USCGC Kukui (WLB-203)
Kukui off of South Shelter Island in 2019
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | USCGC Kukui (WLB-203) |
Namesake | The state tree of Hawaii |
Operator | United States Coast Guard |
Builder | |
Launched | 3 May 1997 |
Homeport | Sitka, Alaska, U.S. |
Identification |
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Status | in active service |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Juniper-class sea going buoy tender[2] |
Displacement | 2,000 tons (full load) |
Length | 225 ft (69 m) |
Beam | 46 ft (14 m) |
Draft | 13 ft (4.0 m) |
Propulsion | 2 x 3,100 hp Caterpillar diesel engines |
Speed | 16 knots |
Armament | 2 x .50 caliber heavy machine guns |
USCGC Kukui (WLB-203) is the third cutter in the Juniper-class 225 ft (69 m) of
Construction and characteristics
USCGC Kukui was built by the
Mission
USCGC Kukui is a seagoing buoy tender with her primary mission being the servicing of aids-to navigation buoys in her area of responsibility (AOR) within the Seventeenth Coast Guard District. Kukui's other missions include maritime law enforcement, homeland security, ensuring the security of ports and waterways, maritime environmental response, as well as search and rescue duties. She is home-ported in Sitka, Alaska. Her primary area of responsibility is the inland and coastal waters of southeastern Alaska.
History
USCGC Kukui is named after the official state tree of Hawaii and is the third ship to bear the name. USCGC Kukui (WAK-186) was the second ship to bear the name.[1] While stationed in Hawaii, Kukui was involved in the rescue of a Taiwanese fisherman from the fishing vessel Sheng Yi Tsai No. 166 on December 5, 2007. The injured fisherman was transferred to Kukui via the cutter's small boat over 200 nm from Johnson Atoll, an isolated atoll historically used by the U.S. military as an airbase, nuclear and biological weapons site, and secret missile base. Kukui proceeded to Johnson Atoll where the fisherman was brought ashore. A C-130 Hercules from Air Station Kodiak landed at the abandoned airfield after the crew of Kukui swept the airstrip for debris. The fisherman was flown to Honolulu for advanced medical treatment.[3]
See also
Notes
- Citations
- ^ a b c "CGC KUKUI's History", U.S. Coast Guard
- ^ a b c d "225-foot Seagoing Buoy Tender (WLB)", Cutters, Craft & U.S. Coast Guard-Manned Army & Navy Vessels, U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office
- ^ "COAST GUARD SUCCESSFUL ON RISKY MEDEVAC FROM JOHNSTON ISLAND". 17 July 2011. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
- References
- "225-foot Seagoing Buoy Tender (WLB)". Cutters, Craft & U.S. Coast Guard-Manned Army & Navy Vessels. U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
- "CGC KUKUI's History". U.S. Coast Guard. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
Further reading
- Tlapa, Gregory (Spring 2011). "The "Black Hull" Fleet" (PDF). Proceedings. U.S. Coast Guard. pp. 10–15. Retrieved 2 April 2014.