USCG Coastal Buoy Tender
Encyclopedia
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...
commissioned a new Keeper-class of coastal buoy tenders in the 1990s that are 175 feet (53 m) in length and named after Lighthouse keeper
Lighthouse keeper
A lighthouse keeper is the person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Keepers were needed to trim the wicks, replenish fuel, wind clockworks and perform maintenance tasks such as cleaning...
s.
Keeper Class cutters serve the Coast Guard in a variety of missions. Keeper Class tenders are tasked with maintaining aids to navigation (ATON), search and rescue (SAR), law enforcement (LE), migrant interdiction, marine safety inspections, environmental protection and natural resources management. Keeper Class cutters have limited ice breaking capability.
These vessels are 175' long and replaced the WWII era 157' and 133' tenders. The new class of buoy tender cut crew size from 35 and 26, respectively, to 25 saving the already cash strapped Coast Guard financial and personnel resources.
Keeper Class Cutters were built by Marinette Marine of Marinette WI.
Keeper Class cutters are equipped with mechanical Z-drive
Z-drive
A Z-drive is a type of marine propulsion unit. Specifically, it is an azimuth thruster. The pod can rotate 360 degrees allowing for rapid changes in thrust direction and thus vessel direction...
Azimuth thruster
Azimuth thruster
An azimuth thruster is a configuration of ship propellers placed in pods that can be rotated in any horizontal direction, making a rudder unnecessary...
propulsion units instead of the standard propeller and rudder configuration. These mechanical drives are designed to independently rotate 360 degrees. Combined with a thruster in the bow, they enable Keeper Class tenders to dynamically maneuver in a variety of sea states. This creates an extremely maneuverable platform which, when combined with modern navigation aids such as LORAN and GPS allow the Cutter to maintain static positions. This allows the cutter to precisely place an aid to navigation (ATON).
Keeper Class boarding teams are armed with modern small arms.
The following 175-foot WLMs in Service (as of 2006):
| Cutter | Homeport | Namesake |
|---|---|---|
| USCGC Ida Lewis (WLM-551) | Newport, Rhode Island Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War... |
Ida Lewis Ida Lewis (lighthouse keeper) Idawalley Zorada Lewis was an American lighthouse keeper noted for her heroism.-Biography:... |
| USCGC Katherine Walker (WLM-552) | Bayonne, New Jersey Bayonne, New Jersey Bayonne is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Located in the Gateway Region, Bayonne is a peninsula that is situated between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill van Kull to the south, and New York Bay to the east... |
Katherine Walker Katherine Walker Katherine "Katie" Walker was an American lighthouse keeper.She tended the Robbins Reef Light in New York Harbor for many years after the death of her husband, John, who had been appointed keeper of the light in 1883. In 1886, John Walker died from pneumonia.-Legacy:A United States Coast Guard... |
| USCGC Abbie Burgess (WLM-553) | Rockland, Maine Rockland, Maine Rockland is a city in Knox County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,297. It is the county seat of Knox County. The city is a popular tourist destination... |
Abbie Burgess Abbie Burgess Abbie Burgess was an American lighthouse keeper known for her bravery in tending the Matinicus Rock Light, in Maine, during a raging winter storm in 1856. She tended the light for nearly a month while her father, the head keeper, was away from the island... |
| USCGC Marcus Hanna (WLM-554) | South Portland, Maine South Portland, Maine South Portland is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, and is the fourth-largest city in the state. Founded in 1895, as of the 2010 census, the city population was 25,002. Known for its working waterfront, South Portland is situated on Portland Harbor and overlooks the skyline of... |
Marcus Hanna Marcus Hanna (lighthouse keeper) Marcus Aurelius Hanna was an American lighthouse keeper famous for his heroism.-Biography:Hanna was born in Bristol, Maine, the son of the keeper of the Franklin Island Light. He spent his early years at the station before going off to sea at the age of ten. By 18 he had risen to the position of... |
