In 1931, the U.S. Coast Guard commissioned CG-402 at Southern Shipyards in Newport News, Virginia — one of six sister ships purpose-built to enforce Prohibition on American waterways. Armed with a .50-caliber machine gun and a one-pound deck gun, and powered by twin Sterling Viking II 8-cylinder gasoline engines producing 1,130 shaft horsepower, she was more than a match for any bootlegger on the Upper Long Island Sound or Chesapeake Bay.
Prohibition ended in 1933, but her service continued. In June 1937, all six sisters were transferred to the Pacific Coast. CG-402 was assigned to Tacoma, where she quickly earned a reputation as the fastest ship in the harbor.
When the United States entered WWII in 1942, CG-402’s peaceful Tacoma assignment abruptly ended. Renumbered CG-78302 and equipped with depth charge racks, she was redeployed as an offshore patrol vessel covering the waters between Port Angeles and the Columbia River. She patrolled Elliott Bay and the Strait of Juan de Fuca throughout the war years.
When the armistice came, the Coast Guard decommissioned her and placed her on the war surplus market. On July 17, 1946, the Mount Rainier Council (now Pacific Harbors Council, Boy Scouts of America) purchased her for the sum of ten dollars.
She was rechristened Charles N. Curtis in honor of the Chief Scout Executive who assisted with the acquisition, and assigned to Sea Scout Ship 110.
“This is not just the story of a boat. It’s the story of generations. It’s about the youth who stepped aboard uncertain and stepped off transformed.”
From the moment she passed into Scouting hands, the Curtis became a living project — continuously restored, rebuilt, and reimagined by the youth and volunteers of Ship 110. The gasoline engines came out and more efficient BUDA diesels went in (the originals donated to Tacoma’s fireboat, now on display along Ruston Way). Cabins were added, wheelhouses relocated, electronics modernized.
In 1983 she was certified as an inspected commercial vessel — one of the highest operating standards for a Scout craft in the country. Every decade brought new challenges and new crews who rose to meet them.
The Curtis had been designed for a 10-year lifespan. She served for 92. But by the early 2020s, the economics of her continued operation had become insurmountable.
The 1950s GMC 6-71 engines had been rebuilt so many times they were no longer rebuildable — replacement with Tier 4 modern engines represented a $250,000 investment alone. Coast Guard regulations now prohibited the longstanding practice of sistering damaged frames, requiring full-frame replacement from keel to main deck. The planking, flooring, and frames around the shafts and struts needed comprehensive renewal.
A full restoration, assuming funding could be secured, was estimated at $750,000 or more with at least a year in dry dock — for a vessel that, even fully restored, would remain capacity-limited and unable to offer Scouts the technology of a modern training ship.
By 2025, new Coast Guard requirements made the Curtis obsolete as a licensed commercial vessel. Ship 110 sails forward in her memory.
“Every plank, every repair, every long cold day in dry dock was an act of belief — that she still had more to give. And she did.”
This is a tribute to every hand that held a tool, every leader who gave direction, every young person who found their way aboard.
Rum War at Sea — Malcolm F. Willoughby, 1964 (pp. 90, 95, 133)
Guardians of the Sea — Robert Erwin Johnson, 1987 (p. 92)
U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft of World War II — Robert L. Scheina, 1982 (p. 238)
Tacoma News Tribune
Type your paragraph here.