CGC OAK (WLB-211)
Charleston, South Carolina
OAK's Motto: A tripartite scroll inscribed with DECORA FIDES ROBUR (Honor, Faithfulness, Strength). Decora specifically denotes distinguished acts in a military context. Robur is literally "hard wood," giving the idea of strength a very concrete and literal meaning. Fides is an abstraction framed by two concrete notions (honor and strength), which are the tools through which we express our faithfulness.
About 225' Sea-going Buoy Tenders
The 225 WLB is equipped with a single controllable pitch propeller, a bow and a stern thruster which gives the cutter the maneuverability it needs to tend buoys offshore and in restricted waters. A sophisticated Machinery Plant Control and Monitoring System (MPCMS) and an Electronic Chart Display and Information System enable the cutter to reduce the watch standing complement compared to the 180 cutters. A Dynamic Positioning System (DPS) can hold the vessel within a ten meter circle using the Global Positioning System (GPS) allowing the crew to service and position floating aids to navigation more precisely than before in winds up to thirty knots and eight foot seas.
Characteristics
| Length: 225' | Beam: 46' | Draft: 13' | Displacement: 2000 tons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Officers: 8 | Crew: 42 | Speed: 15 kts | Ice Breaking: 14" |
OAK: Past and Present
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter OAK is one of 16 sea-going buoy tenders. The first Cutter OAK was one of only two cutters of the OAK Class built in 1921 in New York, measuring 160 feet in length, 30-foot beam, and 875 ton displacement with a draft of 9 feet, 6 inches. The cutter was powered by a 700-horsepower steam engine which is currently displayed in the Smithsonian Museum of American History. With a crew of 5 officers and 23 enlisted, the cutter was responsible for servicing and maintaining the buoys and lighthouses in New York Harbor and along the northeast coast of the United States.
The present day cutter was launched on 26 January 2002 and delivered to the Coast Guard on 17 October 2002. A state of the art cutter, OAK was designed to conduct the widest array of missions of any ship in the Coast Guard Fleet. Since being commissioned in March 2003, CGC OAK has conducted nearly every one of the service's missions throughout the southeast United States and U.S. interests in the Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. During the first five years of operation, OAK has serviced over 750 aids to navigation, interdicted and repatriated over 460 illegal migrants, conducted homeland security operations, boarded and cleared over 75 container ships entering critical military ports, supported the Combined Joint Task Force in Haiti, repaired navigation aids and cleared waterways impacted by Hurricanes Isabel, Katrina, Charley, Jeanne, and Frances, trained with the Spilled Oil Recovery System, and conducted several Search and Rescue Missions.