(Coast Guard description and history of the Comanche when she was in commission) "The Comanche was built for the Navy in 1944, at Port Arthur, Texas, and was first named USS Wampanoag (ATA202).  She was acquired by the Coast Guard and renamed Comanche in 1959.  After joining the Coast Guard, she was first home ported at Morro Bay Calif., and then operated in San Francisco Bay, first from Sausalito and then Treasure Island, until 1967, when she was transferred to Corpus Christi, Texas.  She returned to the California coast and her current homeport of Eureka, two years later.

   Comanche is a seagoing tug, and is classified as a medium endurance cutter by the Coast Guard.  Her normal duties include logistics of offshore aids to navigation, law enforcement patrols, and search and rescue missions off Northern California.

   One of her most notable rescues occurred in 1963, when she teamed up with several other Coast Guard units to save 43 Japanese seamen who had abandoned the freighter Kokoku Maru, following a collision near the Farallon Islands.

   The cutter carries a crew of five officers and 42 enlisted men,  She is 143 feet in length and has a 33 foot beam and 12 1/2 foot draft.  She displaces 790 tons. The power plant includes two 750 shaft horsepower GM 12-228a diesel engines, which give her a cruising range of 12,000 miles and top speed of 13 1/2 knots."