USCG seagoing buoy tender

The seagoing buoy tender is a class of small U.S. Coast Guard cutters that were designed to serve multiple missions in the Great Lakes and the oceans of the world. Their primary mission is to tend to all Coast Guard aids to navigation (ATON), such as buoys and lighthouses. In addition, they also perform search and rescue missions, light ice-breaking, and law enforcement.

Two classes of the WLB cutters have been produced. The older class, the "180" class WLB cutters, were 180 feet long. Forty of these sturdy vessels were built from 1942-1944. All but one were constructed in the shipyards of Duluth, Minnesota. All forty of the 180's are now retired and have been replaced with the new 225 foot "Juniper" class WLB.