Linden, 1931
WAGL / WLI-228
Linden: a shade tree of the genus Tilia, with heart-shaped leaves and fragrant yellow flowers.
Builder: Merrill Stevens Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Jacksonville, Florida
Length: 121' 4"
Beam: 25'
Draft: 6' 9"
Displacement: 400 tons
Cost: $169,110
Commissioned: 22 July 1931
Decommissioned: 29 May 1969
Disposition: Sold on 22 May 1970
Machinery: 1 electric motor driven by 2 General Electric generators driven by 2 Winton diesel engines; 240 SHP; single propeller
Performance & Endurance:
Max: 9.0 knots
Cruising: 8.0 knots; 1,600 mile range
Deck Gear: 8 ton boom; electric winch (1965); originally a lifting gear
Complement: 16 (1936)
Armament: None
Electronics: SPN-11 detection radar (1965)
Class History:
The United States Lighthouse Service Tender Linden was one of three tenders of the Linden-Class launched by the Lighthouse Service in the early 1930s. The other two were the Columbine and the Wistaria. They were designed as bay and sound tenders and were constructed of steel with a large open deck and hold space forward and a wood and steel superstructure. They were the first tenders built with diesel-electric drive. They were well designed and constructed and had a long service career with both the Lighthouse Service and the Coast Guard. A report issued by the Coast Guard in 1962 noted that the Columbine, sister ship to the Linden, that "although Columbine was designed for operation in inside waters, the last inclination experiment conducted on this vessel on 22 June 1948 . . . states . . . that the vessel . . . would have satisfactory stability under all normal operating conditions as a buoy tender on coastwise waters."
Tender History:
The Linden entered service on 22 July 1931 and was assigned to the 5th Lighthouse District out of Portsmouth, Virginia. She was the first diesel-electric drive to enter service. Her primary area of operation was the Chesapeake Bay, replacing the aged tender Laurel.
After the Lighthouse Service merged with the Coast Guard in 1939, she became known as USCGC Linden and when the Coast Guard transferred to Navy Department control in November, 1941, Linden was designated as WAGL-228. During the war she was assigned to the 5th Naval District and operated out of Washington, North Carolina where she continued with servicing aids to navigation and occasionally lending assistance to disabled craft when needed. She continued to operate out of Washington, NC, after the war until 1953. On 17 May 1950 she towed a disabled converted LCI off New River to Morehead City.
From 1 May 1953 until 31 December 1962 she was stationed at Portsmouth, Virginia. She grounded near Portsmouth on 10 February 1955 but sustained no damage. On 21 November 1955 she assisted a grounded merchant vessel near the Alligator River.
From 1 January 1963 until she was decommissioned on 29 May 1969 she was stationed at St. George, Staten Island, and Governors Island in New York. She was sold on 22 May 1970 and saw service as the freighter Venture.
Sources:
Douglas Peterson. United States Lighthouse Service Tenders, 1840-1939. Annapolis: Eastwind Publishing, 2000.
Robert Scheina. U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft of World War II. Annapolis: Eastwind Publishing, 1982.
Robert Scheina. U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft, 1946-1990. Annapolis: Eastwind Publishing, 1990.