USCGC Cypress

Last updated
USCGC Cypress (WLB-210)
100504 - USCGC Cypress (WLB 210) stands by to deploy from Naval Air Station Pensacola.jpg
USCGC Cypress U.S. Naval Air Station Pensacola.
History
Flag of the United States Coast Guard.svgUnited States
NameCypress
Launched27 October 2001
Commissioned11 October 2002
Homeport Kodiak, Alaska
Identification
Statusin active service
Badge USCGC Cypress (WLB-210) COA.png
General characteristics
Displacement2,000 tons (full load)
Length225 ft (69 m)
Beam46 ft (14 m)
Draft13 ft (4.0 m)
Propulsion
Speed16 knots
Complement8 officers, 40 enlisted
Armament2 x .50 caliber machine guns

USCGC Cypress (WLB-210) is a United States Coast Guard cutter and the tenth Juniper-class seagoing buoy tender. She is outfitted with advanced technological and navigational capabilities that allow her to be positioned correctly for exact placement of buoys through the use of controllable-pitch propellers and stern and bow thrusters.

Contents

Etymology

The first USCGC Cypress was one of eight Manzanita-class buoy tenders constructed for the U.S. Lighthouse Service. The ship was commissioned on 21 July 1908, decommissioned 20 August 1946 and sold on 18 March 1947. [1]

History

2000s

The advances made from the 180 ft (55 m) vintage seagoing buoytenders to the current Juniper-class are all-encompassing. The current Cypress is much larger at 225 ft (69 m) and 2000 tons, and was the first cutter to implement technological advances such as electronic charting, position keeping, and remote engineering monitoring and control. Cypress is also designed to skim and recover oil in the event of an oil spill. Cypress's Integrated Ship Control System has an Electronic Charting Display and Information System (ECDIS) which enables the fixing of her position to within five meters every second. Her Dynamic Positioning System (DPS) uses this positioning information, the ship's controllable-pitch propeller, and the stern and bow thrusters to keep the ship on station without any human input. Cypress's Machinery Plant Control and Monitoring System (MPCMS) has over 1000 sensors throughout the ship. This system makes it possible for one person in the engine room control center to monitor the ship's plant while underway.

Cypress' main area of operation stretches along 900 mi (1,400 km) of the Gulf Coast, from Apalachicola, Florida to the Mexican border at Brownsville, Texas, where she is responsible for the maintenance of 120 floating aids-to-navigation. She participated in hurricane recovery operations after Ivan, Katrina, and Rita, recovering and re-establishing buoys that were up to 24 nmi (44 km) off station, and re-establishing critical Gulf Coast channels including Pensacola, Florida, Mobile, Alabama, Gulfport and Pascagoula, Mississippi New Orleans, Louisiana Sabine and Corpus Christi, Texas.

In 2004, Cypress successfully recovered a sunken 38,000 lb (17,000 kg) “Blue Angels” F/A-18A Hornet from 40 ft (12 m) of water in the Gulf of Mexico, and has since served as the center point for the annual Blue Angels’ air show at Pensacola Beach, Florida.[ citation needed ] In 2005, Cypress contributed to the re-build and extension of the Houston Ship Channel entrance, the portal to the busy Houston-Galveston area and used by more than 6,000 large vessels annually. In spring 2007, Cypress completed her first extended Alien Migration Interdiction Operations (AMIO) patrol for Coast Guard District Seven.[ citation needed ] During this patrol, she intercepted two go-fast smuggler vessels and seven suspected smugglers, as well as processing over 75 illegal migrants. In addition to routine and emergency servicing of approximately 120 federal aids-to- navigation, Cypress also assists the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) by servicing approximately twenty weather buoys throughout the Gulf of Mexico, critical to assisting professional mariners with voyage planning as well as tracking and predicting hurricanes. Cypress has also operated in support of her secondary missions, engaging in Maritime Law Enforcement patrols and conducting search and rescue (SAR). In one recent[ when? ] SAR case, Cypress rescued 8 people from their recreational boat just minutes before it sank.[ citation needed ]

2010s

Cypress responded to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill impacting the Gulf of Mexico, conducting oil recovery operations and support of the operational commander’s goals.

From April to May 2012 Cypress underwent a drydock period at Tampa Shipbuilding Company. In 2012 and 2013, USCGC Cypress was a recipient of the Forrest O. Rednour Award for Medium Afloat "Galley of the Year." [2] [3]

In March 2019, USCGC Cypress collided with the Algiers Ferry dock at Woldenberg Park in New Orlean's French Quarter. [4] The ship was carrying the Zulu king and queen to Lundi Gras festivities. Officials said that the ship's onboard computer system failed and propulsion kicked in, speeding her up and into the dock. Though the bow sustained damage, there were no reported injuries. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USCG seagoing buoy tender</span> Type of United States Coast Guard Cutter

The USCG seagoing buoy tender is a type of United States Coast Guard Cutter used to service aids to navigation throughout the waters of the United States and wherever American shipping interests require. The U.S. Coast Guard has maintained a fleet of seagoing buoy tenders dating back to its origins in the U.S. Lighthouse Service (USLHS). These ships originally were designated with the hull classification symbol WAGL, but in 1965 the designation was changed to WLB, which is still used today.

