Coast Guard District narrative histories 1945

SPECIAL BUOYS

RACONS (see following chapter) were primarily navigational aids for aircraft during the war years. However, since RADAR equipment was installed aboard Navy vessels, merchant ships, Coast Guard cutters and numerous other surface craft, it became another function of the Coast Guard to establish and maintain some sort of system to enable these ships to calibrate their RADAR equipment. A system of buoys equipped with targets or reflectors was developed by the Navy to furnish these vessels a means of testing their RADAR range and the alignment of the optical system with their RADAR antennae.

The first such buoy in the District established for the specific purpose of RADAR range calibration was placed in the west end of Dalco Passage in September, 1943. This buoy was installed at the request of the Seattle-Tacoma Shipyard and the Navy and was used mainly in the calibration of RADAR installations aboard newly constructed vessels. The buoy was an ordinary first class tall type can bearing no special equipment; it was in operation as long as the Seattle-Tacoma Shipyard was engaged in ship construction.

As the war progressed, the traffic of damaged vessels to the Puget Sound Navy Yard for repair, increased. The single buoy in Dalco Passage was found inadequate to meet calibration demands and its type was not entirely satisfactory. The need for additional RADAR calibration buoys was plainly evident due to the fact that RADAR installations aboard surface craft had also greatly increased. Using the regular first class can as a base, three more buoys, designed for RADAR calibration, were developed and located southeast of Blake Island. These buoys utilized the lighting equipment (Wallace and Tiernan) for use in can buoys and which had originally been purchased by the 13th Naval District for installation on Jefferson Point Degaussing Range. As buoys were stationed in waters through which towing vessels proceeding form the Tacoma-Olympia Area toward Seattle passed, small flags were installed to make the buoys more easily sighted by the towing boat operators. Although the buoys and lights were provided by the Coast Guard, the reflectors and additional floats were manufactured and installed by the Navy. The duty for maintaining the buoys and servicing the lights fall to the Coast Guard.

South of Willapa Bay, approximately 4 miles off the Washington Coast, a target buoy for aircraft RADAR calibration was placed on station in September, 1944. This target buoy was the only special buoy in the District not maintained for marine RADAR calibration alone. Installed temporarily at the request of the Naval Air Station, Astoria,

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the buoy remained in service for the duration of the war. The buoy was originally equipped with a flashing white light which was removed the following year, as the lantern was damaged in hoisting the buoy. Naval authorities recommended that the light be removed as it was not needed in the capacity in which the buoy was operating.

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(left) CONVERTED CAN BUOY WITH RE FLECTORS FOR RADAR CALIBRATION. RE FLECTORS INSTALLED BY NAVY ON COAST GUARD BUOY. THIS IS TYPE OF SPECIAL BUOY INSTALLED AT BLAKE ISLAND.

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(right) BLAKE ISLAND RADAR CALIBRA TION BUOY ON STATION. WALLACE AND TIERNAN LIGHTING EQUIPMENT AND RE FLECTORS INSTALLED ON REGULAR FIRST CLASS CAN. SMALL FLAG FACILITATED BUOY BEING SIGHTED MORE READILY BY TOWING BOAT OPERATORS.

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The Port Orchard Buoy No. 1, located in Sinclair Inlet, in Washington, was converted for RADAR calibration by the installation of special RADAR reflectors manufactured and installed by the Navy. These reflectors were so designed as to give a flat surface no matter in what position the buoy or ship might be. In order to limit the drift of the buoy, it was moored by three sinkers, each sinker having a mooring chain attached to a swivel at the bottom of the buoy. This arrangement cut down the normal drift to not more than five yards. This particular type of mooring was developed in the District to increase the stability of buoys for special stations.

