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USS PCS-1405

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USS PCS-1405 in San Francisco Bay, California, c. 1945-46
History
United States Navy
NameUSS PC-1405
BuilderGreenport Basin and Construction Company, Greenport, New York
Laid down1 May 1943
RenamedUSS PCS-1405, April 1943
ReclassifiedPatrol craft sweeper (PCS), April 1943
Launched21 August 1943
Commissioned1 February 1944
DecommissionedAugust 1946
StrickenFebruary 1947
FateTransferred to U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 3 October 1946
History
U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey
NameUSC&GS Bowie (CSS 27)
NamesakeCaptain William Bowie (1872–1940), U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps officer
Acquired3 October 1946
Commissioned3 October 1946
Decommissioned1 February 1967
FateSold 1967
General characteristics
Class and typePCS-1376-class minesweeper
Displacement245 tons light; 338 tons full load
Length136 ft (41 m)
Beam24 ft 6 in (7.47 m)
Draft8 ft 7 in (2.62 m)
Propulsion
Speed14.1 knots (26.1 km/h)
Complement57
Armament

USS PCS-1405 was a United States Navy minesweeper in commission from 1944 to 1946. She saw service in the latter stages of World War II.

After her Navy service, she was transferred to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, where she saw service as the coastal survey ship USC&GS Bowie (CSS 27) from 1946 to 1967.

Construction and commissioning

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The ship was laid down as PC-1405 on 1 May 1943 by the Greenport Basin and Construction Company in Greenport, New York. Reclassified as a "patrol craft sweeper" (PCS) in April 1943 and redesignated PCS-1405, she was launched on 21 August 1943 and commissioned as USS PCS-1405 on 1 February 1944.[1]

United States Navy service

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PCS-1450 made a shakedown cruise in the Caribbean Sea, then operated between southern Florida, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a patrol and escort ship until June 1945. She then was transferred to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where she served until February 1946 before returning to the United States.[1]

After undergoing conversion into a survey ship, PCS-1405 was decommissioned in August 1946 and transferred to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey the same month. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in February 1947.[1]

United States Coast and Geodetic Survey service

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The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey commissioned the vessel on 3 October 1946[2] as the coastal survey ship USC&GS Bowie (CSS 27).[1] Bowie served on hydrographic survey duties along the United States West Coast and in Alaska until 1 February 1967, when she was decommissioned.[2] She was sold in 1967.[1]

Fate

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Bowie's later fate is unclear. She was photographed as recently as 2003 as MV Bowie in Slatery Bay near Powell River, British Columbia, Canada.[1] As of at least 2005, an effort was underway to preserve her as an historic ship, billing her as the last surviving PCS-type ship.[3]

USC&GS Bowie (CSS 27) off San Francisco, California, with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f NavSource Online: Patrol Craft Sweeper Photo Archive: USC&GS Bowie (CSS 27) ex-USS PCS-1405
  2. ^ a b NOAA History: Coast and Geodetic Survey Ships: Bowie
  3. ^ "The MV Bowei - PCS 1405". Archived from the original on 2019-01-06.
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