incident until return to Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
on 8 November 1942.
On 10 November 1942, USS Big Horn sailed in convoy TAG-20, with the gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
USS Erie
USS Erie (PG-50)
USS Erie was the lead ship in a class of two United States Navy patrol gunboats. Launched and commissioned in 1936, she operated in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea until torpedoed and fatally damaged by a German submarine in 1942.-Prewar:...
(PG-50), two PC-boats (submarine chaser
Submarine chaser
A submarine chaser is a small and fast naval vessel specially intended for anti-submarine warfare. Although similar vessels were designed and used by many nations, this designation was most famously used by ships built by the United States of America...
s), and a PG-boat (patrol gunboat) acting as escorts. Because of submarine warnings, the convoy changed course so that the approach to Curaçao
Curaçao
Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
was made from the south and west. Because of engine difficulties, USS Big Horn dropped out of the convoy at 15:30 on 12 November 1942, in company with a Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n tanker, and arrived at a point about 1.5 miles (3 km) off Willemstad
Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles
Willemstad is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Formerly the capital of the Netherlands Antilles prior to its dissolution in 2010, it has an estimated population of 140,000. The historic centre of...
harbor, where the Curaçao-Aruba
Aruba
Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...
subsidiary convoys were joining the main convoy. At 17:02, a great volume of smoke was sighted as it rose from Erie’s stern, about 1000 yards (1000 m) on the starboard bow of Big Horn, at 12°07′N 68°58′W.
Erie had been torpedoed on the starboard side aft. Big Horn called General Quarters, increased speed to 11 knots (22 km/h) and proceeded for the scene of action, but repeated orders from Willemstad forced Big Horn to alter course at 17:25 and proceed to Willemstad. Erie swung into the wind; efforts to subdue the fire were unsuccessful. The gunboat was finally beached, officers and crew abandoning ship.
On 21 November 1942, USS Big Horn proceeded from Curaçao
Curaçao
Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
with a convoy bound for New York, The convoy proceeded on a course for Guantánamo with a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
gunboat and four SC-boats as escorts. Other vessels joined convoy at Guantánamo until on
leaving that meeting point there were 45 ships and five escorts in company. The remainder of the cruise to New York via Caicos Passage was uneventful, and Big Horn anchored in The Narrows
The Narrows
The Narrows is the tidal strait separating the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City. It connects the Upper New York Bay and Lower New York Bay and forms the principal channel by which the Hudson River empties into the Atlantic Ocean...
in New York Harbor
New York Harbor
New York Harbor refers to the waterways of the estuary near the mouth of the Hudson River that empty into New York Bay. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world. Although the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not use the term, New York Harbor has important historical, governmental,...
at 20:40 on 1 December 1942. During the next few weeks,
Big Horn entered the Todd Shipyard at Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...
, for what proved to be nine weeks of repair work and alterations.
The latter included the installation of a mousetrap
Mousetrap (weapon)
Mousetrap was an anti-submarine rocket used mainly during the Second World War by the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard. Its development was begun in 1941 as a replacement for Hedgehog, a British-made projector, which was the first ahead-throwing ASW weapon...
, a hedgehog
Hedgehog (weapon)
The Hedgehog was an anti-submarine weapon developed by the Royal Navy during World War II, that was deployed on convoy escort warships such as destroyers to supplement the depth charge. The weapon worked by firing a number of small spigot mortar bombs from spiked fittings...
depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
projector, and a DF (direction finding) radio receiver.
1943
She departed New York on 17 February 1943, and arrived at New London, ConnecticutNew London, Connecticut
New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....
, the following day. On 19 February 1942, Lieutenant Commander
Farley assumed command of a newly organized Task Group consisting of Big Horn and three 173-foot (53 m) PC-boats: PC-560, PC-617, and PC-618. Antisubmarine measures had been so successful that no vessels had been sunk in coastal waters since July 1942. This Task Group was designed to hunt U-boats in the central Atlantic; the three PC-boats would escort Big Horn, which would act as bait and support in antisubmarine combat, as well as fuel and supply ship for the escorts.
During the period from 2 March to 14 March, this Task Group conducted training exercises in Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
with the submarine Mingo
USS Mingo (SS-261)
— a Gato-class submarine — was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the mingo snapper, a fish of the Caribbean with rough leathery skin. A Civil War ship had also been named Mingo, after an Iroquois term of reproach....
(SS-261) supplied for the purpose by ComSubLant, During the next two weeks the Task Group made a shakedown cruise.
After a short trip to New York between 20 March and 28 March, the Task Group continued antisubmarine training against Muskallunge
USS Muskallunge (SS-262)
, a Gato-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the muskallunge, a fish of the pike family found in the upper Mississippi Valley, the Great Lakes region, and northward....
(SS-262) until 9 April. Big Horn and the two subchasers then sailed south in Task Group 21.8 (TG 21.8) to New York, arriving there on 9 April.
Convoy UGS-7A sailed on the morning of 14 April 1943, and the special Task Group joined up off New York and continued in company until 08:00 on 21 April, when the Group left the convoy and dropped astern 25 nautical miles (45 km), proceeding as straggler-with-escorts, although the escorts remained far enough astern so that they would not be visible to an enemy submarine sighting Big Horn. The cruise was uneventful during the next two weeks.