| USCGC James Rankin (WLM-555) | Baltimore, Maryland | James Rankin |
| USCGC Joshua Appleby (WLM-556) | St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St... |
Joshua Appleby Joshua Applebey Joshua Appleby was an American lighthouse keeper remembered for having lost his life in the Great Havana Hurricane of 1846.... |
| USCGC Frank Drew (WLM-557) | Portsmouth, Virginia 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... |
Frank Drew Frank Drew (lighthouse keeper) Frank Albert Drew was a lighthouse keeper. He was Assistant Keeper Pilot Island Light from 1899 to 1903, First Assistant Keeper, Green Island Light-Station from 1903 to 1909, and Keeper of Green Island Light-Station from 1904 to 1929.... |
| USCGC Anthony Petit (WLM-558) | Ketchikan, Alaska Ketchikan, Alaska Ketchikan is a city in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, United States, the southeasternmost sizable city in that state. With an estimated population of 7,368 in 2010 within the city limits, it is the fifth most populous city in the state.... |
Anthony Petit Anthony Petit Anthony Petit was an American lighthouse keeper. In 1945 he was assigned to the Scotch Cap Light in Alaska as the head of a five-man crew... |
| USCGC Barbara Mabrity (WLM-559) | Mobile, Alabama Mobile, Alabama Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest... |
Barbara Mabrity Barbara Mabrity Barbara Mabrity was an American lighthouse keeper.Mabrity and her husband, Michael, were assigned to be the keepers of Key West Light in 1826. Michael died of yellow fever in 1832, at which point Barbara was formally appointed to take his place. She maintained the light through hurricanes which... |
| USCGC William Tate (WLM-560) | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,... |
William Tate William Tate (lighthouse keeper) Capt. William J. Tate was the North Landing Lighthouse keeper from 1915 to 1939. He was also an aviation pioneer having helped the Wright Brothers assemble their aircraft at Kill Devil Hill on the Outer Banks.... |
| USCGC Harry Claiborne (WLM-561) | Galveston, Texas Galveston, Texas Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of... |
Harry Claiborne Harry C. Claiborne Harry C. Claiborne was an American lighthouse keeper.-Biography:He was born in January 1859 in New Orleans. He began his career as assistant keeper of the Southwest Pass Light in Louisiana in 1887. In 1889 he was made head keeper of the Pass a l'Outre Light. In 1895 he was transferred to the... |
| USCGC Maria Bray (WLM-562) | Atlantic Beach, Florida Atlantic Beach, Florida Atlantic Beach, a city in Duval County, Florida, is the northernmost of the Jacksonville Beaches communities. When the majority of communities in Duval County consolidated with Jacksonville, Florida in 1968, Atlantic Beach, along with Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, and Baldwin, Florida,... |
Maria Bray Maria Bray Maria Bray was a 19th-century American maritime heroine of an incident during the first days of winter in late 1864.Bray was married to Alexander Bray, the lighthouse keeper at Thacher Island Light, off Rockport on Massachusetts' Cape Ann... |
| USCGC Henry Blake (WLM-563) | Everett, Washington Everett, Washington Everett is the county seat of and the largest city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. Named for Everett Colby, son of founder Charles L. Colby, it lies north of Seattle. The city had a total population of 103,019 at the 2010 census, making it the 6th largest in the state and... |
Henry Blake Henry Blake (lighthouse keeper) Henry Blake was the first New Dungeness Lighthouse keeper.A USCG Coastal Buoy Tender WLM-563 based in Everett, Washington is named after him.-External links:*http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-a/awl/bclass/wlm/hblakebio.htm*... |
| USCGC George Cobb (WLM-564) | San Pedro, California | George Cobb |
Further reading
- Putnam, George R., Lighthouses and Lightships of the United States, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1933).
- United States Coast Guard, Aids to Navigation, (Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1945).