USCGC Mellon

USCGC Mellon (WHEC-717) shown with Harpoon missile launcher aft of the 76mm gun.
History
Builder	Avondale Shipyards
Laid down	July 25, 1966
Launched	February 11, 1967
Commissioned	January 9, 1968
Homeport	Seattle, Washington
Fate	Active
Status	To be decommissioned this 2012. To be transferred, most probably, to the Philippine Navy.
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.

Notable operational activities

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.

External links

Media related to USCGC Mellon (WHEC-717) at Wikimedia Commons

• USCGC Mellon Home Page

Mellon underway in the Bering Sea, 2001