The USCGC Escanaba (WPG-77) was a 165 ft (50 m) "A" type United States Coast Guard cutter stationed on the Great Lakes from her commissioning in 1932 until the start of U.S. military involvement in World War II in 1941. With the outbreak of war, Escanaba redeployed to participate in the Battle of the Atlantic, during the course of which she was ultimately lost with nearly all hands. Struck by either a torpedo or mine in the early morning of 13 June 1943, while serving as a convoy escort, Escanaba suffered a fiery explosion and sank within minutes, leaving only two survivors and one body out of her 105-man crew to be found on the surface by rescuers.

The Greenland Patrol was a United States Coast Guard operation during World War II. The patrol was formed to support the U.S. Army building aerodrome facilities in Greenland for ferrying aircraft to the British Isles, and to defend Greenland with special attention to preventing German operations in the northeast. Coast Guard cutters were assisted by aircraft and dog sled teams patrolling the Greenland coast for Axis military activities. The patrol escorted Allied shipping to and from Greenland, built navigation and communication facilities, and provided rescue and weather ship services in the area from 1941 through 1945.