After several changes of course, Big Horn was at 29°00′N 28°10′W (about 500 miles (900 km) south of the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
) at noon of 3 May 1943. Early that morning, Big Horn had made radar contact with a suspected U-boat at a range of about six miles (11 km) and sent the two PCs to investigate. At 11:04, PC-618 reported a submarine on the surface, distant about six miles (11 km). At 12:35, Big Horn got a sound contact and delivered a hedgehog attack just after sighting a periscope on the starboard bow at 12:42, followed by a heavy swirl as the U-boat dove. At 13:33 a second attack was delivered and the contact was lost. At 15:40 the contact was regained at 3,700 yards (3.4 km) and at 15:54, speed five knots (9 km/h), Big Horn delivered a third attack. About five of the hedgehog
Hedgehog (weapon)
The Hedgehog was an anti-submarine weapon developed by the Royal Navy during World War II, that was deployed on convoy escort warships such as destroyers to supplement the depth charge. The weapon worked by firing a number of small spigot mortar bombs from spiked fittings...
projectiles (which detonate only on contact) exploded about 12 seconds after they entered the water, and Big Horn continued in to drop depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s. Considerable light oil came to the surface and continued to spread for two hours. At 01:03 on 4 May an oil patch was visible over an area of 200 to 300 yards (about 200 m). By daylight that morning, all traces of the oil slick were gone. As none of the vessels in the Group were able to establish contact during the next 44 hours, it was presumed that one submarine had been destroyed; that the other U-boat which had been sighted by the PC-618 had moved out of the area. A postwar review of German U-boat losses, however, indicated that no submarines were sunk on that date in this area.
Continuing on a homeward course, the Commanding Officer of Big Horn attempted to use the COMINCH (Commander in Chief, United States Fleet
United States Fleet
The United States Fleet was an organization in the United States Navy from 1922 until after World War II. The abbreviation CINCUS, pronounced "sink us", was used for Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet. This title was disposed of and officially replaced by COMINCH in December 1941 . This...
) daily submarine estimates as guides for fruitful changes of course, but after several attempts had failed to produce results, the Task Group Commander recorded in his log, on 13 May 1943:
This makes three submarines we have attempted to intercept on our return trip, all of which we theoretically should have met. This experience again accents the hopelessness of trying to find submarines. The proper procedure, as originally planned, is to remain in the vicinity of convoys, to which the submarines will come. On the next trip, it is planned to stay within about 15 miles [28 km], or less, of the convoy
After returning to New York on 17 May, the ship underwent another overhaul between 19 May and 16 July.
On her final cruise as a Q-ship, Big Horn again she served as the flagship of a small Task Group which included only two other vessels: PC-618 and PC-617. Commander L. C. Farley had relieved Captain Gainard as Commanding Officer of Big Horn on 24 June because of the illness of the latter. The Task Group departed New York on 20 July 1943, and proceeded to Norfolk, where convoy UGS-13 made up and sailed on the morning of 27 July. On 29 July, Big Horn straggled from the convoy and streamed her Mark 29 gear. For the next few days she trailed the convoy, distant about fifty miles (90 km). On 4 August, U-boats were reported by COMINCH to be operating in the vicinity of 38°N, 38°W, and the Task Group changed course to intercept. On 6 August, a submarine was sighted in 41°31′N 36°11′W and attacked by PC-618 with mousetraps which failed to explode. Thereafter the contact was not regained. An expanding box search was carried out during the next few days without results, then the group moved northward of the Azores. Planes from the escort aircraft carrier
Escort aircraft carrier
The escort aircraft carrier or escort carrier, also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the USN or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft carrier used by the British Royal Navy , the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army Air Force, and the...
USS Card
USS Card (CVE-11)
USS Card was a Bogue-class escort aircraft carrier. Her hull was laid down on 27 October 1941 as a C-3 cargo ship but it was acquired from the Maritime Commission while under construction and was converted into an escort carrier.She was launched as AVG 11 on 27 February 1942 by Seattle-Tacoma...
(CVE-11) were sighted several times during this period and it later transpired that some of these planes had made definite kills of U-boats during that period. Big Horn was not so fortunate, in spite of frequent changes of course to intercept submarines reported by COMINCH. The cruise continued in the general area and as far south as the latitude of Dakar
Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...
, during the last weeks of August and throughout September. During the last week of September, a new search area was tried far to the north of the Azores, but again without success; then the homeward leg of the cruise was executed without event. Big Horn and her escorts stood up Ambrose Channel
Ambrose Channel
Ambrose Channel is the main shipping channel in and out of the Port of New York and New Jersey. The channel is considered to be part of Lower New York Bay and is located several miles off the coasts of Sandy Hook in New Jersey and Breezy Point, Queens in New York...
on 7 October 1943.
On 14 October, COMINCH directed that Big Horn should be retained in active service but that no alterations or extensive repairs should be made without specific authorization of COMINCH.
