USCGC Alder (WAGL-216)

USCGC Alder (WAGL-216) was a wooden-hull lighthouse tender in commission in the fleet of the United States Lighthouse Service as USLHTAlder from 1924 to 1939, and in the fleet of the United States Coast Guard as USCGC Alder from 1939 until 1948. During World War II, she was given the additional designation (WAGL-216).

History
United States Lighthouse Service
Name: Alder
Launched: 1917
Completed: 1917
Acquired: acquired by the United States Lighthouse Service, March 1924
Fate: transferred to the United States Coast Guard, 1 July 1939
United States Coast Guard
Name: USCGC Alder (WAGL-216)
Namesake: Previous name retained
Acquired: 1 July 1939 (from U.S. Lighthouse Service)
Commissioned: December 1940
Reclassified: WAGL-216
Homeport: Ketchikan, Territory of Alaska
Fate: sold, 14 June 1948
General characteristics
Type: Lighthouse tender
Tonnage: 80 GRT[1]
Length: 72 ft (22 m) o/a[1]
Beam: 16 ft (4.9 m)[1]
Draught: 7.5 ft (2.3 m)[1]
Installed power: 110 bhp (82 kW)[1]
Propulsion: 1 screw, diesel[1]
Speed: 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph)[1]
Range: 875 miles (1,408 km)[1]
Complement: 9[1]

History

She was launched in 1917 and acquired by the United States Lighthouse Service in March 1924 for work as a lighthouse tender in the waters surrounding the Territory of Alaska.[1] In 1929, she exploded and sank but was soon after re-floated and rebuilt.[1] On 1 July 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Service was abolished and the United States Coast Guard took over its responsibilities and assets; and Adler became part of the Coast Guard fleet as USCGC Adler.[2] She continued to operate out of Ketchikan, Territory of Alaska as her home-port.[1] She was commissioned in December 1940 and attached to the newly created Alaska Sector of the 13th Naval District (headquartered at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard) where she was one of the few ships then in newly-appointed Captain R.C. Parker's small "Alaskan Navy" which consisted of the gunboat and flagship USS Charleston, the cutter USCGC Onondaga, three converted patrol craft (YP-72, YP-73, YP-74),[3] and her sister lighthouse tenders, USCGC Hemlock and USCG Cedar.[4][5] She was decommissioned on 11 December 1947.[1] On 14 June 1948, she was sold, renamed Acme, and operated as a merchant vessel.[1] In 1960, she was sold and renamed Lummi.[1] On 15 November 1960, she foundered and sank off the coast of Baja California.[1]

References
  1. Silverstone, Paul (10 September 2012). The Navy of World War II, 1922-1947. Routledge. p. 373. ASIN B009E1NGUM.
  2. Radigan, Joseph M. "USCGC Cedar (WAGL 207) ex-USS Cedar ex-USLHT Cedar". NavSource - Naval Source History. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  3. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Volume 5. United States Navy, Naval History Division. 1970. pp. 157–159. ASIN B000TRP0JU.
  4. The Coast Guard at War (PDF). United States Coast Guard. 15 February 1946. p. 59. The district also had three tenders in commission, Alder, Cedar, and Hemlock.
  5. Silverstone, Paul (10 September 2012). The Navy of World War II, 1922-1947. Routledge. p. 370. ASIN B009E1NGUM.
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