Three Gun Salad
Empty powder cases lay strewn on the deck under the 5"/38 gun mount of the USCGC Androscoggin WHEC 68. Directly aft on the O1 deck the 81mm mortar and .50 caliber machine guns point off the port side. The 81mm mortar was used for illumination but unlike the Coast Guard patrol boats in Vietnam the large cutters did not use the 81mm/.50 cal "piggyback" version although it was a Coast Guard innovation. (Photo donated by former Seaman Michael Donnell, USCG)

Swing It On and Stack It .

Androscoggin receives 5"/38 projectiles during an UNREP off Vietnam. With only limited space on the foc'sle the pallets of projectiles are stowed prior to striking below. Depending on the number of fire missions this evolution could take place every three days. (Photos donated by former Seaman Michael Donnell, USCG)

We Wore it Out

Gunner's Mates re-gun the 5"/38 gun mount on board the USCGC Androscoggin WHEC 68 at Subic Bay. This gun had fired 4, 147 rounds. (Photo donated by former Seaman Michael Donnell, USCG)

Humpin' Below.
Seaman Apprentice Richard Smith (right) handed down a 55-pound 5"/38 projectile to Seaman Apprentice Robert P. Hanner who lowers it to the next man on the ladder.
(Photo donated by former Seaman Michael Donnell, USCG)

Representative Hanner today is a member of the Georgia Legislature and represents Georgia House District 148.

Sometimes Ya Gotta Do It Yourself

Boarding party returns to the USCGC Androscoggin WHEC 68.
(Photo donated by former Seaman Michael Donnell, USCG)

Andy's Score

The USCGC Androscoggin WHEC 68 displays her score on the side of her 5"/38 gun mount.
(Photo donated by former Seaman Michael Donnell, USCG)

SN Mike Donnell humpin' a .50 caliber Browning Machine Gun, M2, HB.
(Photo donated by former Seaman Michael Donnell, USCG).

Gone In a Flash!


On March 1, 1968, Androscoggin with two Coast Guard WPBs, Point Welcome and Point Grey, and U. S. Navy PCFs 18 and 20 challenged a trawler attempting to smuggle arms and supplies to the communist forces in South Vietnam. The resulting mortar fire from the WPBs and PCFs caused the explosion and immediate extermination of the infiltrators. Ensign Milton Rose, Gunnery Officer, holds the largest piece recovered from the trawler--a piece of a hatch cover.

Welcome Relief The CGC Point Banks comes alongside USCGC Androscoggin WHEC 68 during its Vietnam tour 1967-68. The "Andy" as did other cutters, served as a "mother ship" to Coast Guard and Navy patrol craft. This was particularly important to the USN PCFs (Swifts) because these craft had no permanent berthing or messing facilities. AND THE REAL WELCOME RELIEF The CGC Point Welcome (WPB 82329) rides easily along side north of Da Nang. These meetings allowed time for old shipmates to swap stories and break the tedium of patrols.
(USCG Photo. Androscoggin Deployment Book p. 78 and Michael Donnell)

Old Girls Need More Paint
USCGC Androscoggin WHEC 68. in the graves at Yokosuka, Japan. She shows the wear and tear of a patrol cutter.
(Photo donated by former Seaman Michael Donnell, USCG)