USCGC <i>Alder</i> (WLB-216) US Coast Guard Juniper-class seagoing buoy tender

USCGC Alder (WLB-216) is the final Juniper-class, 225-foot (69 m) seagoing buoy tender of the United States Coast Guard.

Keeper-class cutter U.S. Coast Guard buoy tender class

The Keeper class of coastal buoy tenders consists of fourteen ships built for and operated by the United States Coast Guard. The ships were launched between 1995 and 1999 and all remain in active service. Their primary mission is to maintain thousands of aids to navigation, both buoys and land-based. Their secondary missions include marine environmental protection, search and rescue, law enforcement, and light ice-breaking.

USCGC <i>Conifer</i>

The USCGC Conifer was a 180 foot seagoing buoy tender. Conifer and her sister ships, commonly referred to as "one-eighties", served as the backbone of the Coast Guard's Aids to Navigation fleet for over 50 years before their replacement by the newer Juniper-class cutters.

USCGC <i>Papaw</i>

USCGC Papaw (WLB-308) was a sea-going buoy tender whose design is based on the pre-World War II United States Lighthouse Service Tenders. The original design was modified to provide an armored cutter capable of wartime missions in addition to her primary mission of Aids to Navigation. Papaw was built in 1943 by the Marine Iron and Shipbuilding Company of Duluth, Minnesota. Commissioned 12 October 1943, she was assigned the home port of San Francisco, California.

USCGC <i>Mackinaw</i> (WLBB-30) US Coast Guard heavy icebreaker

USCGC Mackinaw (WLBB-30) is a 240-foot (73 m) multi-purpose vessel with a primary mission as a heavy icebreaker specifically built for operations on the North American Great Lakes for the United States Coast Guard. IMO number: 9271054.

USCGC <i>Spar</i> (WLB-206)

USCGC Spar (WLB-206) is a United States Coast Guard Juniper-class seagoing buoy tender home-ported in Duluth, Minnesota. The ship maintains aids to navigation in the Twin Ports and Great Lakes.

USCGC <i>Maple</i>

USCGC Maple (WLB-207) is a Juniper-class seagoing buoy tender operated by the United States Coast Guard. She was based at Sitka, Alaska for 16 years and is currently homeported at Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. Her primary mission is maintaining aids to navigation, but she also supports search and rescue, law enforcement, oil spill response, and other Coast Guard missions.

USCGC <i>Sassafras</i> C-class buoy tender, 1943-2003 (now NNS Obula)

Sassafras is a C-Class, 180 ft, seagoing buoy tender constructed for the USCG by Marine Iron & Shipbuilding Corp. of Duluth, Minnesota. Sassafras was one of 39 tenders commissioned for duties that would include aids-to-navigation, ice breaking, search-and-rescue, fire fighting, law enforcement, providing fuel and potable water, and assistance to the National Oceanographic and Seismographic Survey.

USCGC <i>Oak</i>

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Oak is a United States Coast Guard seagoing buoy tender; the second of her name and the eleventh of the Juniper class. Home ported in Newport, Rhode Island the "Maine Responder" maintains Aids to Navigation (ATON) along the rugged New England coastline, promoting economic security through navigation safety of the Marine Transportation System. A multi-mission platform, the cutter can also support search & rescue, domestic icebreaking, living marine resources maritime law enforcement, environmental protection, national defense and homeland security missions. The cutter occasionally assists with maintenance support of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Data Buoy Center's offshore weather buoys.

USCGC <i>Juniper</i> US Coast Guard seagoing buoy tender

USCGC Juniper (WLB-201) is the lead ship of the U.S. Coast Guard's current class of seagoing buoy tenders. She is outfitted with some of the most advanced technological and navigational capabilities currently available.

USCGC <i>Fir</i> (WLB-213)

USCGC Fir (WLB-213) is a Juniper-class cutter of the United States Coast Guard. USCGC Fir is under the Operational Control (OPCON) of the Commander of the Thirteenth Coast Guard District and is homeported in Astoria, Oregon. Fir's primary area of responsibility is the coastal waters, river bars and high seas of the Washingtonian and Oregonian coasts. USCGC Fir conducts heavy lift aids to navigation operations, law enforcement and other missions as directed.

USCGC <i>Elm</i> (WLB-204)

USCGC Elm (WLB-204) is a U.S. Coast Guard Juniper-class seagoing buoy tender home-ported in Astoria, Oregon. She is responsible for maintaining aids to navigation on the coasts of Oregon and Washington, including the Columbia River.

