Pinetree Line Miscellaneous

USS Staten Island

Displacement 6,481 t.(fl) 3,052 t.(lt)
Length 269'
Beam 63' 10"(max)
Draft 25' 9"
Speed 16 kts.
Complement 353
Armament one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
Propulsion two electric motors driven by six Westinghouse DC generators, driven by six Fairbanks-Morse, 10-cyl 2-cycle diesel engines, twin shafts, 10,000shp

Staten Island (AGB-5) was built by the Western Pipe and Steel Co., San Pedro, Calif., and delivered to Russia under the Lend-Lease program on 24 February 1944 and served that country as Severny Veter (Northwind) - The ship was returned to the United States at Bremerhaven, Germany, on 19 December 1951 and commissioned there on 31 January 1952 as Northwind (AGB-5), Lt. Comdr. Edmund L Andronik in command.

Originally built as an icebreaker, the ship arrived at Boston, Mass., on 25 February for overhaul and fitting out as a unit of the United States Atlantic Fleet. Her name was changed to Staten Island on 15 April 1952 to avoid confusion with the Coast Guard ship Northwind. She departed Boston on 1 July 1952 and proceeded to Grenfell Sound, Labrador, to conduct ice reconnaissance in Frobisher Bay.

The USS Staten Island remained in Frobisher Bay on breaker duty until 8 September 1952 when she returned to Boston.