Background and Ship Development
Conifer's heritage can be traced back to the late 1930s, when the United States Lighthouse Service initiated a series of preliminary designs for a ship to replace their aging fleet of lighthouse tenders. The tenders were designed to provide logistics support (fuel, fresh water, and food) to manned off-shore lighthouses. They were also equipped to service the relatively few buoys in operation at that time.
In 1940 the Lighthouse Service merged into the Coast Guard (The Coast Guard was formed in 1913 when the U.S. Revenue Service was combined with the U.S. Life Saving Service). The Coast Guard amended the tender designs to include Search and Rescue (SAR) features and an icebreaking capability, making them the first true "multi-mission" capable cutters. The SAR requirements provided finer design lines at the bow and stern, and a reduced beam to length ratio. A larger deckhouse was incorporated to increase the available interior space. Single screw propulsion, a cutaway forefoot under the bow, and rounded bilges facilitated ice-breaking. The hull displacement was 960 long tons (980 t). To reduce costs, on available off-the-shelf technology was utilized. The contract for the lead ship was awarded to Zenith Dredge Company of Duluth, Minnesota, in January 1941.
The new class of Cutter was originally designated "WAGL" and was later changed to "WLB". The "W" is the navy's abbreviation or "Coast Guard", the "L" designates it as a lighthouse/buoy tender, and the "B" signifies it as a seagoing tender. The Coast Guard also operates three smaller classes of buoy tenders: WLM's (Coastal), WLI's (Inland), and WLR's (River). During the next 3 years the Coast Guard acquired a total of 39 WLB's: 17 built by Zenith, 21 were built by Marine Iron and Shipbuilding, also located in Duluth, and one was built at the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore, Maryland. Three different classes of WLB's were built: thirteen "A" (or Cactus) class, six "B" (or Mesquite) class, and twenty "C" (or Iris) class. Tenders are assigned botanical names, a tradition that stems back to 1867.
Read more about this topic: USCGC Conifer (WLB-301)
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