Last updated: April 27, 2021
Place
USCGC Taney
Photo taken by Joe Ravi, 2011. CC-BY-SA 3.0
Quick Facts
Location:
Baltimore
Significance:
The only surviving warship present during the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941.
Designation:
National Historic Landmark
MANAGED BY:
Built in 1936, the USCGC Taney is a powerful warship that served in World War II. Conflict erupted December 7, 1941 when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, an American naval base in Hawaii. The USCGC Taney is the only surviving ship that was present at Pearl Harbor navy base that day. Berthed at Honolulu Harbor the morning of the attack, the USCGC Taney readied her guns and began firing at attacking Japanese planes. The following day, December 8, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan. Divided by the Pacific Ocean, both Japan and the United States relied on maritime vessels to move troops and to attack enemy ships.
A technological innovation at the time it was built, the USCGC Taney specialized in providing search and rescue services. The vessel also had many other responsibilities throughout the war. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the USCGC Taney remained in Honolulu to track and gather intelligence on Japanese vessels in the area.
In addition to Japan, the United States was also at war with Nazi Germany in the early 1940s. The USCGC Taney also fought against Germany in 1944, when the ship served as an ocean convoy escort. Traveling with other ships to the Mediterranean, the USCGC Taney rescued surviving soldiers fighting the Germans.
After decades of service, the ship was decommissioned in 1986. The USCGC Taney is a National Historic Landmark and is anchored in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. It is cared for by the Baltimore Maritime Museum.
Return to the Travel Baltimore main page.
Sources:
http://npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NHLS/Text/88001826.pdf
A project through the Save America's Treasures Grant Program, which helps preserve nationally significant historic properties and collections, funded work to restore and preserve the deteriorating hull of the Cutter Taney in 2000.