Office of Cutter Forces

Aircraft, Boats, and Cutters: Cutters

225-foot Seagoing Buoy Tender (WLB)

USCGC WALNUT (WLB 205) The 225' JUNIPER was commissioned in 1996 as the lead ship in the Coast Guard's Buoy Tender Replacement Project, a major acquisition to replace the WW II era 180' buoy tenders. The 225' WLB, along with the 175' WLM represent the latest in shipbuilding, propulsion, and ship control technology.

The 225' WLB is equipped with a single controllable pitch propeller, bow and stern thrusters which give the cutter the maneuverability it needs to tend buoys offshore and in restricted waters. A Sophisticated Machinery Plant Control and Monitoring System and an Electronic Chart Display and Information System enable the 225' cutters to reduce the watch standing complement compared to the 180' cutters. A Dynamic Positioning System can hold the vessel within a 10 meter circle using the Global Positioning System allowing the crew to service and position floating aids to navigation more efficiently than before in winds to 30 knots and 8 foot seas.


Characteristics:

Number in Service: 16
Length: 225 ft
Beam: 46 ft
Draft: 13 ft
Displacement: 2,000 tons
Buoy Deck Area: 2,875 ft2
Commissioned: 1996-2004
USCGC ELM (WLB 204)


225-foot WLBs in Service:

  • ALDER (WLB 216)  Duluth, MN
  • ASPEN (WLB 208)  San Francisco, CA
  • CYPRESS (WLB 210)  Mobile, AL
  • ELM (WLB 204)  Atlantic Beach, NC
  • FIR (WLB 213) Astoria, OR
  • HICKORY (WLB 212) Homer, AK
  • HOLLYHOCK (WLB 214) Port Huron, MI
  • JUNIPER (WLB 201)  Newport, RI
  • KUKUI (WLB 203)  Honolulu, HI
  • MAPLE (WLB 207)  Sitka, AK
  • OAK (WLB 211)  Charleston, SC
  • SEQUOIA (WLB 215) Apra Harbor, Guam
  • SPAR (WLB 206)  Kodiak, AK
  • SYCAMORE (WLB 209)  Cordova, AK
  • WALNUT (WLB 205)  Honolulu, HI
  • WILLOW (WLB 202)  Newport, RI
Last Modified 9/5/2008