Ship's history

USCGC Madrona (WLB 302) was a U. S. Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

 180 foot seagoing buoy tender. Madrona was built by the Zenith Dredge Company of Duluth, MN

Duluth, Minnesota

Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...

 at a cost of $949,144.

Madrona was commissioned on 30 May 1943. Upon commissioning, the cutter was assigned the homeport of Miami, FL. In addition to performing convoy duty during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Madrona was actively involved in the installation of numerous new aids to navigation throughout the Southeastern United States and the Caribbean Sea

Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....

. In September 1947, Madronas homeport was changed to Portsmouth, VA

Portsmouth, Virginia

Portsmouth is located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the city had a total population of 95,535.The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard, is a historic and active U.S...

, where she was responsible for maintenance and inspection of aids to navigation in the Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

. On 27 April 1949, the cutter searched for a reported mine near the Chesapeake Lightship. From 4-6 November 1950, Madrona towed the disabled MV Atlantic Explorer. On 14 May 1951, Madrona assisted following a collision between MV Thomas Tracey and a naval vessel. On 4 October 1951, she assisted MV Marose, which had grounded near Cape Henry, VA

Cape Henry

Cape Henry is a cape on the Atlantic shore of Virginia north of Virginia Beach. It is the southern boundary of the entrance to Chesapeake Bay.Across the mouth of the bay to the north is Cape Charles...

. On 26 July 1957, Madronas crew assisted in fighting a fire on MV Havmoy in the Lynnhaven Roads. In February 1958, Madrona was called upon to break ice in the Chesapeake Bay. In April 1959, the cutter assisted MV Terra Nova in the lower Chesapeake Bay. In September 1960, Madrona provided assistance in the Portsmouth area following Hurricane Donna

Hurricane Donna

Hurricane Donna in the 1960 Atlantic hurricane season was a Cape Verde-type hurricane which moved across the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispanola, Cuba, The Bahamas, and every state on the East Coast of the United States...

. On 4 February 1963, she assisted following the collision between the MV Skaustrand and the tanker P.W. Thirtle in Baltimore Harbor. On 27-28 February 1967, the crew helped fight a fire on MV Caldas 50 miles east of Chincoteague, VA

Chincoteague, Virginia

Chincoteague is a town on Chincoteague Island in Accomack County, Virginia, United States. The population was 4,317 at the 2000 census. The town is perhaps best known for the Chincoteague Ponies, although these are not actually on the island of Chincoteague but on nearby Assateague Island...

. On 24 May 1980, Madrona escorted the disabled tanker Esso Portland to Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...

. In January 1982, she broke ice in order to permit salvage barges to move to the scene of the Air Florida

Air Florida

Air Florida was an American low-cost carrier that operated from 1971 to 1984. In 1975 it was headquartered in the Dadeland Towers in what is now the Kendall CDP in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida.-History:...

 crash site on the Potomac River

Potomac River

The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...

 in Washington, DC.

In April 1984, Madrona entered the U. S. Coast Guard Shipyard in Curtis Bay, MD, to undergo a major renovation under the Coast Guard's Service Life Extension Program, commonly referred to as SLEP. This $15 million overhaul, encompassing the complete rebuilding of the interior of the vessel, greatly improved living conditions and replaced the aging propulsion plant. In September 1989, Madrona was returned to service, this time to her new home port of Charleston, SC

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

, where she remained until her decommissioning. While stationed in South Carolina, Madrona was responsible for the inspection and maintenance of 334 buoys along the South Carolina and Georgia coastlines, as well as Guantanamo Bay Cuba, the eastern part of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

, and the U. S. Virgin Islands

United States Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...

. In 2000, Madrona set the mooring buoys that helped raise the Confederate Submarine Hunley

H. L. Hunley (submarine)

H. L. Hunley was a submarine of the Confederate States of America that played a small part in the American Civil War, but a large role in the history of naval warfare. The Hunley demonstrated both the advantages and the dangers of undersea warfare...

 in Charleston Harbor.

Madrona was decommissioned after almost 59 years of active service in a ceremony held at Coast Guard Base Charleston on 12 April 2002. Following her decommissioning, the cutter was sold to the Navy of El Salvador

El Salvador

El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...

, where she actively serves today.