Ingham soon to head south

The Coast Guard cutter Ingham is scheduled to say goodbye to Charleston for good Thursday when a tugboat will tow it out to sea, headed for South Florida.

Some time after 10 a.m. the vessel will leave its berth at Detyens Shipyards in North Charleston, where it spent the last couple of months being repainted and readied for a five-day tow south.

The ship's exit means it is ending its association with the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum and becoming an exhibit of the Miami-Dade Historical Maritime Museum in Key West.

Almost any spot along Charleston Harbor will provide a view of the ship's departure.

Bill Verge, chairman of the Miami-Dade Historical Maritime Museum, has followed the Ingham's history for years, and he said he thought it would be a nice fit beside the cutter Mohawk.

The two ships cruised together around Greenland in the 1940s.

The repairs and tow, which cost about $600,000 that was raised mostly through donations, included stripping off old paint and putting on fresh coats, plus replacing some plates and making the Ingham shipshape.

"General maintenance that hadn't been done in 22 years," said Verge, who added that under normal situations a ship will go into dry dock every five to 10 years.

The Ingham will go directly to Key West, said Verge, who has been living on the ship for the past six weeks.

The vessel has a storied history. It worked on opium smuggling interdiction in the 1930s and hunted German U-boats in World War II.

The ship carried out dozens of naval gunfire support missions in the Vietnam War, and rescued at least 20 Cuban citizens during the Mariel Boat Lift in 1980.

During 52 years in service, the Ingham became the only cutter to receive two Presidential Unit Citations.

"It's going to be going to a good home," Verge said of its Florida future.