service on the Key West to Havana route. In 1937, the ship was sold to the Romance Line but failed an inspection by the Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection and was subsequently laid up. On 5 June 1942, Governor Cobb was requisitioned at Philadelphia by the War Shipping Administration, after which she was stationed at New York City. Coast Guard service Following Governor Cobb's acquisition by the War Shipping Administration, the ship was acquired by the United States Coast Guard which was in the process of testing the effectiveness of the newly developed Sikorsky helicopter for anti-submarine warfare. The Coast Guard renamed the ship USCGC Cobb (WPG-181) and carried out extensive modifications, including removal of much of the superstructure and the installation of a large 38 × 63 foot flight deck for the purpose of testing helicopter take-offs and landings at sea. USCGC Cobb thus became the world's first helicopter carrier. On 29 June 1944, the first successful take-off from a ship underway was performed from the flight deck of USCGC Cobb. Cobb also later took part in some of the first helicopter search-and-rescue trials. Due to high maintenance costs, USCGC Cobb was decommissioned and sold shortly after the war. She was scrapped in 1947. Footnotes References The Technology Review, Association of Alumni and Alumnae of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1907. Cobb, 1944 WPG-181 (ex-Governor Cobb), United States Coast Guard website. Passenger ships of the United States Ships built in Philadelphia Ships built by the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works 1906 ships