USCG seagoing buoy tender

The USCG seagoing buoy tender is a type of United States Coast Guard cutter originally designed to service aids to navigation throughout the waters of the United States, and wherever American shipping interests require. The U.S. Coast Guard has maintained a fleet of seagoing buoy tenders dating back to its origins in the U.S. Light House Service (USLHS). These ships originally were designated with the hull classification symbol WAGL, but in 1965 the designation was changed to WLB, which is still used today.

Two classes of the WLB cutters have been produced. The older class, the 180 ft-class cutters, were 180 feet (55 m) long. Thirty-nine of these vessels were built from 1942–1944. All but one were constructed in the shipyards of Duluth, Minnesota. The 180 fleet, many of which served for more than 50 years, all went through different mid-life modifications that essentially resulted in three different classes of ship. All of the 180s are now retired and have been replaced with the new 225-foot (69 m) Juniper-class cutters. The last 180-foot cutter, USCGC Acacia, was decommissioned on 7 June 2006.

WLB

WLB may refer to:

Organisations

Other uses