USCGC Pontchartrain (WHEC-70)

	USCGC Pontchartrain (WHEC-70), 1 September 1945. Her World War II armament of two twin dual purpose 5"/38 caliber gun turrets is clearly visible here
History
United States
Name	Pontchartrain
Namesake	Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana
Operator	United States Coast Guard
Builder	Coast Guard Yard, Curtis Bay, Maryland
Launched	29 February 1944
Christened	Okeechobee
Commissioned	28 July 1945
Decommissioned	19 October 1973
Reclassified	WPG-70 to WHEC-70
Fate	Scrapped, 1974
General characteristics
Type	Owasco-class cutter
Displacement	1,978 full (1966); 1,342 light (1966);
Length	254 ft (77.4 m) oa.; 245 ft (74.7 m) pp.;
Beam	43 ft 1 in (13.1 m)
Draft	17 ft 3 in (5.3 m) (1966)
Installed power	4,000 shp (3,000 kW) (1945)
Propulsion	1 x Westinghouse electric motor driven by a turbine, (1945)
Speed	17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph).
Range	6,157 mi (9,909 km) at 17 knots; 10,376 mi (16,699 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) (1966);
Complement	10 officers, 3 warrants, 130 enlisted (1966)
Sensors and ; processing systems	Detection Radar: SPS-23, SPS-29, Mk 26, Mk 27 (1966); Sonar: SQS-1 (1966);
Armament	1945: ; 2 x twin 5 in/38 cal. dual purpose gun mounts; 2 x quad 40 mm AA gun mounts; 2 x depth charge tracks; 6 x "K" gun depth charge projectors; 1 x Hedgehog projector.; 1966: ; 1 x 5 in/38 cal. dual purpose gun mount; 1 x Hedgehog projector;
Notes	Fuel capacity: 141,755 gal (Oil, 95%).

USCGC Pontchartrain (WHEC-70) was an Owasco class high endurance cutter built for World War II service with the United States Coast Guard. The ship was commissioned just days before the end of the war and thus did not see combat action until the Korean war.

Pontchartrain was built by the Coast Guard yard at Curtis Bay, Maryland, one of only two Owasco class vessels not to be built by Western Pipe & Steel. Named after Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana, the ship was commissioned as a patrol gunboat with ID number WPG-70 on 28 July 1945. Her ID was later changed to WHEC-70 (HEC for "High Endurance Cutter"—the "W" signifies a Coast Guard vessel).

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