06/25/2026
Today we highlight the USCGC Papaw. Commissioned on October 12, 1943, she saw extensive duty during WWII as an aid to navigations systems for the captured islands in the Pacific. After the war, Papaw was assigned to the Florida Keys and the Caribbean assuming responsibility for navigational aid.
In 1954, Papaw was moved to Charleston, SC under the command of future Commandant of the Coast Guard RJ Papp. She maintained buoys, shore stations, and towers for the next 35 years where she then entered the Service Life Extension Program at the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay which is how we came to adorn the patch on our wall.
The Papaw was decommissioned on July 23, 1999, but is still in operation to this day as an emergency relief ship as part of the Friend Ships fleet, a non-profit organization, under the name F/V Mersea.