NORTH STAR 1932
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2015 8:30 pm
The expeditions of Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd to Antarctica are well known, but many may not know there was a direct connection to Pitcairn Island as well. WWII was 3 months old. Ships with goods to sustain Pitcairn were not calling because of the perceived danger or the need to be elsewhere. So when the USMS North Star, headed to Antarctica, stopped at Pitcairn for much-needed water on 13-14 December 1939, it was a welcome sight as the ship also had much needed supplies it was willing to share. Part of the sustenance bound for the Bay of Whales was beached at Bounty Bay -- 4,000 pounds each of flour and sugar, 10 crates of both potatoes and lard cases, 10 gross of matches, a barrel of gasoline and five gallons of lubricating oil. The North Star later replenished its stores in New Zealand.
While some expedition members toiled conveying the larder, and others tended to the islanders' medical and communications equipment needs, 3 senior expedition members prepared to document the visitation in postal history. Richard B. Black; MD Alfred B. Geyer and expedition recorder Roger Hawthorne (see below) are credited with designing an intricate pictorial cachet (see cover) which was reproduced by mimeograph. Several proofs were made on the left side of un-imprinted government letter-size envelopes, one of which was "approved" for production by Admiral Byrd. The North Star was also carrying an important piece of equipment to be tested in Antarctica. The "Snow Cruiser" (built at the Pullman Company at a cost of $150,000) was doomed to be an eventual failure, but at this point, it was being heavily promoted. In fact, the Armour Institute, which developed the "Snow Cruiser," partnered with the Fidelity Stamp Company to produce philatelic covers commemorating its use in the Antarctic. So in fact, there were two different philatelic covers commemorating the North Star visit to Pitcairn. The "Snow Cruiser" cover is known to have been cancelled on the island as well as the North Star cachet. Personnel associated with the Armour Institute used that envelope for posting at Pitcairn rather than the North Star cachet. There were 794 North Star covers created on the mimeograph. Each North Star member received 10 cacheted envelopes. There were 77 USASE personnel present, and that would account for almost all of the covers. Several were also retained for "official" use, being addressed to senior officers. Not many postage stamps were available at the Pitcairn post office for franking the more than 550 envelopes cancelled there on December 14. The postage shortfall resulted in Postmaster Richard Edgar Christian initialling the cancellation to certify their prepayment. Some North Star covers were carried on for posting at Rapa Island on December 17. Thus the expedition, which left on December 14, was responsible for two of the most desirable Pitcairn covers. Today, both covers sell for hundreds of US dollars, and while they are scarce (especially the "Snow Cruiser" covers), there are many varieties, signatures, postings, etc. being studied by specialists.
Background
By the late 1930's the US government was becoming aware that interest in the Antarctic regions was gaining popular public momentum due to the successful earlier expeditions of Byrd. President Franklin D. Roosevelt took an active role in creating the United States Antarctic Service and pushed for more Antarctic expeditions, one by Richard B. Black and Finn Ronne, and the other by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, to be coordinated to form the US Antarctic Service Expedition.
Byrd’s plans for a third expedition to the Antarctic, like the first two expeditions, was to be privately funded. Late in 1938 Byrd became aware of the government’s position and decided to cancel plans for his private expedition and join ranks with the government. With his extensive knowledge of the area he was accepted as the leader and was to be actively involved with the planning and organisation of the expedition. Although a US Government sponsored expedition, additional support was needed from donations and gifts by private citizens, corporations and institutions. The objectives of the 1939-1941 Expedition were outlined in an order from President Roosevelt dated Nov. 25, 1939. The President wanted two bases to be established: East Base, in the vicinity of Charcot Island or Alexander Island and West Base, in the vicinity of King Edward VII Land, but if this proved impossible, a site on the Bay of Whales at or near Little America was to be investigated. Two ships with 125 crew and 4 aircraft were used by the expedition. One was Admiral Byrd's old ship, the BEAR OF OAKLAND, and the second the USMS NORTH STAR which was a 1434-ton wooden ice ship. Their journey to the Antarctica included Boston – Philadelphia – Norfolk (Virginia) – Balboa (Canal Zone) - Pitcairn Island – Rapa Island (French Polynesia) – Wellington – Dunedin – Antarctica.
