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 Mesquite (WAGL/WLB-305) was the lead ship in the Mesquite class of seagoing buoy tenders operated by the United States Coast Guard. She served in the Pacific during World War II, and spent the rest of her Coast Guard career in the Great Lakes. She ran aground and was wrecked in December 1989 off the Keweenaw Peninsula in Lake Superior. She was scuttled nearby as a recreational diving attraction.
The Marine Protector class is a class of coastal patrol boats of the United States Coast Guard. The 87-foot-long vessels are based on the Stan 2600 design by Damen Group, and were built by Bollinger Shipyards of Lockport, Louisiana. Each boat is named after sea creatures which fly or swim
The Bay-class tugboat is a class of 140-foot (43 m) icebreaking tugboats of the United States Coast Guard, with hull numbers WTGB-101 through to WTGB-109.
The USCGC Acacia (WAGL-406/WLB-406) is an Iris-class 180-foot seagoing buoy tender operated by the United States Coast Guard. Acacia was a multi-purpose vessel, nominally a buoy tender, but with equipment and capabilities for ice breaking, search and rescue, fire fighting, logistics, oil spill response, and other tasks as well. She spent almost all of her 62-year Coast Guard career on the Great Lakes. After decommissioning she became a museum ship in Manistee, Michigan.
United States Coast Guard Cutter is the term used by the U.S. Coast Guard for its commissioned vessels. They are 65 feet (19.8 m) or greater in length and have a permanently assigned crew with accommodations aboard. They carry the ship prefix USCGC.
The Point-class cutter was a class of 82-foot patrol vessels designed to replace the United States Coast Guard's aging 83-foot wooden hull patrol boat being used at the time. The design utilized a mild steel hull and an aluminum superstructure. The Coast Guard Yard discontinued building the 95-foot Cape-class cutter to have the capacity to produce the 82-foot Point-class patrol boat in 1960. They served as patrol vessels used in law enforcement and search and rescue along the coasts of the United States and the Caribbean. They also served in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. They were replaced by the 87-foot Marine Protector-class coastal patrol boats beginning in the late 1990s.
USCGC Swivel (WYTL-65603) was one of fifteen 65-foot steel-hulled harbor tugs, that entered service with the United States Coast Guard in the 1960s. Each was built to replace the 64-foot wooden-hulled harbor tugs built during the 1940s.
USCGC Mobile Bay (WTGB-103) is an active icebreaking tug under the direction of the United States Coast Guard. Her homeport is located in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. She is one of two ships in her class that has been equipped with a 120-foot (37 m) aids-to-navigation (ATON) barge operating on the Great Lakes. The vessel was specifically designed to carry out icebreaking missions, but also carries out missions in Search and Rescue, Environmental Pollution Response, Maritime Law Enforcement and Homeland Security.
USCGC Sturgeon Bay is the newest of the United States Coast Guard 140-foot (43 m) Bay-class cutters. Homeported in Bayonne, New Jersey, the primary missions of Sturgeon Bay and her crew are Domestic Icebreaking and Ports, Waters, & Coastal Security. During the winter months, Sturgeon Bay is responsible for providing search and rescue capabilities to the ice-covered areas in New York City and the Hudson Valley, as well as throughout coastal New England. The cutter also facilitates the safe navigation of commercial product, including gasoline and heating oil, through the ice-choked Hudson River from New York City to Albany. All Bay-class cutters, including Sturgeon Bay, use a low-pressure-air hull lubrication or bubbler system that forces air and water between the hull and ice. This system improves icebreaking capabilities by reducing resistance against the hull, reducing horsepower requirements.
USCGC Katmai Bay (WTGB-101) is a United States Coast Guard Cutter, and the lead ship of the Bay-class of icebreaking tugboats. At 140 ft (43 m), she is designed to have greater multi-mission capabilities than the 110' Calumet-class Harbor Tug (WYTM). She is homeported in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, operating in support of the much larger USCGC Mackinaw (WLBB-30).
USCGC Biscayne Bay (WTGB-104) is a United States Coast Guard Cutter and an icebreaking tug. She is based at Coast Guard Station St. Ignace with a primary area of operation in the Straits of Mackinac including Mackinac Island, Mackinac Bridge, and the northern portions of Lakes Michigan and Huron and occasionally Lakes Superior, Erie and their connecting rivers. Beyond her role as an icebreaker, Biscayne Bay performs search and rescue and law enforcement functions.
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 Hollyhock (WLB-214) is a 225-foot (69 m) Juniper-class cutter of the United States Coast Guard.
The USCG 65' small harbor tug is a class of fifteen tugs used by the United States Coast Guard for search and rescue, law enforcement, aids-to-navigation work and light icebreaking. The tugs are capable of breaking 18 in (0.46 m) of ice with propulsion ahead and 21 in (0.53 m) of ice backing and ramming. They were designed with steel hulls to replace the 64 ft (20 m) wooden-hulled tugs that had been in service since the 1940s and were built by Gibbs Gas Engine Company, Jacksonville, Florida; Barbour Boat Works of New Bern, North Carolina; and Western Boat Builders Corporation, Tacoma, Washington from 1961 to 1967. They were originally powered by a single 400 horsepower diesel engine, however several have been re-powered with 500 horsepower main drive engines since they were constructed.
District 9 is a United States Coast Guard district located at the Anthony J. Celebrezze Federal Building in Cleveland, Ohio. District 9 is responsible for all Coast Guard operations on the five Great Lakes, the Saint Lawrence Seaway, and surrounding states accumulating 6,700 miles of shoreline and 1,500 miles of international shoreline with Canada.
Bay City Marine Incorporated is a shipbuilder based in National City, California near San Diego.
USCGC Morro Bay (WTGB-106) is the sixth vessel of the Bay-class tugboats built in 1980 and operated by the United States Coast Guard. The ship was named after a seaside city in San Luis Obispo County, California.
USCGC Thunder Bay (WTGB-108) is the eighth vessel of the Bay-class tugboat built in 1985 and operated by the United States Coast Guard. The ship was named after a bay in the U.S. state of Michigan on Lake Huron.
United States
