USCGC Escanaba (WPG-77) was an “A” class cutter stationed on the Great Lakes at Grand Haven, Michigan from her commissioning in 1932 until the start of US military involvement in World War II in 1941. With the outbreak of war, Escanaba redeployed to participate in the Battle of the Atlantic. On June 10, 1943, Escanaba began escorting her last convoy, GS-24 from Narsarssuak to St. John’s, Newfoundland, in company with the Mojave, Tampa, Storis, and Algonquin. The vessels they were tasked to escort were USAT Fairfax and the tug USS Raritan. At 0510 on June 13, a large sheet of flame and dense smoke were seen rising from the Escanaba, though no explosion was heard by the other ships in the convoy. She sank at 0513, going down so quickly that she did not have time to send any distress signals. Storis and Raritan were ordered to investigate and rescue survivors while the rest of the convoy began zigzagging and steering evasive courses to avoid enemy submarines. Although Storis and Raritan were able to arrive on the scene within ten minutes, only two survivors and one body could be found. At 0715 the two vessels returned to the main body of the convoy, having rescued Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Melvin A. Baldwin and Seaman 1st Class Raymond F. O’Malley, Jr., and having found the body of LT Prause. The entire crew of 13 officers and 92 men was lost to the explosion or to rapid hypothermia in the 39 °F water with the exception of Baldwin and O’Malley, whose survival was attributed to their soaked clothing having frozen their unconscious bodies to floating debris, which prevented them from following their shipmates to the bottom. The exact cause of the explosion could not be determined at the time, but was commonly attributed to a torpedo fired by one of several U-Boats which were in the area at the time. However, no U-Boats claimed the kill, and, according to Browning, it is now considered more probable that the cutter was sunk by a drifting mine. The city of Grand Haven was hit hard emotionally by the loss of “its” cutter. As the war wore on, the town’s citizens managed to raise more than $1,000,000 in bonds to build a new cutter bearing the same name in order to honor the ill-fated ship and its men. The city continues to hold an annual memorial service to honor the sacrifice of the 103 men who were lost with Escanaba. The third Escanaba was commissioned in 1987 and is currently based in Boston, the final home port of her namesake.
| Name | Rating | Duty Station | Date |
| Clark, A. E. | MM2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Lobosco, A. F. Jr. | S1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Neale, A. F. | RM3 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Hawk, A. L. | S2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Widman, A. V. | RdM3 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Mccarthy, B. | GM3 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Nowakowski, B. | S1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Foster, C. R. | RM2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Mickle, C. R. | CWT | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Farrar, C. A. | CMM | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Christenson, C. E. | BM2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Salter, C. A. | CBM | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Smith, C. R. | S1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Skarin, C. B. | Y2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| York, C. B. | MM1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Layton, C. | CBM | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Welsh, D. M. | CM1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Ferris, D. E. | WT2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Swander, D. E. | RM2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| E. J. | MAtt2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Kucia, E. J. | WT2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Westmore, E. V. Jr. | F2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Gadek, E. | RM1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Johns, F. R. | S2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Rednour, F. O. | SC2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Sickles, F. E. Jr. | S1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Van Hooper, F. | EM2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Gmeiner, G. W. | S1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Larson, G. W. | CBM | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Clark, H. R. | SOM2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Palser, H. | QM1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Davis, J. F. | CY | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Card, J. F. | F2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Rice, J. J. | SK2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Alston, J. | RM3 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Meyers, J. B. | SC2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Cilo, J. Jr | MM2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Sommers, J. C. | S1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Lucas, J. W. | SC1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Kenny, J. P. | S1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Kletzien, K. A. | SOM2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Sattler, K. E. | RM1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Counselor, L. R. | CMM | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Teschendorf, L. L. | CMM | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Peterson, L. R. | Cox | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Delsart, L. | RM1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Graham, L. J. | SOM2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Gatos, L. J. | F1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Mohler, M. E. | WT2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Bonham, M. A. | MM1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Biggs, M. G. | S2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Bauer, N. M. | WT2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Brown, O. E. | SOM3 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Dodgen, R. C. | QM3 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Rowland, P. C. | RdM3 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Estocapio, P. A. | Steward | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Jarousky, P. | WT1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Hostak, Q. | S1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Ashford, R. | SM2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Lietz, R. F. | S1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Mcgowan, R. | S1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Buddenhagen, R. H. | MM2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Bykowski, R. J. | Cox | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| McCready, R. G. | SM2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Rowland, R. H. | SOM3 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Nilsen, R. S1 | USCGC | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Chudacoff, S. | YN3 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Williams, S. Jr. | MAtt1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| More, S. A. | SOM3 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Kurcz, S. J. | RM1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Bukes, T. S. | RM3 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Menkol, T. T. | GM2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Somes, T. B. | QM1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Burns, T. F. | SM2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Tillett, T. M. | MAtt2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Paolella, V. N. | S1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Londo, V. J. Jr. | UT1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Salm, V. N. | CM3 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Yurik, V. | F2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| O’leary, W. F. | S1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Deyapert, W. T. | Steward | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Baths, W. | Y2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Tierney, W. C. | PM2 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |
| Corey, W. H. | GM1 | USCGC Escanaba | 6/13/1943 |