The Last Survivor Of Pearl Harbor

Brian Auer, the Ops Director at Historic Ships in Baltimore takes viewers for a tour of the last surviving ship from the attack on Pearl Harbor – the US Coast Guard Cutter 37.

USCG Cutter 37

This Treasury class Coast Guard Cutter was built in 1936, and her main significance is that she’s the last ship afloat that saw action during the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The ship is 327 ft. long and served from 1936 until 1986.

Her original armament was made up of two 5”/51 caliber deck guns and two 6-pounder saluting guns.

WWII Participation

During the eve of Pearl Harbor, Cutter 37 was assigned to the U.S. Navy’s Destroyer Division 80.

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, she was tied up at Pier 6, Honolulu as she repeatedly engaged with Japanese planes flying over the area.

After the attack subsided, she resumed anti-submarine patrol duties off-shore at Pearl Harbor.

Post WWII

After the war, Cutter 37 did peacetime duties from until 1972. When the Korean War broke, it got additional anti-submarine weapons and regularly did plane-guard duties off Midway Island and Adak, Alaska.

During the Vietnam War, Cutter 37 took part in “Operation Market Time.” She interdicted illegal arms and supplies, fired over 3,400 rounds of 5”/38 ammunition, and gave medical assistance to Vietnamese civilians.

Decommissioning

Outside her Pearl Harbor significance, she did all the other duties expected of a Coast Guard vessel- maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, and weather station duty.

After more than 50 years in service, Cutter 37 was finally decommissioned at Portsmouth, Virginia. She was then donated to the City of Baltimore where she served both as a memorial and a museum.