USCGC <i>Woodrush</i> Buoy tender

USCGC Woodrush (WLB-407) was a buoy tender that performed general aids-to-navigation (ATON), search and rescue (SAR), and icebreaking duties for the United States Coast Guard (USCG) from 1944 to 2001 from home ports of Duluth, Minnesota and Sitka, Alaska. She responded from Duluth at full speed through a gale and high seas to the scene of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sinking in 1975. In 1980, she took part in a rescue rated in the top 10 USCG rescues when she helped to save the passengers and crew of the cruise ship Prinsendam after it caught fire in position 57°38"N 140° 25"W then while being towed sank off Graham Island, British Columbia. She was one of the first vessels to respond to the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. She was decommissioned on 2 March 2001 and sold to the Republic of Ghana to serve in the Ghana Navy.

USCGC <i>Sycamore</i> (WLB-209)

USCGC Sycamore (WLB-209) is a United States Coast Guard seagoing buoy tender, the second of her name and the ninth of the Juniper-class. She is now home-ported in Newport, Rhode Island, following a one year long Midlife Maintenance Availability (MMA) in Baltimore, Maryland. She was originally home-ported in Cordova, Alaska. Sycamore primarily tends to aids-to-navigation (ATON) in Martha's Vineyard, the Long Island Sound, Hudson River, and New York City Harbor and entrances; however she is also responsible for maintenance support of National Data Buoy Center's offshore weather buoys. In addition to her primary ATON role, Sycamore also performs other duties, such as, marine environmental protection, maritime law enforcement, domestic icebreaking, search and rescue, and homeland security missions.

USCGC Tupelo WAGL/WLB-303, was a Cactus (A) Class 180-foot buoy tender vessel built by Zenith Dredge Company of Duluth, Minnesota. Her keel was laid 15 August 1942, launched 28 November 1942 and commissioned on 30 August 1943. She was built as a WAGL and redesignated a WLB in 1965.

USCGC <i>Willow</i> (WLB-202)

The USCGC Willow (WLB-202) is a United States Coast Guard seagoing buoy tender, the third of her name and the second of the Juniper-class. She is home-ported in Charleston, South Carolina, where she replaced her sister ship USCGC Oak in servicing 257 aids to navigation in District 7. Willow's area of operations stretches from South Carolina down to Caribbean, including Puerto Rico, Cuba, U.S. Virgin Islands and Haiti. In addition to her primary aids-to-navigation (ATON) role, Willow also performs other duties, such as maritime border security, marine environmental protection, maritime law enforcement, and search and rescue. The Willow transitioned from her former home port of Newport, RI in 2017 after spending over a year in a Baltimore dry dock being refitted and modernized.

USCGC <i>Aspen</i> Seagoing buoy tender of the United States Coast Guard

USCGC Aspen (WLB-208) is the eighth cutter in the Juniper-class 225 ft (69 m) of seagoing buoy tenders. She is under the operational control of the Commander of the Eleventh U.S. Coast Guard District and is home-ported at Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco, California. Her primary area of responsibility is the coastal waters, river bars and high seas from the California–Oregon border to San Diego, California. Aspen conducts heavy lift aids-to-navigation operations, and law enforcement, homeland security, environmental pollution response, and search and rescue as directed.

USCGC <i>Kukui</i> (WLB-203)

USCGC Kukui (WLB-203) is the third cutter in the Juniper-class 225 ft (69 m) of seagoing buoy tenders and is the third ship to bear the name. She is under the operational control of the Commander of the Seventeenth Coast Guard District and is home-ported in Sitka, Alaska. Her primary area of responsibility is the inland and coastal waters of southeastern Alaska. Kukui conducts heavy lift aids-to-navigation operations, and law enforcement, homeland security, environmental pollution response, and search and rescue as directed.

USCGC <i>Walnut</i> (WLB-205)

USCGC Walnut (WLB-205) is the fifth cutter in the Juniper-class 225 ft (69 m) of seagoing buoy tenders and is the second ship to bear the name. She is under the operational control of the Commander of the Fourteenth Coast Guard District and is home-ported on Sand Island in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her primary area of responsibility is the coastal waters and high seas around the Hawaiian Islands and American Samoa. Walnut conducts heavy lift aids-to-navigation operations, and law enforcement, homeland security, environmental pollution response, and search and rescue as directed.

References

  1. ↑ "USGC Fact sheet" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2012-09-27. Retrieved 2012-05-12.
  2. ↑ "Military foodservice awards — REDNOUR" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on April 26, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  3. ↑ "FS Points of Contacts". studylib.net. Archived from the original on 2019-03-28. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  4. ↑ "USCG Cutter Cypress collides with dock in New Orleans". 4 March 2019. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  5. ↑ "Caught on camera: Coast Guard cutter hits dock while transporting Zulu royalty". 5 March 2019. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
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