USCGC Minnetonka (WHEC-67) was an Owasco class

Owasco class cutter

The Owasco Class Cutter was a cutter class operated by the United States Coast Guard. A total of thirteen cutters in the class were built, all named after lakes. Eleven were constructed by the Western Pipe & Steel Company at San Pedro, California, while the remaining two—Mendota and...

 high endurance cutter built for World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 service with the United States Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

. The war ended before the ship was completed and consequently Minnetonka did not see wartime service until the Vietnam war

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

.

Minnetonka was built by Western Pipe & Steel at the company's San Pedro shipyard. Originally christened Sunapee, she was renamed after Lake Minnetonka

Lake Minnetonka

Lake Minnetonka is a lake in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Throughout its recorded history, the lake has been a resort destination. It is located west-southwest of Minneapolis-St. Paul. The lake is an irregular shape with numerous bays and islands which make up about of shoreline...

, Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 and commissioned as a patrol gunboat with ID number WPG-67 on 11 July 1946. Her ID was later changed to WHEC-67 (HEC for "High Endurance Cutter" - the "W" signifies a Coast Guard vessel).

Peacetime service

Minnetonka was stationed at San Pedro, CA, from 20 September 1946 to 7 March 1951. She was used for law enforcement, ocean station, and search and rescue operations in the Pacific.

On 2 and 3 January 1951, Minnetonka assisted MV Keisin Maru at 38°41’N, 152°00’E. From 23 to 15 January 1951, she assisted MV Oregon Mail at 46°35’N, 166°34’E. From 7 March 1951 to 31 May 1974, Minnetonka was homeported at Long Beach, California

Long Beach, California

Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...

, and used for the same duties as listed above. On 8 September 1954, she assisted FV American at 33°08’N, 120°44’W. From 6 to 8 May 1955, she patrolled the Ensenada Race. On 24 August 1956, she towed the disabled schooner Atlantic to Kodiak

Kodiak, Alaska

Kodiak is one of 7 communities and the main city on Kodiak Island, Kodiak Island Borough, in the U.S. state of Alaska. All commercial transportation between the entire island and the outside world goes through this city either via ferryboat or airline...

, Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

. On 8 November 1957, she searched for the Pan-American stratocruiser Romance of the Skies between San Francisco and Honolulu. 19 bodies were recovered on the sixth day of the search.

On 8 July 1959, Minnetonka towed the disabled FV Ruth K to Long Beach, California. On 17 and 18 December 1959, she assisted MV Guam Pioneer at 31°23’N, 124°37’W. On 28 and 19 August 1961, she towed the disabled FV Alaska Reefer to Port Townsend, Washington. On 11 and 12 February 1962, she assisted FV Western Fisher. Minnetonka served on reserve cruise from 10 to 13 August 1962. On 30 July 1967, Minnetonka rescued six people from FV Sea Boy off California.

Vietnam war

Minnetonka was assigned to Coast Guard Squadron Three, Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

, from 5 January to 29 September 1968. On 1 March 1968, she forced an enemy trawler to abandon its supply mission.

Return to peacetime service

After her stint in Vietnam, Minnetonka returned to peacetime service until her decommissiong a few years later.

A fatal accident occurred on 20 June 1972. One person was killed and two were seriously injured when a hot-water heater exploded while the cutter was in Long Beach.

Decommissioning

Minnetonka was decommissioned on 31 May 1974 and was laid-up at the U.S. Coast Guard Base, Alameda, California until she was scrapped two years later.