After training exercises in the New London area with a friendly sub from 29 October through 10 November, Big Horn made one more uneventful cruise in company with PC-617 and PC-618. On 11 November, the Task Group returned to New York to refuel and provision; on 15 November, the Task Group departed in company and proceeded on an eastward course until they had reached the hunting ground north of the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
on 27 November. Searches were unsuccessful.
Big Horn then steamed back to New London on 30 November, whence she conducted training in Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
, before departing on a third "decoy" cruise on 19 December. Although she operated near a suspected U-boat concentration in the waters off Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
, the Q-ship and her two subchasers had no contacts and returned to New York empty-handed on 30 December.
In summarizing this cruise, the Commanding Officer of Big Horn wrote
It may be noted that during the period from 27 November to 1 December, this Task Group was in the midst of a group of from 10 to 15 U-boats. Nine contacts, sightings or attacks on U-boats took place in our immediate vicinity, so that it is most unlikely that we were not seen by some U-boats. Evidently the U-boats are wary of attacking an independent tankerTanker (ship)A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and the liquefied natural gas carrier.-Background:...
. If the Q-ship program has contributed to this wariness, as is suggested in several prisoner-of-war statements, many independent merchant ships may thereby have escaped attack, and the Q-ship program has thus been of value.
Coast Guard, 1944
COMINCH did not agree, and, considering similarly meager results and even losses by other Q-ships, cancelled the entire Q-ship program. Big Horn was ordered to Boston, and arriving there on 17 January 1944, was transferred to the United States Coast GuardUnited States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
as USCGC Big Horn (WAO-124) to join Asterion
USS Asterion (AK-100)
USS Asterion was a Q-ship of the United States Navy named for Asterion, a star in the constellation Canes Venatici.-Civilian merchant ship:...
(AK-100) on weather-patrol duty in the North Atlantic, under the supervision of the United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
and manned by Coast Guard officers and crew. The ship was assigned to the 1st Naval District and operated out of Boston. Her main duty was to conduct 25-day patrols on the Coast Guard's mid-ocean weather stations and report on surface and aerial weather conditions. These reports were used to determine air-ferry routes across the Atlantic and to reroute shipping around storm concentrations. Because her antisubmarine equipment still remained intact, she could take offensive action if such opportunities presented themselves. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 22 January 1944.
Pacific Fleet, 1945
Although she kept her Coast Guard crew, Big Horn was returned to Navy control on 1 February 1945 and redesignated IX-207 two days later. Over the next five weeks, the ship was converted into an oil shuttle and storage vessel before departing for the Pacific on 11 March. After loading 84,000 barrels (13,400 m³) of oil at Aruba, Netherlands West Indies, on the 18th, she passed through the Panama CanalPanama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
on 21 March and reported to
the Service Force, Pacific Fleet, that same day.
Steaming west, Big Horn stopped at Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
in early April before sailing on to the Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
, where she anchored at Ulithi
Ulithi
Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...
on 1 May. Assigned to Service Squadron 10 (ServRon 10), the shuttle tanker carried oil to Kossol Roads
Kossol Roads
Kossol Roads, Palau is a large body of reef-enclosed water north of Babeldaob. During World War II, it was used by the United States Navy as the location of a floating resupply and repair base....
and Peleliu
Peleliu
Peleliu is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu forms, along with two small islands to its northeast, one of the sixteen states of Palau. It is located northeast of Angaur and southwest of Koror....
in the Western Carolines
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...
in early May before moving on to Tacloban in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
later in the month. Returning to Ulithi on 3 June, she loaded more oil and delivered it to Leyte on the 9th. Over the next eight weeks, Big Horn carried out three more of these shuttle missions from Ulithi to Leyte. The tanker sailed to Okinawa on 11 August and she was at that island on 15 August 1945, when her crew heard the news of the Japanese surrender.
Departing Okinawa on 29 September, Big Horn steamed to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, where she was assigned duty as a station tanker at Nagoya
Nagoya, Aichi
is the third-largest incorporated city and the fourth most populous urban area in Japan.Located on the Pacific coast in the Chūbu region on central Honshu, it is the capital of Aichi Prefecture and is one of Japan's major ports along with those of Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Yokohama, Chiba, and Moji...
on 3 October. She remained there through January 1946. After transferring her cargo of oil to Beagle
USS Beagle (IX-112)
USS Beagle , an Armadillo-class tanker designated an unclassified miscellaneous vessel, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the beagle, a breed of small, short-coated hunting hound. Her keel was laid down by California Shipbuilding Corporation, in Wilmington, California,...
(IX-112), the shuttle tanker got underway for home on 25 February. After a refueling stop at Pearl Harbor, she passed through the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
in early April and moored at Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, on 15 April.
Big Horn then proceeded to New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
. She was decommissioned on 6 May 1946, and her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 3 July 1946. Berthed at Orange, Texas
Orange, Texas
Orange is a city in Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 18,643. It is the county seat of Orange County, and is the easternmost city in Texas. Located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, it is part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur...
, the ship was subsequently delivered to the Maritime Commission for disposal on 22 November 1946.