USCGC Northland (WPG-49)

USCGC Northland (WPG-49) circa 1929
History
United States
Owner:	U.S. Coast Guard
Builder:	Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation, Newport News, Virginia
Cost:	US$865,750
Laid down:	26 August 1926
Launched:	5 February 1927
Commissioned:	7 May 1927
Recommissioned:	1939
Decommissioned:	27 March 1946
Out of service:	1938–1939
Fate:	Sold 3 January 1947
General characteristics
Displacement:	2,150 tons, maximum
Length:	216 ft 7 in (66.01 m)
Beam:	38 ft 9 in (11.81 m)
Draft:	16 ft 9 in (16.8 ft) max
Installed power:	Main: 1 double-armature electric motor driven by 2 generators driven by 2 x 6-cylinder diesel engines. Auxiliary: Sail (1927–1936)
Propulsion:	single screw, 4 blades
Speed:	11.7 knots (1927)
Range:	12,000 nautical miles (22,000 km) @ 10 knots 18,800 nautical miles (34,800 km) @ 8.2 knots
Complement:	90 men, 17 officers (1927) 102 men, 18 officers (1945)
Sensors and processing systems:	Detection Radar: SC-1, SF Sonar: QCJ-3
Armament:	2 × 6-pounders, 1 x 1-pounder (1941) 2 × 3"/50 single mounts (1944) 2 × 3"/50 single mounts; 4 x 20mm/80 single mounts; 2 depth charge tracks; 2 Y guns (1945)
Aircraft carried:	1 × SOC-4 (1941) 1 × J2F-5 (1942–1944)

USCGC Northland (WPG-49) was a cruising class of gunboat especially designed for Arctic operations that served in World War II and later served in the Israeli Navy. She was the last cruising cutter built for the Coast Guard equipped with a sailing rig.

Northland was designed to be a replacement for the Arctic cutter Bear and was built at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation, Newport News, Virginia, launched 5 February 1927 and commissioned 7 May. She was 216.6 ft (66.0 m) long, had a maximum displacement of 2,150 tons, and had diesel-electric propulsion driving a single four blade screw. She was originally fitted with auxiliary sails utilizing yards, but they were removed and her tall masts were trimmed in 1936. She was structurally reinforced to withstand hull pressures of 100 psi and lined with cork for warmth. One feature used in the construction was the welding of the hull rather than riveting; this was done for strength and was not a common practice in 1926.

After a shakedown cruise, Northland was ordered to San Francisco, California on 7 June 1927. Her homeport was shifted to Seattle, Washington temporarily but she returned to San Francisco in November. On 8 June 1928 Northland arrived in Nome, Alaska to begin her first Bering Sea Patrol. Each May during the years 1929 through 1938 she began a patrol of the Bering Sea where she assisted in the performance of many governmental functions. For the Justice Department she enforced the law, apprehended criminals, and transported floating courts. She gathered military intelligence for the Navy Department, and carried mail for the Post Office Department. For the Interior Department, the cutter carried teachers to their posts, conducted sanitation inspections, and guarded timber and game. Northland surveyed coastlines and regional industries for the Department of Commerce and carried Public Health Service personnel to isolated villages, otherwise without medical service.