The Snow Cruiser
This motorized monster was 55 feet long and 20 feet wide, with sled runners attached to its bottom. With the wheels extended, it was 16 feet high. Inside the machine were 4 bunks, scientific and photographic laboratories, a radio room, a chart room and a galley. Twin 150-horsepower diesel engines were connected to generators which in turn supplied power for the 75-horsepower electric motor that drove each wheel. The rubber tyres were 10 feet in diameter. When a downgrade was reached, the wheels could be retracted allowing the Snow Cruiser to toboggan down the incline. Incredibly, the machine was designed to cross crevasses up to 15 feet in width by raising the front wheels while the rear wheels powered the cruiser half way across the gap, followed by a retraction of the rear wheels and a lowering of the front which then pulled the machine the rest of the way. The Beechcraft monoplane was mounted on skis and designed to be carried on top of the Snow Cruiser for aerial reconnaissance and exploration within a radius of 300 miles. Enough food for a year could be stored inside, along with 2500 gallons of diesel fuel, enough for 5000 miles of travel, and 1000 gallons of aviation fuel. The Snow Cruiser was designed for a maximum speed of 30 miles per hour on a flat, hard surface. She could climb grades of 37%, turn in its own length and move sideways at a 25° angle. View the Snow Cruiser’s infamous arrival visit here.
http://www.stamps.gov.pn/ByrdExpeditionVisit.html
The vessel depict on this set of stamps is the NORTH STAR. Named after the star of the northern hemisphere toward which the axis of the earth very nearly points, and which accordingly seems almost stationary in the sky.
Built as a wooden hulled passenger-cargo supply vessel by Berg Shipbuilding Comp. at Blaine near Seattle, Was. For the USA Government (Dept. of Interior).
14 March 1931 ordered.
18 January 1932 launched as the NORTH STAR.
Displacement 1,435 light, 1,858 full load, dim. 68.58 x 12.95 x 5.7m. (draught) length bpp. 66.29m.
Powered by one oil engine manufactured by McIntosh Seymour, 1,500 hp, one shaft, speed 10.5 knots.
Accommodation for 38 passengers.
Cargo capacity 2,600 ton general cargo and reefer space to carry 1,300 reindeer carcasses.
Strengthened bow to operate in ice.
May 1932 completed.
After completing used to carry during the summer months supplies, teachers, doctors and nurses and equipment from Seattle to the remote settlements on the Alaskan coast and adjacent islands as far north as Point Barrow. On her return voyage she brought home teachers, doctors and nurses whose term of service had expired, and reindeer meat what the Eskimo’s wanted to sell in Seattle.
Her first sailing was in May or June 1932 from Seattle to Alaska.
After she completed her 1939 Alaskan summer voyage she was loaned out to Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd to participate in his third expedition to Antarctic. Two ships were used in this expedition the NORTH STASR and BEAR, the BEAR history you can find: http://www.shipstamps.co.uk/forum/viewt ... f=2&t=9516
The objectives of the Expedition were outlined in an order from President Franklin D. Roosevelt dated November 25, 1939. The President wanted two bases to be established: East Base, in the vicinity of Charcot Island or Alexander I Land, or on Marguerite Bay if no accessible site could be found on either of the specified islands; and West Base, in the vicinity of King Edward VII Land, but if this proved impossible, a site on the Bay of Whales at or near Little America was to be investigated, and delineation of the continental coast line between the meridians 72 degrees W., and 148 degrees W. In view of the broad scope of the objectives and the unpredictable circumstances that always arise in Antarctica, it is remarkable that most of the objectives set for them were met.
15 November 1939 the NORTH STAR sailed from Boston under command of Captain Isak Lystad for the Antarctic made a call at Philadelphia were two airplanes were taken on board, then via the Panama Canal, where Admiral Byrd joined the NORTH STAR in Balboa and via a stop at Pitcairn Island on 13/14 December Eastern Island 17 December, she headed for New Zealand arriving on 27 December in Wellington.
03 January 1940 she sailed from New Zealand bound for the Ross Sea, making a call in the Bay of Whales were the West Base was established on 12 January 1940.
24 January all cargo was unloaded and the NORTH STAR sailed for Valparaiso. Chile to pick up additional supplies, prefabricated buildings and a Navy twin engine Curtiss-Wright Condor plane.
East Base was established at Stonington Island, and the NORTH STAR unloaded her last cargo there on 20 March and she sailed the next morning via Punta Arenas, Chile for Seattle.
After arrival Seattle she resumed her regular service to Alaska.
