The Sassafras is a C-Class, 180 ft, seagoing buoy tender

Buoy tender

A buoy tender is a type of vessel used to maintain and replace navigational buoys. The name is also used for someone who works on such a vessel and maintains buoys....

 constructed for the USCG by Marine Iron & Shipbuilding Corp. of Duluth

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,...

, Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

. The Sass 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.

History

1943 - 16 Aug. Keel laid at Duluth Minnesota.

1943 - 05 Oct. Launched Superior Bay.

1944 - 23 May. Commissioned as USCGC Sassafras (WAGL-401).

1945 - 15 Apr. Homeported San Francisco, California.

1946 - 23 Aug. Left San Francisco for new homeport of Honolulu, Hawaii.

1946-47 - Assisted the Seventh Fleet involved in wartime operations in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

.

1947 - 22 Aug. Left Honolulu for new homeport of Cape May, New Jersey

Cape May, New Jersey

Cape May is a city at the southern tip of Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, New Jersey, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean and is one of the country's oldest vacation resort destinations. It is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 United States...

.

1949 - Assisted the cutter Eastwind after she was severely damaged in a collision.

1957 - 4 Sep. Assisted after a mid-air collision between two USAF F89 aircraft in Delaware Bay

Delaware Bay

Delaware Bay is a major estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the Northeast seaboard of the United States whose fresh water mixes for many miles with the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It is in area. The bay is bordered by the State of New Jersey and the State of Delaware...

.

1965 - Hull Classification Symbol changed to WLB.

1969 - 12 Jan. Grounded on a pinnacle in the Hudson River

Hudson River

The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...

, north of Bear Mountain Bridge; she was re-floated four days later.

1977-78 - Underwent a "major renovation" at the Coast Guard Yard

United States Coast Guard Yard

The United States Coast Guard Yard or just Coast Guard Yard is a United States Coast Guard operated shipyard located on Curtis Bay in northern Anne Arundel County, Maryland, just south of the Baltimore city limits. It is the coast guard's sole shipbuilding and major repair facility, and part of the...

. The "major renovation" program was conducted on the following 180-foot tenders between 1974-1979: Sedge, Bramble, Ironwood, Mariposa, Acacia, Sweetbrier, Hornbeam, Spar, Sassafras, Sundew, Firebush, and Woodrush. This renovation involved the complete removal and overhaul of all mechanical systems including the main engines and the propulsion switchboard. A bow thruster was also added. The tenders were then recabled, repiped, and all habitability spaces were renovated and the forward hold was redesigned to increase berthing space.

1978 - Moved homeport to Governors Island

Governors Island

Governors Island is a island in Upper New York Bay, approximately one-half mile from the southern tip of Manhattan Island and separated from Brooklyn by Buttermilk Channel. It is legally part of the borough of Manhattan in New York City...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

.

1981 - Returned to Honolulu, Hawaii.

1986 - 5 Dec. Rescued two people from the sailboat Joie de Mar, which was disabled 550 miles southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii.

1989 - Feb. Assisted after United Airlines

United Airlines

United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...

 Flight 811 crash off Hawaii.

1989-90 - MCI Ship Yard in Bellingham, Washington

Bellingham, Washington

Bellingham is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is the twelfth-largest city in the state. Situated on Bellingham Bay, Bellingham is protected by Lummi Island, Portage Island, and the Lummi Peninsula, and opens onto the Strait of Georgia...

. Major renovations and replacement of Main Diesel Engine's and major auxiliary systems during a 7 month yard period. Removing the Cooper-Bessemer Engines and replacing with General Motors Diesel plant.

1990 - Rescued 28 crewmen from sinking Greek freighter (Vulca) 800 miles northeast of Hawaii.

1999 - Moved homeport to Apra Harbor

Apra Harbor

Apra Harbor is a deep-water port on the western side of Guam in the Mariana Islands. The harbor is formed by Orote Peninsula in the south and Cabras Island in the north. To the south, the harbor narrows and then widens again to form an inner harbor. The southern end of the harbor is the location...

, Guam

Guam

Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

 to replace the CGC Basswood.

2003 - Decommissioned after 59 years of service. Transferred to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to continue her proud naval history as the Nigerian Naval Ship Obula.

The Sassafras

Sassafras

Sassafras is a genus of three extant and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.-Overview:...

was named after a type of tree, most famous for flavoring root beer

Root beer

Root beer is a carbonated, sweetened beverage, originally made using the root of a sassafras plant as the primary flavor. Root beer, popularized in North America, comes in two forms: alcoholic and soft drink. The historical root beer was analogous to small beer in that the process provided a drink...

. All of the 180s were named after trees, shrubs, or flowers. This was a continuation of the longstanding Lighthouse Service

United States Lighthouse Service

The United States Lighthouse Service, also known as the Bureau of Lighthouses, was the agency of the US Federal Government that was responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of all lighthouses in the United States from the time of its creation in 1910 until 1939...

practice of naming tenders after foliage found in the tender’s intended area of operations. For the 180s, however, there was no particular area of operations envisioned for individual vessels.