; WLR-63, a 114-foot, 230 ton tender, was one of three such vessels (her sisters were the and ) built to replace the stern paddlewheel steamers

Paddle steamer

A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...

 that the Coast Guard decided were too expensive to maintain. She was built by Avondale Marine Ways of Westwego, Louisiana

Westwego, Louisiana

Westwego is a city in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, and a suburb of New Orleans. The population was 10,763 at the 2000 census. It lies along the west bank of the Mississippi River.-Geography:...

, and entered service in 1943. She was stationed at Sewickley, Pennsylvania

Sewickley, Pennsylvania

Sewickley is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, west northwest of Pittsburgh along the Ohio River. It is a residential suburb of Pittsburgh. The population was 3,827 at the 2010 census...

 until 1963 and then Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

, until she was decommissioned in 1977.