Loganberry, 1946

Feb. 7, 2021
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Loganberry, 1946

WLI-65305D


A trailing, prickly plant (Rubus ursinus var. loganobaccus) native to Oregon and south to Baja California, cultivated for its acid, edible fruit.


Builder:  Dubuque Boat & Boiler Company, Dubuque, Iowa

Length: 65'

Beam: 17'

Draft: 3' 6"

Displacement: 68 tons

Cost: N/A

Commissioned: 29 August 1946

Decommissioned: 30 September 1976

Disposition: 

Machinery: 1 DB-8 Superior diesel engine; 160 HP; single propeller

Performance & Endurance:

        Max: 8.0 knots; 1,000-mile range (1946)
        Cruising: 

Deck Gear: 

Complement: 5

Armament: None (small arms only -- one 12-gauge shotgun, one .45 caliber pistol as of 1946)

Electronics: Radiomariner Corporation TRC-121 radio (1946)

Call Letters: NLPO


Tender History:

The Loganberry was one of three 65-foot tenders built in 1946 by the Dubuque Boat & Boiler Company in Dubuque, Iowa, the other two were the Blackberry (WLI-65303) and Chokeberry (WLI-65304).  They were designed by the Coast Guard as inland buoy tenders and were not named until 1963.  They were designed to service short-range AtoN along coastal and inland waterways and keep waterways properly marked.  They were capable of operating in large semi-exposed inland waterways, straits, sounds, inlets, rivers, and bays.  They were also designed to push a 100-foot work barge.

The 65-foot buoy tenders had a white wheel house on a raised stern deck over the engine room, a stubby bow, and a large foredeck for the picking boom and working area.  A large hold for storing buoys and navigational supplies was located under the foredeck.  A small galley, head and berthing area provided overnight accommodations and comfort for the crew for up to five days.  They were capable of handling buoys of up to approximately 11 feet 8 inches in height by 5 feet in width, weighing up to 3,004 pounds.  The tenders were designed to work in up to 4-foot seas.  When they first entered service, they had pneumatic winches, manual vangs (pulleys and ropes), a block and tackles for the buoy boom.  This required three to four additional crew members on the deck to pull the buoys.  Over the years, the pneumatic and "muscle" powered winch were replaced with a hydraulic system in 1998 through 1999.

Over their years of service they underwent other changes as well.  Their steel bridge doors were replaced with stainless steel.  Their compass' were replaced and a more quiet exhaust system was installed.  Air conditioning was added as were newer and larger berths.  Their hulls were replaced due to age.  When launched they only carried their designation and hull number, none were named.  Coast Guard policy changed in the early 1960s and each received a name at that time.

Loganberry was accepted for the Coast Guard by LT Paul J. Borsky on 25 July 1946.  He turned her over to her OIC, CBM Frederich J. Grapengieser, on that same day.  She was commissioned on 29 August 1946.  She was originally stationed at Paducah, Kentucky, and was used to tend river aids to navigation and light ice-breaking duties in the Cumberland River area, from Mile 0 to the head of navigation at Mile 302.9.  She and her sisters were also called upon to carry out other Coast Guard missions such as law enforcement, marine safety, search and rescue, and training and public affairs duties when needed.   

From 16 to 17 February 1950 she assisted in flood relief at Smithland, Kentucky.  She transferred to Nashville, Tennessee in November of 1951 where she remained stationed until 31 June 1960.  From 1 July 1960 for the rest of her Coast Guard career she was based out of New Orleans.  On 20 October 1962 she assisted following the collision between the motor vessel Boheme and the tug Bonnie D at mile 148 above the Head of Passes.  On 3 December 1968 she sank in six feet of water in Lake Pontchartrain after she sprang a leak and her pumps failed.  She was refloated the next day by the cutter White Alder and two Coast Guard utility boats.  She was then towed to New Orleans by the cutter Point Spencer with the White Alder and the two utility boats escorting them.

Due to the deteriorating condition of her hull and the prohibitive cost for her repair, the Coast Guard ordered her decommissioning.  She was decommissioned on 30 September 1976.


Sources:

Cutter History File.  USCG Historian's Office, USCG HQ, Washington, D.C.

Robert Scheina.  U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft, 1946-1990.  Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1990.