USCGC Acushnet (WMEC-167) was a cutter of the United States Coast Guard, homeported in Ketchikan, Alaska. She was originally USS Shackle (ARS-9), a rescue and salvage ship commissioned by the United States Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for coming to the aid of stricken vessels and received three battle stars during World War II, before a long career with the Coast Guard. Acushnet patrolled the waters of the North Pacific and was one of the last World War II era ships on active duty in the US fleet upon her retirement in 2011. United States Navy service - 1944 to 1946 USS Shackle was laid down on 26 October 1942 by the Basalt Rock Company in Napa, California. Launched on 1 April 1943, it was sponsored by Mrs. Walker Cochran; and commissioned on 5 February 1944, with Lieutenant Charles G. Jenkins Jr. in command. At the time of its building, the country was at war and in need of more naval vessels. As a result of the necessity, three ships, identified only as "naval auxiliaries" underwent construction. The project took less than a year to complete and would become fleet rescue and salvage vessels serving in the Pacific Theater. All vessels would later become Coast Guard cutters. Shackles first station was at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where she served as a salvage ship in the West Pacific throughout the remainder of World War II. Shackles first year was spent completing extensive salvage assignments clearing wreckage in the channels at Pearl Harbor and Midway Island. The vessel spent the rest of the year in Guam, Eniwetok, Tinian and Saipan. On February 15, 1945, Shackle sailed for the invasion of Iwo Jima where it successfully completed over 44 diving and salvage assignments. One of these was the battle repair of which was hit by a Japanese shore battery. During March 1945, Shackle served as a supporting unit for the Okinawa invasion. Between D-Day (April 1, 1945) and September 20, 1945, the ship completed 55 salvage and rescue operations on larger naval craft damaged by kamikaze attacks. There were 108 general alarms during the period. Shackle was also assigned to mine sweeping operations in the East China Sea where over 200 enemy mines of all types were sunk or destroyed. Shackle also cleared the vital docking area of the wreckage of sunken Japanese cable laying ship at Yokosuka Naval