The United States Coast Guard commissioned a new Keeper class of coastal buoy tenders in the 1990s that are 175 feet (53 m) in length and named after lighthouse keepers.
Keeper Class cutters serve the Coast Guard in a variety of missions and 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 are also used for light ice breaking operations.
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 azimuth thruster 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 | Ida Lewis |
| USCGC Katherine Walker (WLM-552) | Bayonne, New Jersey | Katherine Walker |
| USCGC Abbie Burgess (WLM-553) | Rockland, Maine | Abbie Burgess |
| USCGC Marcus Hanna (WLM-554) | South Portland, Maine | Marcus Hanna |
| USCGC James Rankin (WLM-555) | Baltimore, Maryland | James Rankin |
| USCGC Joshua Appleby (WLM-556) | St. Petersburg, Florida | Joshua Appleby |
| USCGC Frank Drew (WLM-557) | Portsmouth, Virginia | Frank Drew |
| USCGC Anthony Petit (WLM-558) | Ketchikan, Alaska | Anthony Petit |
| USCGC Barbara Mabrity (WLM-559) | Mobile, Alabama | Barbara Mabrity |
| USCGC William Tate (WLM-560) | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | William Tate |
| USCGC Harry Claiborne (WLM-561) | Galveston, Texas | Harry Claiborne |
| USCGC Maria Bray (WLM-562) | Atlantic Beach, Florida | Maria Bray |
| USCGC Henry Blake (WLM-563) | Everett, Washington | Henry Blake |
| USCGC George Cobb (WLM-564) | San Pedro, California | George Cobb |
Famous quotes containing the words keeper and/or class:
“There is always a chance that he who sets himself up as his brother’s keeper will end up by being his jailkeeper.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)
“We of the sinking middle class ... may sink without further struggles into the working class where we belong, and probably when we get there it will not be so dreadful as we feared, for, after all, we have nothing to lose but our aitches.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)