11 December 1940 after her Alaska voyage she sailed from Seattle to make another voyage to the Antarctic.
Due to World War II the two American Antarctic stations the year before opened were closed down. The NORTH STAR and BEAR were send again to Antarctic waters to take back to the USA, equipment and personnel from this basis. The NORTH STAR made a call at Pago Pago, American Samoa and Dunedin in New Zealand before she sailed to the Antarctic.
24 January 1941 she arrived in the Bay of Wales, taken on board personnel and some equipment and on 15 March she got orders to proceed to Punta Arenas for supplies for the BEAR who stayed behind to evacuate personnel of the East Base, with the change that she was frozen in. The supplies were not necessary the BEAR managed to get the other base evacuated before frozen in.
From Punta Arenas the NORTH STAR set sail for Seattle but during the voyage she got orders to proceed to Boston where she arrived on 05 May 1941.
Under Coast Guard command she was given the pennant No WPG-59. Displacement 2,200 ton, with a crew of 105. Armament: 2 – 3”/50cal. Guns, 6 – 20mm AA guns and two depth charge racks.
The Coast Guard Cutter NORTH STAR was originally built as a wooden cruising cutter for the Department of the Interior at Seattle, Wash. in 1932. She commissioned as a Coast Guard cutter 15 May 1941 and steamed to the East Coast, where she was placed on duty with the Navy.
She became part of the Northeast Greenland Patrol 1 July 1941. This patrol was formed against the violent background of the Battle of the Atlantic, during which the Royal Navy was valiantly attempting to guard the huge volume of shipping in the North Atlantic.
The Northeast Greenland Patrol, Comdr. Edward H. ("Iceberg") Smith, USCG, in command was organized at Boston and consisted of cutters NORTHLAND and BEAR, in addition to NORTH STAR. The South Greenland Patrol, consisting of cutters MODOC, COMANCHE and RARITAN, together with ex-Coast and Geodetic Survey ship BOWDOIN was consolidated with the Northeast Patrol by October 1941 and the whole was designated the Greenland Patrol.
The assignment of the Greenland Patrol consisted of "a little bit of everything--the Coast Guard is used to that." Thus convoy routes were kept open; ice was broken and leads were found through it for the Greenland convoys; ships were escorted; survivors of submarine attacks were rescued; aids to navigation were constructed and maintained; weather and ice conditions were reported; and air and surface patrols were maintained.
Additionally the patrol craft were directed to seekout and destroy Nazi weather and radio stations, to conduct regional oceanographic surveys, to maintain communications, to supply settlements, and to perform rescue missions. "These duties," writes Morison, "the Coast Guard preformed with exemplary fortitude and faithfulness throughout the war."
A highlight of cutter NORTH STAR’s work with the Greenland Patrol was the assistance she rendered in the 12 September 1941 seizure of the Norwegian trawler BUSKOE, which was controlled by German interests for the purpose of servicing Nazi radio and weather stations in Greenland. The captured trawler and her crew and passengers were taken to Boston, Mass. for internment.
With the official declaration of war 8 December 1941, NORTH STAR remained on station with the Greenland Patrol. She was especially useful in providing services to east Greenland stations between 13 August and 23 September 1942. She was attacked by a Nazi reconnaissance plane north of Jan Mayen Island 23 July 1943. The plane withdrew from the engagement and trailed heavy black smoke as it disappeared over the horizon. NORTH STAR also investigated the German camp at Sabine Island, East Greenland 31 August.
Effective 15 December 1943, classification of NORTH STAR was changed to IX-148. She was officially transferred from the Coast Guard to the Navy, assigned to the First Naval District at Boston 13 January 1944, and placed in reduced commission. Next assigned to the Fourth Naval District, she departed Boston 3 May to assume new duties in connection with the care and preservation of inactive vessels.
She returned to the Thirteenth Naval District in February 1945 for temporary duty pending return to the Department of the Interior. NORTH STAR decommissioned at Seattle, Wash. 15 June and was turned over to the Department of the Interior 18 June. She was struck from the Navy List 11 July.
http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/guard/wpg59.htm
Again used in the Seattle to Alaska service but was quickly found too small for the service and in 1949 replaced by a larger vessel.
