Richard Joseph Lambert

Service

Served aboard the Treasury-class cutter USCGC Bibb during World War II.

Branch

United States Coast Guard

Ship

USCGC Bibb (WPG-31 / WAGC-31)

Rank

To be confirmed

Service dates aboard Bibb

To be confirmed

Exact dates of service aboard Bibb are not yet confirmed from digitized public records. Coast Guard WWII muster rolls for Bibb (1941–1945) are held at the National Archives (RG 26) and are the best next step for pinning down when he was aboard.

USCGC Bibb

A 327-foot Treasury-class cutter, Bibb spent World War II as a convoy escort in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, then as an amphibious command ship in the Pacific.

Hull numbers

WPG-31 / WAGC-31 / WHEC-31

Class

Treasury-class (327-foot) cutter

Commissioned

10 March 1937

Decommissioned

30 September 1985

Sunk as an artificial reef off Key Largo, Florida, 28 November 1987.

Bibb in World War II

Until muster rolls confirm Richard’s exact hitch, this timeline shows what the ship was doing during the war — the waters he may have sailed.

1. 1940–1941

   Weather & Neutrality Patrol

   Before full wartime escort duty, Bibb spent long stretches on North Atlantic weather stations and neutrality patrols as the United States edged toward war.

2. 1942–1943

   North Atlantic Convoys

   Bibb escorted Iceland shuttle and trans-Atlantic convoys through the Battle of the Atlantic. In February 1943, during the fight around SC-118, she rescued 202 survivors from SS Henry R. Mallory and 33 from SS Kalliopi.

3. 1943–1944

   Mediterranean Escort Runs

   As flagship for Coast Guard–led escort task forces, Bibb shepherded large UGS/GUS convoys between the U.S. East Coast and North African ports, including Bizerte, Tunisia.

4. 1945

   Pacific & Okinawa

   Converted to an amphibious command ship (WAGC-31), Bibb crossed to the Pacific and served at Kerama Retto / Okinawa as flagship for Commander, Mine Craft, Pacific Fleet, surviving kamikaze attacks and credited with destroying at least one aircraft.

About this page

This page centers Richard’s service on Bibb and the cutter’s wartime record. Personal details (rank, enlistment, discharge, theater dates) can be filled in as family papers or NARA muster rolls confirm them.

Bibb’s WWII story is unusually well documented by the Coast Guard Historian’s Office; that ship history is used here as context until his individual dates are known.