Wreck of USCGC Jackson (WSC-142) | Second World War 1939-1945, military, shipwreck, United States Coast Guard, cutter (ship)

USA / North Carolina / Nags Head /
 Second World War 1939-1945, military, shipwreck, United States Coast Guard, cutter (ship)

Laid down in 1926 at the American Brown Boveri Electric Group in Camden, NJ, USCGC Jackson commissioned into US Coast Guard service in March 1927 and promptly joined the effort to combat smugglers and bootleggers of the US East Coast. Based out of USCG Station Boston as a member of the 1st US Coast Guard District, the Jackson performed her counter-smuggling duties through the end of prohibition after which she transferred to the Great Lakes and began operations out of US Coast Guard Station Rochester performing the traditional Coast Guard missions of search and rescue, fisheries patrols and maritime law enforcement.

Reassigned to USCG Station Norfolk in 1940 as part of the bolstering of US armed forces along the Eastern Seaboard as conditions in Europe steadily deteriorated, the Jackson and her crew were placed into the operational control of the US Navy following the outbreak of the Second World War and assigned to the Eastern Sea Frontier. Operating out of Norfolk for the next two years, the Jackson and her crew were assigned the highly dangerous duty of convoy escort and anti-submarine patrols along the U-Boat-infested waters of the US East and Gulf Coasts. Providing protection to countless ships transiting to and from the European and Pacific theatres in convoy, the Jackson also rescued shipwrecked sailors, assisted damaged and disabled vessels and hunted enemy submarines into the summer of 1944.

Stationed at Morehead City in early September 1944 as part of an Allied effort to counter an increased number of German Submarines operating off Cape Hatteras, the Jackson was ordered to join her sistership USCGC Bedloe on September 14th as she steamed to assist the torpedoed Liberty Ship SS George Ade off Cape Hatteras. Informed enroute that the cargo ship was under tow by the US Navy Tug USS Escape (ATR-6), both Cutters began to encounter rapidly deteriorating weather conditions and mounting seas as they neared their rendezvous point and began their escort of the disabled ship. Making painfully slow progress in the mounting seas, the crew’s aboard both Cutters could do little but watch as the towline between the Escape and George Ade parted over and over as the convoy passed over the treacherous Diamond Shoals in the early evening.

Struggling to maintain their position in the formation as stronger winds, larger seas and heavy rain squalls lashed the four ships, the Bedloe and Jackson soon lost visual contact with each other and their charges as darkness fell over the area. The presence of enemy Submarines in the area forced all ships to maintain strict radio silence as they proceeded Northward towards Norfolk, which did little to help the radar-less Cutters from maintaining their positions relative to the Escape and her tow, and within an hour of sunset both ships and crews were resolved to weather the storm rather than continue their escort. Within an hour of this decision, the Bedloe was swamped and sunk by heavy seas without so much as a distress call, allowing the crew aboard the Jackson to continue Northward unaware of their sisterships distress.

Aboard the Jackson, steadily mounting seas, wind and heavy rain was beginning to take its toll on the Cutter’s topside fittings and depth charge racks, prompting her Captain to attempt a move to seaward to better address the swell. As she made her way East, the ship was suddenly was carried high aloft on a large swell, then struck by a large short-period swell as she dove into the trough of the first. Rolling to 110 degrees, the Jackson’s crew was thrown about inside of their ship as she was overwashed, then slowly returned to an even keel. Before her dazed crew could resume their stations and perform damage checks, a third large wave lifted the Jackson high into the air, where her exposed broadside was caught by the howling wind with enough force to roll the ship to Port as she crashed down into the trough yet again. Capsizing briefly before completely overturning, many crew aboard the Jackson were still scrambling to get topside when a fourth large wave rolled over the ship and sank her at this location with four crew still aboard.

Of the 37 crewmen to safely abandon the Jackson into the storm-tossed seas, all but 20 succumbed to exposure or exhaustion in the following 58 hours they spent adrift on the Atlantic before rescue aircraft spotted the men and vectored in surface craft to assist. Only upon reaching shore did the surviving crew of the Jackson learn the similar fate of their sistership in what is now known as the Great Hurricane of 1944. Today, the wreck of the USCGC Jackson lies in 80ft of water roughly 8 miles Northeast from Oregon Inlet in two sections separated by 80ft, a testament to the vicious pounding she took while on the surface. Her Stern is sits upright on an even keel atop a sandy bottom, while her bow lies on its Starboard side. Both sections are subject to regular shoaling due to their location and shallow depth, but are a haven for marine life and have become a popular recreational dive site.

www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Jackson_1927.pdf
www.obxdive.com/2007pics/Jacksonpics.htm
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   35°53'27"N   75°26'9"W

Comments

  • Back in 1993 I was sent to dive on one of these wrecks because there was still ordnance. There was a lot of political turmoil and bad feelings between the government and local charter operators. I did however receive a tremendous level of cooperation from a charter operator who I recall being named Howser or Pledger. He took us out to do a survey dive and we found two depth charges still in the racks.... We came back and made a couple more dives with our navy boat. One of my guys picked up a camera from the wreck and I mailed it to the USCG historian. For people looking to perform archeology (stealing) from government vessels: Its not yours to take. U.S. and Confederate ships remain as U.S. government property and are not normally subjected to salvage claims.
  • Duggie Pledged, Sea Fox
This article was last modified 13 years ago