In addition to the floating calibration units, three minor light structures were equipped with RADAR reflectors at Point Herron, Washington, Duwamish Head, Washington and Desdemona Sands, Oregon. These metal reflectors were mounted in the piling of the structure and therefore, did not change in the general appearance nor lessen the structures' effectiveness as aids to navigation. The installation at Desdemona Sands consisted of a metallic screen in two panels, each panel 8' by 8', forming an inverted "V". This screen was used for accurate orientation of the Army Service Craft Detector SCR-296 which was installed on Cape Disappointment. The reflector at Duwamish Head was requested by the Navy as necessary for five control RADAR calibration of ships in that area. The reflector there consisted of two cross metallic planes mounted on the piling underneath the lights. The reflector at Duwamish Head, Washington, proved most successful where a shore type reflector had previously failed to meet desired requirements.

In April, 1945, two of the three calibration targets and lighting equipment on the Blake Island RADAR calibration buoys were lost. The buoys were replaced by Coast Guard first class regular cans, equipped with 150mm lanterns. Due to the great depth of the water in that area, it was impossible to use chain as a mooring and consequently steel wire ropes were furnished by the Navy Yard for mooring. Dragging operations were carried out by Coast Guard tenders in an effort to recover the lost equipment, but the attempt was unsuccessful.

The last special purpose buoy to be installed, was a boresighting buoy requested by the Anti-Aircraft Training Center at Pacific Beach, Washington, and located 4,000 yards off the coast from the Station. Prior to the establishment of this buoy, a Coast Guard patrol craft from Grays Harbor, Washington, Had moored off the coast while the station's guns were being boresighted. The establishment of such a buoy not only facilitated the boresighting but also released

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the patrol boats for more appropriate duties. The buoy was a first class tall type nun, painted white and lettered "A".

The first four obstruction buoys to be established in the District were placed at the Entrance to Port Townsend, Washington, to mark the Navy Submarine net a year before the war. Shortly afterwards, the Navy also established a magnetic survey range at Port Townsend and requested the Coast Guard to provide and plant four ice spar buoys there; funds for the transaction were provided by the Navy. This particular type of buoy, the ice spar, was selected because of its availability in the District, its length and its ability to remain vertical during any stage of the tide. These buoys were authorized by Headquarters but were never installed here as the magnetic survey range was moved to Point Jefferson and they were placed on station in that area shortly after the outbreak of the war. All these buoys had a buoyancy chamber at the low water flotation mark to keep them upright in deep water and they were moored with a chain pendant. This type also marked the range positions with the least swinging radius as the water was too deep for a fixed structure. Additional flotation chambers were provided for the lighted buoys to keep the buoy floating perpendicularly. The fog signal, however, was necessarily installed on a fixed structure.

Two Port Townsend Obstruction Lights ("A" and "D") were established in 1941, together with two unlighted Obstruction Buoys ("B" and "C"). Headquarters, in August of that year, approved the installation of Marrowstone Obstruction Light 1 and Point Hudson Dolphin Obstruction Light 2 at the entrance of Port Townsend Bay in Washington. Two other lights were authorized by Headquarters but were not installed as the need for them had decreased. In addition to these special aids to navigation, the Port Townsend area provided an obstruction lighted bell buoy, obstruction light and a lighted bell buoy. The Point Jefferson Degaussing Range included lighted spar buoys (12 were originally established but 2 were discontinued) a mooring buoy, placed on station there for small guard vessels.

These special RADAR calibration buoys were war measures and, though activities in this field were continued after the war, they were gradually reduced. The Degaussing Range, however, continued in operation at full strength, the Navy having informed the District Coast Guard Officer that the range would be necessary for at least a year after cessation of hostilities. These special aids, then, remained to the Coast Guard to service and maintain; one more activity added to its peace time function.

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"SCREEN" TYPE RADAR CALIBRATION BUOY DEVELOPED BY NAVY AND ORIGINALLY INSTALLED AT BLAKE ISLAND. TWO OF THIS TYPE SANK BUT THIRD REMAINED ON STATION TOGETHER WITH IMPROVED TYPE OF CONVERTED CAN SHOWN ON A PRECEDING PAGE.

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