USCGC Tallapoosa (WPG-52) was a United States Coast Guard cutter of the Tallapoosa-class and was designed to replace the revenue cutter . Her hull was reinforced for light icebreaking. She was initially stationed at Mobile, Alabama, with cruising grounds to Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana and Fowey Rocks, Florida. During World War I she escorted convoys out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. After the war she served with the Bering Sea Patrol before returning to Savannah, Georgia before World War II. During the war Tallapoosa assisted with convoy escort duty and anti-submarine patrols. History Tallapoosa left Newport News, Virginia towed by USGCC Apache on 16 July 1915 and arrived at the Coast Guard Depot at Curtis Bay, Maryland the following day. The officers and crew of Winona were transferred to her on 18 July and she was placed in commission at the depot 12 August 1915. She was assigned her first homeport at Mobile, Alabama on 17 August 1915. During this period she made search and rescue patrols between Port Eads, Louisiana, and Tampa, Florida. On 18 November 1915 she transported the National Currency Association of Alabama on a tour and inspection of the harbor of Mobile. On 19 January 1916 she participated in the celebration of the completion of the Gulf, Florida and Alabama Railroad held at Pensacola, Florida. On 6–7 March 1916 and on 19–20 February 1917, she participated in the Mardi Gras celebration at Mobile, Alabama. U.S. Navy service during World War I From 6 April 1917 until 28 August 1919, the U.S. Coast Guard was temporarily under the control of the U.S. Navy Department. On the morning of 9 April, crew members from Tallapoosa and boarded the Austrian steamer Borneo in Hillsboro Bay near Tampa and seized the ship and arrested the crew. Borneo was turned over to customs authorities and the crew was left in the custody of local authorities. After the seizure, Tallapoosa was assigned patrol duties on the approaches to Tampa harbor and the entrance to Egmont Key. Her commanding officer, First Lieutenant James F. Hottel, was assigned by the Seventh Naval District commander to inspect all motor boats used by the Navy in the Tampa area. In addition, he was responsible for recruiting personnel for the U.S. Naval Reserve. At the end of July 1917 Tallapoosa was transferred to Patrol Squadron One located at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In late August, she took the seized German