Clematis, 1944
WAGL-286
A plant or vine of the genus Clematis of eastern Asia and North America, bearing white or variously colored flowers and plume-like seeds.
Builder: Peterson & Haecker, Limited, Blair, Nebraska
Length: 73' 6"
Beam: 18' 10"
Draft: 3' 6"
Displacement: 80 tons
Cost: $185,450
Commissioned: 28 July 1944
Decommissioned: 17 October 1976
Disposition: Transferred to the TVA, February 1977
Machinery: 2 Buda diesel engines; 150 BHP; twin propellers
Performance & Endurance:
Max: 9.6 knots
Cruising: 6.4 knots; 3,300 mile range
Complement: 8
Deck Gear: 1.5 ton capacity boom; electric hoist
Armament: None (small arms?)
Electronics: None (1944)
History:
The Clematis was one of two 73-foot inland buoy tenders built by Peterson & Haecker, Limited, of Blair, Nebraska, the other being Shadbush. They were designed by the Coast Guard with detail drawings by A. M. Deering of Chicago. In the mid-1960s, they had their pilothouses raised four feet off the buoy deck and the space left underneath was then used for storage.
The Clematis was assigned to the 8th Naval District and was based at Galveston, Texas, where she serviced aids to navigation and other duties. On 27 February 1952 she marked the wreck of the tug Ahepa and tanker Dubelly in Texas City Channel. On 15 April 1958 she collided with tug Crochet No. 2 in the Houston Ship Channel.
From 23 August 1966 until her decommissioning she was based out of Corpus Christi, Texas.
Sources:
Cutter History File. USCG Historian's Office, USCG HQ, Washington, D.C.
Robert Scheina. U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft of World War II. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1982.