1951 Sold to Western Boat Building Co, Tacoma, USA and refitted in a fishing vessel, not renamed.
1956 Sold to North Star Fisheries, Seattle and later the same year to August P. Mardesich, Tacoma, not renamed.
1968 Sold to Coldberg Transport Co., Long Beach, USA, not renamed.
1971 Deleted from Lloyds Registry in 1991.
Pitcairn Island 2014 $1/2.80 sg?, scott?
Source: US Navy Auxiliary Ships: North Star (IX-148). http://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz Internet.
While some expedition members toiled conveying the larder, and others tended to the islanders' medical and communications equipment needs, 3 senior expedition members prepared to document the visitation in postal history. Richard B. Black; MD Alfred B. Geyer and expedition recorder Roger Hawthorne (see below) are credited with designing an intricate pictorial cachet (see cover) which was reproduced by mimeograph. Several proofs were made on the left side of un-imprinted government letter-size envelopes, one of which was "approved" for production by Admiral Byrd. The North Star was also carrying an important piece of equipment to be tested in Antarctica. The "Snow Cruiser" (built at the Pullman Company at a cost of $150,000) was doomed to be an eventual failure, but at this point, it was being heavily promoted. In fact, the Armour Institute, which developed the "Snow Cruiser," partnered with the Fidelity Stamp Company to produce philatelic covers commemorating its use in the Antarctic. So in fact, there were two different philatelic covers commemorating the North Star visit to Pitcairn. The "Snow Cruiser" cover is known to have been cancelled on the island as well as the North Star cachet. Personnel associated with the Armour Institute used that envelope for posting at Pitcairn rather than the North Star cachet. There were 794 North Star covers created on the mimeograph. Each North Star member received 10 cacheted envelopes. There were 77 USASE personnel present, and that would account for almost all of the covers. Several were also retained for "official" use, being addressed to senior officers. Not many postage stamps were available at the Pitcairn post office for franking the more than 550 envelopes cancelled there on December 14. The postage shortfall resulted in Postmaster Richard Edgar Christian initialling the cancellation to certify their prepayment. Some North Star covers were carried on for posting at Rapa Island on December 17. Thus the expedition, which left on December 14, was responsible for two of the most desirable Pitcairn covers. Today, both covers sell for hundreds of US dollars, and while they are scarce (especially the "Snow Cruiser" covers), there are many varieties, signatures, postings, etc. being studied by specialists.
Background
By the late 1930's the US government was becoming aware that interest in the Antarctic regions was gaining popular public momentum due to the successful earlier expeditions of Byrd. President Franklin D. Roosevelt took an active role in creating the United States Antarctic Service and pushed for more Antarctic expeditions, one by Richard B. Black and Finn Ronne, and the other by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, to be coordinated to form the US Antarctic Service Expedition.
Byrd’s plans for a third expedition to the Antarctic, like the first two expeditions, was to be privately funded. Late in 1938 Byrd became aware of the government’s position and decided to cancel plans for his private expedition and join ranks with the government. With his extensive knowledge of the area he was accepted as the leader and was to be actively involved with the planning and organisation of the expedition. Although a US Government sponsored expedition, additional support was needed from donations and gifts by private citizens, corporations and institutions. The objectives of the 1939-1941 Expedition were outlined in an order from President Roosevelt dated Nov. 25, 1939. The President wanted two bases to be established: East Base, in the vicinity of Charcot Island or Alexander Island and West Base, in the vicinity of King Edward VII Land, but if this proved impossible, a site on the Bay of Whales at or near Little America was to be investigated. Two ships with 125 crew and 4 aircraft were used by the expedition. One was Admiral Byrd's old ship, the BEAR OF OAKLAND, and the second the USMS NORTH STAR which was a 1434-ton wooden ice ship. Their journey to the Antarctica included Boston – Philadelphia – Norfolk (Virginia) – Balboa (Canal Zone) - Pitcairn Island – Rapa Island (French Polynesia) – Wellington – Dunedin – Antarctica.
