- City:
- Baltimore, MD
- Site Type:
- Military and Public Safety
- New Deal Agencies:
- Public Works Funding, Public Works Administration (PWA)
- Started:
- 1935
- Completed:
- 1936
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Taney, now a museum ship in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, was built in 1935-1936, with funds from the Public Works Administration. During World War II, the Taney was outfitted with extra weaponry and saw action in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of operation. She was also present during the Pearl Harbor invasion (docked in Honolulu Harbor), where she fired at enemy aircraft and disrupted an attack on a power plant. She is the last surviving ship that saw action on that infamous day. After World War II, the Taney returned to normal Coast Guard duties: Search & rescue, weather monitoring, and law enforcement. She also participated in operations during the Korean and Vietnam wars. The Taney was decommissioned in 1986, after a half-century of service and numerous awards. She was designated a National Historic Landmark on June 7, 1988.
The Taney was just one of dozens of vessels built with PWA funds that saw action during World War II (these ships included aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and other Coast Guard vessels). However, the Taney is one of the last remaining of these ships, and certainly the best preserved.
Source notes
“USCGC Taney,” Historic Ships in Baltimore, last accessed November 6, 2016 Correspondence with Paul Cora, Curator, Historic Ships in Baltimore, Sept. – Nov. 2015 "Taney, 1936,” U.S. Coast Guard, Historian’s Office, last accessed November 6, 2016 "Taney,” Naval History and Heritage Command, last accessed November 6, 2016 Treasury Department Appropriation Bill for 1936, Hearing Before the Subcommittee of House Committee on Appropriation, 74th Congress, First Session, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1935, p. 434. Federal Works Agency, Millions for Defense, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1940, p. 41. "National Historic Landmarks Program, List of National Historic Landmarks by State, July 2015", last accessed November 4, 2016Site originally submitted by Brent McKee on January 24, 2016.
Contribute to this Site
We welcome contributions of additional information on any New Deal site.
Submit More Information or Photographs for this New Deal SiteOne comment on “Coast Guard Cutter “Taney” – Baltimore MD”
Join the Conversation
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Please help us preserve this important example of Depression Era American industrial achievement in a vessel which was built as part of the New Deal, and served our Country in peace and war continuously from 1936 until 1986! Help us dry dock and preserve the historic United States Coast Guard Cutter TANEY by donating to this effort: https://www.historicships.org/TaneyHull.html