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Historic Cutter Will Be Key West Floating Museum

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Nov 24, 2009 11:13 am US/Eastern

Historic Cutter Will Be Key West Floating Museum

Reporting
Kimberley Chapin
E-mail

KEY WEST (CBS4) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: The 327-foot Ingham, a historic Coast Guard cutter known for performing search-and-rescue missions between Cuba and the Florida Keys during the 1980 Mariel Boatlift, will spend the rest of its days as a floating museum in Key West.
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A historic Coast Guard cutter known for performing search-and-rescue missions between Cuba and the Florida Keys during the 1980 Mariel Boatlift will spend the rest of its days as a floating museum in Key West.

Between April 15 and October 31, 1980, as many as 125,000 Cubans had made the journey to Florida. During that time, the Ingham rescued refugees from swamped rafts and boats and escorted refugee vessels to safety in Key West.

The 327-foot Ingham, launched at Philadelphia in 1936, is believed to be the most decorated vessel in the Coast Guard fleet. Coast Guard historical records list it as the only cutter ever awarded two Presidential Unit Citations.

Named for Samuel Ingham, who was United States Secretary of the Treasury in the 1800s, it is one of only two preserved Secretary Class cutters.

The cutter served during World War II, where it sank an enemy submarine while on convoy duty protecting ships that ferried supplies to Great Britain. It served in the Korean and Vietnam Wars as well, earning Presidential Unit Citations for service during the Vietnam War.

The cutter was decommissioned in 1988 and preserved as a museum ship at the Patriots Point Naval Maritime Museum, in Charleston, S.C. Unfortunately, the museum could no longer afford the annual cost in the wake of other financial burdens.

Hearing the news, Key West residents chipped in to acquire the cutter; it is now a registered National Historic Landmark, dedicated to Coast Guard personnel killed in action in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

The Ingham will be docked on Key West's Truman Waterfront beside the USS Mohawk, another former Coast Guard cutter turned floating museum. The Ingham is scheduled to open to the public in mid-December.