The Snow Cruiser
This motorized monster was 55 feet long and 20 feet wide, with sled runners attached to its bottom. With the wheels extended, it was 16 feet high. Inside the machine were 4 bunks, scientific and photographic laboratories, a radio room, a chart room and a galley. Twin 150-horsepower diesel engines were connected to generators which in turn supplied power for the 75-horsepower electric motor that drove each wheel. The rubber tyres were 10 feet in diameter. When a downgrade was reached, the wheels could be retracted allowing the Snow Cruiser to toboggan down the incline. Incredibly, the machine was designed to cross crevasses up to 15 feet in width by raising the front wheels while the rear wheels powered the cruiser half way across the gap, followed by a retraction of the rear wheels and a lowering of the front which then pulled the machine the rest of the way. The Beechcraft monoplane was mounted on skis and designed to be carried on top of the Snow Cruiser for aerial reconnaissance and exploration within a radius of 300 miles. Enough food for a year could be stored inside, along with 2500 gallons of diesel fuel, enough for 5000 miles of travel, and 1000 gallons of aviation fuel. The Snow Cruiser was designed for a maximum speed of 30 miles per hour on a flat, hard surface. She could climb grades of 37%, turn in its own length and move sideways at a 25° angle. View the Snow Cruiser’s infamous arrival visit here.
http://www.stamps.gov.pn/ByrdExpeditionVisit.html
The vessel depict on this set of stamps is the NORTH STAR. Named after the star of the northern hemisphere toward which the axis of the earth very nearly points, and which accordingly seems almost stationary in the sky.
Built as a wooden hulled passenger-cargo supply vessel by Berg Shipbuilding Comp. at Blaine near Seattle, Was. For the USA Government (Dept. of Interior).
14 March 1931 ordered.
18 January 1932 launched as the NORTH STAR.
Displacement 1,435 light, 1,858 full load, dim. 68.58 x 12.95 x 5.7m. (draught) length bpp. 66.29m.
Powered by one oil engine manufactured by McIntosh Seymour, 1,500 hp, one shaft, speed 10.5 knots.
Accommodation for 38 passengers.
Cargo capacity 2,600 ton general cargo and reefer space to carry 1,300 reindeer carcasses.
Strengthened bow to operate in ice.
May 1932 completed.
After completing used to carry during the summer months supplies, teachers, doctors and nurses and equipment from Seattle to the remote settlements on the Alaskan coast and adjacent islands as far north as Point Barrow. On her return voyage she brought home teachers, doctors and nurses whose term of service had expired, and reindeer meat what the Eskimo’s wanted to sell in Seattle.
Her first sailing was in May or June 1932 from Seattle to Alaska.
After she completed her 1939 Alaskan summer voyage she was loaned out to Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd to participate in his third expedition to Antarctic. Two ships were used in this expedition the NORTH STASR and BEAR, the BEAR history you can find: http://www.shipstamps.co.uk/forum/viewt ... f=2&t=9516
The objectives of the Expedition were outlined in an order from President Franklin D. Roosevelt dated November 25, 1939. The President wanted two bases to be established: East Base, in the vicinity of Charcot Island or Alexander I Land, or on Marguerite Bay if no accessible site could be found on either of the specified islands; and West Base, in the vicinity of King Edward VII Land, but if this proved impossible, a site on the Bay of Whales at or near Little America was to be investigated, and delineation of the continental coast line between the meridians 72 degrees W., and 148 degrees W. In view of the broad scope of the objectives and the unpredictable circumstances that always arise in Antarctica, it is remarkable that most of the objectives set for them were met.
15 November 1939 the NORTH STAR sailed from Boston under command of Captain Isak Lystad for the Antarctic made a call at Philadelphia were two airplanes were taken on board, then via the Panama Canal, where Admiral Byrd joined the NORTH STAR in Balboa and via a stop at Pitcairn Island on 13/14 December Eastern Island 17 December, she headed for New Zealand arriving on 27 December in Wellington.
03 January 1940 she sailed from New Zealand bound for the Ross Sea, making a call in the Bay of Whales were the West Base was established on 12 January 1940.
24 January all cargo was unloaded and the NORTH STAR sailed for Valparaiso. Chile to pick up additional supplies, prefabricated buildings and a Navy twin engine Curtiss-Wright Condor plane.
East Base was established at Stonington Island, and the NORTH STAR unloaded her last cargo there on 20 March and she sailed the next morning via Punta Arenas, Chile for Seattle.
After arrival Seattle she resumed her regular service to Alaska.
11 December 1940 after her Alaska voyage she sailed from Seattle to make another voyage to the Antarctic.
Due to World War II the two American Antarctic stations the year before opened were closed down. The NORTH STAR and BEAR were send again to Antarctic waters to take back to the USA, equipment and personnel from this basis. The NORTH STAR made a call at Pago Pago, American Samoa and Dunedin in New Zealand before she sailed to the Antarctic.
