View source for USCGC Sebago (1930)

{{other ships|USCGC Sebago|HMS Walney}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=File:USCGC Sebago.jpg
|Ship caption=USCGC ''Sebago'' underway, pre-[[World War II]].
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United States|coast guard}}
|Ship name=USCGC ''Sebago''
|Ship namesake=[[Sebago Lake]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[General Engineering and Drydock Company]]
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=10 February 1930
|Ship commissioned=2 September 1930
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship fate=*Transferred to [[Royal Navy]]
*12 May 1941
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country={{nowrap|United Kingdom}}
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name=HMS ''Walney''
|Ship launched=10 February 1930
|Ship commissioned=  12 May 1941
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship identification=Y04
|Ship fate=Sunk during [[Operation Reservist]]
}}
{{Infobox|child=yes
| label1 = Sunk
| data1 = 8 November 1942
}}{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=
* {{sclass2|Lake|cutter||United States Coast Guard Cutter}} ([[USCG]])
* {{sclass|Banff|sloop|0}} [[sloop-of-war|sloop]] ([[Royal Navy|RN]])
|Ship displacement={{convert|2075|LT|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|250|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|42|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|12|ft|11|in|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=1 × [[General Electric]] turbine-driven {{convert|3350|shp|abbr=on|lk=in}} [[electric motor]], 2 [[boilers]]
|Ship speed=*{{convert|14.8|kn|abbr=on|lk=in}} cruising
*{{convert|17.5|kn|abbr=on}} maximum
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=97
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=
*1 × [[5"/51 caliber gun|5 inch gun]]
*1 × [[3"/50 caliber gun|3 inch gun]]
*2 × [[QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss#American service|6-pounder (57 mm)]]
|Ship armor=
|Ship cost = $900,000
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship aircraft facilities=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''USCGC ''Sebago''''' was a {{sclass2|Lake|cutter||USCG}} belonging to the [[United States Coast Guard]] launched on 12 April 1930 and commissioned on 2 October 1930.<ref name=USCG-Sebago>{{cite web|title=USCG Sebago|url=http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Sebago_1930.pdf|website=USCG|publisher=US Coast Guard|access-date=24 July 2015|date=17 November 2014}} {{Dead link|date=April 2018}}</ref> After 11 years of service with the Coast Guard, she was transferred to the [[Royal Navy]] as part of the [[Lend-Lease]] to the Allies and became '''HMS ''Walney'''''.

After some time on convoy escort duty, ''Walney'' was selected for [[Operation Reservist]] as part of [[Operation Torch|the Allied invasion of French North Africa]]. ''Walney'', together with ''[[USCGC Pontchartrain (1928)|Hartland]]'' were to break into [[Oran]] harbour and land troops that would take control of key facilities before they could be destroyed. She got into the harbour but was hit repeatedly by French guns. She just made to the jetty and survivors were able to get off but were subsequently captured, ''Walney'' then sank. Her captain, [[Frederick Thornton Peters]] was awarded the [[Victoria Cross]]<ref>{{London Gazette |issue= 36019|date=14 May 1943|page=2215|supp=y}}</ref> "for valour in taking H.M.S. Walney, in an
enterprise of desperate hazard into the harbour of Oran..." <!-- and the US Army's [[Distinguished Service Cross (United States)|Distinguished Service Cross]]? -->

== Career ==

=== Commissioning and Transfer ===
She was originally the [[United States Coast Guard Cutter]] ''Sebago'', a 250-foot {{sclass2|Lake|cutter||United States Coast Guard Cutter}}. She was commissioned into Coast Guard service on 2 September 1930, originally serving in New York and participating in several [[Coast Guard Academy]] cadet cruises before being reassigned to [[Norfolk, Virginia]].  She was renamed HMS ''Walney'' when commissioned into the Royal Navy on 12 May 1941 under the [[Lend-Lease]] Agreement.<ref>U.S. Coast Guard and Revenue Cutters, 1790-1935, Donald L. Canney, 1995, U.S. Naval Institute, {{ISBN|1-55750-101-7}}</ref>

=== With the convoys ===

[[File:HMS Walney.jpg|thumb|right|''Sebago'' in service as HMS ''Walney''.]]
''Walney'' joined the [[Londonderry Port|Londonderry]] Sloop Division in June, and was assigned to escort the passage of the [[Battle of the Atlantic|Atlantic convoys]].  In July she was deployed in the [[Western Approaches]] and on 24 July was deployed as part of the escort for a convoy from [[St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador|St. John's]], [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]] to the United Kingdom.  On 14 August ''Walney'' put into a [[Liverpool]] shipyard to undergo modifications to fit her for service as an escort.  She returned to the Western Approaches on 9 September and was transferred to the 41st Escort Group to help defend convoys between the United Kingdom and West Africa.  Her first deployment came a few days later on 12 September, when she was deployed as an escort for Convoy OS-6, consisting  of 29 merchants on passage to [[Banjul|Bathurst, Gambia]].  ''Walney'' was detached during the convoy's passage through the Atlantic, and joined [[HMS Hartland (Y00)|HMS ''Hartland'']] in escorting the merged convoys SL-88 from [[Freetown]] and HG-74 from [[Gibraltar]] to Liverpool.  This joint convoy comprised 37 ships.  She was detached from this convoy on 18 October and sailed to [[Belfast]].  She arrived on 20 October and underwent a refit.  On its completion on 31 October, ''Walney'' rejoined the 41st Group.

