South Carolina Department of Archives and History
National Register Properties in South Carolina

C.G.C. Ingham, Charleston County
S1081771015401 S1081771015402 S1081771015403
Bow Starboard Bow Superstructure

The Secretary-class 327-foot Coast Guard Cutter Ingham, laid down and launched in 1935-36, is one of two surviving members of the seven-vessel class, the other being Taney, recognized for her wartime career in the Pacific, notably in her involvement in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Ingham alone represents the other six vessels of the class, all participants in the Battle of the Atlantic. Prior to entry in the war, Ingham patrolled the same waters as a member of the Neutrality patrol. Ingham is the last surviving warship to have served on the Neutrality patrol, a significant and early American naval response to the Second World War. Members of the Secretary class were critical participants in the combat response to the German U-Boat threat, Ingham escorted 17 convoys across the North Atlantic, sinking U-626 in 1942. The cutter was the last U.S. warship to sink a U-Boat during the war. Ingham then escorted 12 Mediterranean convoys and two Caribbean convoys, earning the Presidential Unit citation. It is the only Coast Guard ship to receive this honor. Ingham was then transferred to amphibious assault flagship duty in the Pacific, and spearheaded the liberation of Corregidor and other Philippine territory. After the war Ingham spent a long career at sea in weather patrol, search-and-rescue, and law enforcement activities that exemplify Coast Guard service. The cutter returned to combat in 1968-69 when she served off Vietnam in Operations Market Time, Swift Raider, and Sea Lords, again earning the Presidential Unit Citation. When decommissioned on May 27, 1988, Ingham was the oldest commissioned U.S. warship afloat. Listed in the National Register April 27, 1992; Designated a National Historic Landmark April 27, 1992. The C.G.C. Ingham was moved to Key West, Florida in 2009.

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