24 January 1941 she arrived in the Bay of Wales, taken on board personnel and some equipment and on 15 March she got orders to proceed to Punta Arenas for supplies for the BEAR who stayed behind to evacuate personnel of the East Base, with the change that she was frozen in. The supplies were not necessary the BEAR managed to get the other base evacuated before frozen in.
From Punta Arenas the NORTH STAR set sail for Seattle but during the voyage she got orders to proceed to Boston where she arrived on 05 May 1941.
Under Coast Guard command she was given the pennant No WPG-59. Displacement 2,200 ton, with a crew of 105. Armament: 2 – 3”/50cal. Guns, 6 – 20mm AA guns and two depth charge racks.
The Coast Guard Cutter NORTH STAR was originally built as a wooden cruising cutter for the Department of the Interior at Seattle, Wash. in 1932. She commissioned as a Coast Guard cutter 15 May 1941 and steamed to the East Coast, where she was placed on duty with the Navy.
She became part of the Northeast Greenland Patrol 1 July 1941. This patrol was formed against the violent background of the Battle of the Atlantic, during which the Royal Navy was valiantly attempting to guard the huge volume of shipping in the North Atlantic.
The Northeast Greenland Patrol, Comdr. Edward H. ("Iceberg") Smith, USCG, in command was organized at Boston and consisted of cutters NORTHLAND and BEAR, in addition to NORTH STAR. The South Greenland Patrol, consisting of cutters MODOC, COMANCHE and RARITAN, together with ex-Coast and Geodetic Survey ship BOWDOIN was consolidated with the Northeast Patrol by October 1941 and the whole was designated the Greenland Patrol.
The assignment of the Greenland Patrol consisted of "a little bit of everything--the Coast Guard is used to that." Thus convoy routes were kept open; ice was broken and leads were found through it for the Greenland convoys; ships were escorted; survivors of submarine attacks were rescued; aids to navigation were constructed and maintained; weather and ice conditions were reported; and air and surface patrols were maintained.
Additionally the patrol craft were directed to seekout and destroy Nazi weather and radio stations, to conduct regional oceanographic surveys, to maintain communications, to supply settlements, and to perform rescue missions. "These duties," writes Morison, "the Coast Guard preformed with exemplary fortitude and faithfulness throughout the war."
A highlight of cutter NORTH STAR’s work with the Greenland Patrol was the assistance she rendered in the 12 September 1941 seizure of the Norwegian trawler BUSKOE, which was controlled by German interests for the purpose of servicing Nazi radio and weather stations in Greenland. The captured trawler and her crew and passengers were taken to Boston, Mass. for internment.
With the official declaration of war 8 December 1941, NORTH STAR remained on station with the Greenland Patrol. She was especially useful in providing services to east Greenland stations between 13 August and 23 September 1942. She was attacked by a Nazi reconnaissance plane north of Jan Mayen Island 23 July 1943. The plane withdrew from the engagement and trailed heavy black smoke as it disappeared over the horizon. NORTH STAR also investigated the German camp at Sabine Island, East Greenland 31 August.
Effective 15 December 1943, classification of NORTH STAR was changed to IX-148. She was officially transferred from the Coast Guard to the Navy, assigned to the First Naval District at Boston 13 January 1944, and placed in reduced commission. Next assigned to the Fourth Naval District, she departed Boston 3 May to assume new duties in connection with the care and preservation of inactive vessels.
She returned to the Thirteenth Naval District in February 1945 for temporary duty pending return to the Department of the Interior. NORTH STAR decommissioned at Seattle, Wash. 15 June and was turned over to the Department of the Interior 18 June. She was struck from the Navy List 11 July.
http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/guard/wpg59.htm
Again used in the Seattle to Alaska service but was quickly found too small for the service and in 1949 replaced by a larger vessel.
1951 Sold to Western Boat Building Co, Tacoma, USA and refitted in a fishing vessel, not renamed.
1956 Sold to North Star Fisheries, Seattle and later the same year to August P. Mardesich, Tacoma, not renamed.
1968 Sold to Coldberg Transport Co., Long Beach, USA, not renamed.
1971 Deleted from Lloyds Registry in 1991.
Pitcairn Island 2014 $1/2.80 sg?, scott?
Source: US Navy Auxiliary Ships: North Star (IX-148). http://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz Internet.