USCGC Willow (WLB-202)
USCGC Willow in August 2011
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | USCGC Willow (WLB-202) |
Namesake | Willow tree |
Builder | |
Launched | June 1996 |
Commissioned | April 1997 |
Identification |
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Motto | IN OMNIA PARATUS (Prepared for Everything)[1] |
Status | in active service |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Juniper-class seagoing buoy tender[4] |
Displacement | 2,000 long tons (2,000 t) full load[3] |
Length | 225 ft (69 m) |
Beam | 46 ft (14 m) |
Draft | 13 ft (4.0 m) |
Speed |
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Range | 6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
Complement | 8 officers, 40 enlisted |
The USCGC Willow (WLB-202) is a United States Coast Guard seagoing buoy tender, the third of her name and the second of the Juniper-class. She is home-ported in Charleston, South Carolina, where she replaced her sister ship USCGC Oak in servicing 257 aids to navigation in District 7. Willow's area of operations stretches from South Carolina down to Caribbean, including Puerto Rico, Cuba, U.S. Virgin Islands and Haiti. In addition to her primary aids-to-navigation (ATON) role, Willow also performs other duties, such as maritime border security, marine environmental protection, maritime law enforcement, and search and rescue. The Willow transitioned from her former home port of Newport, RI in 2017 after spending over a year in a Baltimore dry dock being refitted and modernized.
Construction and characteristics
USCGC Willow was built by the
Mission
USCGC Willow has an area of responsibility within the Seventh Coast Guard District between South Carolina, and the Caribbean Sea. While her primary mission is servicing ATON, she is also tasked with maritime law enforcement, marine pollution prevention and response, treaty enforcement, defense and homeland security, and search and rescue. Willow is also responsible for the periodic servicing of weather buoys operated by the National Data Buoy Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).[5] Willow has an icebreaking capability of 14 in (0.36 m) at 3 knots and 3 ft (0.91 m) backing and ramming.[3]
History
Upon commissioning, Willow conducted the first trans-Atlantic crossing by a U.S. Coast Guard buoy tender in 33 years. On her 68-day voyage she represented the United States in several international festivals and events and made port calls in
See also
Notes
- Citations
- ^ "Symbolism of Willow's Crest", CGC Willow (WLB-202), U.S. Coast Guard
- ^ "Marinette Marine Corp., Marinette WI", Index to U.S. Shipbuilders and Boatbuilders, shipbuildinghistory.com website
- ^ a b "CGC Willow (WLB-202)", United States 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
- ^ a b c "Willow: Past and Present", CGC Willow (WLB-202), U.S. Coast Guard
- ^ "Fleet Week begins with parade of ships through New York Harbor", Staten Island Advance website, 25 May 2011
- ^ "Ships to leave St. John’s on arctic sovereignty mission Friday", The Telegram website, Moncton, 4 August 2011
- ^ Shuntich, Natalie J., "Willow works the waterways", COAST GUARD Compass Official Blog of the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Coast Guard, 6 November 2012
- References used
- "225-foot Seagoing Buoy Tender (WLB)". Cutters, Craft & U.S. Coast Guard-Manned Army & Navy Vessels. U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
- "CGC Willow (WLB-202)". United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
- "Fleet Week begins with parade of ships through New York Harbor". Staten Island Advance website. 25 May 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- "Marinette Marine Corp., Marinette WI". Index to U.S. Shipbuilders and Boatbuilders. shipbuildinghistory.com website. Archived from the original on 7 December 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
- "Ships to leave St. John's on arctic sovereignty mission Friday". Moncton: The Telegram website. 4 August 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- "Symbolism of Willow's Crest". CGC Willow (WLB-202). U.S. Coast Guard. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
- "Willow: Past and Present". CGC Willow (WLB-202). U.S. Coast Guard. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
- Shuntich, Natalie J. (6 November 2012). "Willow works the waterways". COAST GUARD Compass Official Blog of the U.S. Coast Guard. U.S. Coast Guard. Retrieved 5 April 2014.