''Walney'' deployed again with ''Hartland'' on 7 November, when they escorted the 41 merchants of convoy OS-11 on their passage to Bathurst.  They were detached on arrival and sailed to Freetown.  By 30 November they were escorting the 29 merchants of convoy SL-94 from Freetown to Liverpool.  Again, after arriving in the UK on 20 December, ''Walney'' sailed for Belfast.  She arrived two days later on 22 December and underwent another refit, this time involving the fitting of [[Huff-Duff]] equipment.  She deployed again on 4 January, rejoining the [[Western Approaches Command]].  The following day she departed as an escort to Bathurst for the 56 merchants of convoy OS-16, and on arrival sailed to Freetown and together with ''Hartland'' departed on 27 January escorting the 26 merchants of convoy SL-99 to the UK.  Arriving on 16 February, she was under repair at Belfast from 17 February and resumed convoy escort duties on 26 February.

On 3 March ''Walney'' was involved in a minor collision with the {{SS|Empire Dolphin}}.  The ''Walney'' was damaged above the waterline, but remained operational.  She deployed the next day with the ''Hartland'' as an escort for the 54 merchants of convoy OS-21 on passage from West Africa to Liverpool.  She was detached after the arrival of the local escort at Freetown, and the two sloops escorted the 30 merchants of convoy SL-104 to Liverpool.  They arrived on 12 April, with ''Walney'' being detached to sail to [[Chatham Dockyard]].  She was under refit there from 20 April, which lasted until 10 July.  On the completion of refit trials she rejoined the 41st Group at Londonderry.  She was then assigned to escort the 40 merchants of convoy OS-32 to West Africa from Liverpool.  She was detached at Freetown on 8 July, and again with ''Hartland'', escorted the 33 merchants of convoy SL-116 back to the UK.  Again with ''Hartland'' she escorted convoy OS-38 to Africa, followed by the returning SL-122 back to Liverpool, arriving on 6 October.  During ''Walney''{{'}}s deployment, no merchants had been lost in transit through the Atlantic.  In recognition of her efforts, ''Walney'' was awarded the [[battle honour]] "Atlantic 1941–42".

=== Special duty ===
After her arrival in Londonderry, she was nominated for special duties during the planned North African landings ([[Operation Torch]]).  From 13 October she was prepared for the task of breaking into Oran harbour.  She sailed from the [[River Clyde|Clyde]] on 26 October, in company of the ''Hartland'', as part of the escort for the military convoy MKF-1 to Gibraltar.  On arrival in November, the two sloops embarked troops to carry out a landing inside the harbour ([[Operation Reservist]]).  The operation began on 8 November, but soon ran into trouble.  The ''Walney'', leading the ''Hartland'' into the harbour, came under heavy fire from French shore defences and warships.  She rammed the outer boom and then the inner one but was sunk. On board ''Walney'' at the time were 200 men of the American 2nd Battalion [[6th Armored Infantry Regiment]] and a 35-strong US Naval contingent, with six [[US Marines]].  The ''Walney'' was struck repeatedly by shells from the French sloop {{ship|French minesweeper|La Surprise||2}}, setting the ''Walney'' on fire and - after reaching the jetty - causing her finally to capsize.  Only 14 of her crew survived, one officer and 13 ratings.  81 of her crew and most of the troops being carried went down with the ship.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Helgason|first1=Guðmundur|title=HMS Walney (Y 04)|url=http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/48.html|website=uboat.net|access-date=24 July 2015}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of United States Coast Guard cutters]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

*[http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-16CGC-Walney.htm HMS Walney (Y 04) - ex-US Coast Guard Cutter]
{{Lake class cutters}}
{{March 1942 shipwrecks}}
{{November 1942 shipwrecks}}
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:USCGC ''Sebago'' (1930)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sebago (1930)}}
[[Category:Lake-class cutters]]
[[Category:Banff-class sloops]]
[[Category:Ships of the United States Coast Guard]]
[[Category:World War II sloops of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in March 1942]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in November 1942]]
[[Category:1930 ships]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by coastal artillery]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea]]