OAK launch

The USCG Cutter OAK (WLB 211) is a 225-foot Juniper Class Seagoing Buoy Tender. It is the first Coast Guard Cutter (actually, the first Coast Guard vessel of any type) that I have been on. The Oak, which is the 11th Juniper Class Cutter, was built by Marinette Marine in Wisconsin. The Cutter Oak is replacing the Cutter Madrona (WLB 302), which was decommissioned on April 12, 2002. The Cutter Madrona, built in 1943, has been sold to the El Salvadorian Navy.

In the U.S. Coast Guard, a Cutter is any vessel 65-feet or longer. The history of Coast Guard Cutters and Cutters in general, is available on the U.S. Coast Guard history website.

Buoy Tenders build and maintain the Aids to Navigation (ATON's) throughout the United States territorial waters and on inland waterways. These markers provide the necessary traffic control to allow recreational and commercial boaters to travel safely and efficiently, while sharing the crowded waterways. The WLB (seagoing bouy tenders) and WLM (coastal waters bouy tenders) Cutters are also involved in other U.S. Coast Guard missions: Search and Rescue (SAR), maritime enforcement, interdiction, security, and ice breaking. In particular, the Oak will maintain the largest buoys in the Coast Guard’s inventory of more than 50,000 aids to navigation.

Juniper Class Cutters can carry crews of 40 and each have a single controllable pitch propeller, a bow thruster, a stern thruster for improved maneuverability. They also have Spilled Oil Recovery Systems (SORS) to assist with environmental protection. The cutters has a beam of 46-feet, a draft of 13-feet and displaces 2,000 tons. The cutters' power plants each consist of two Caterpillar diesel engines and it will have the ability to break 14 inches of ice at three knots. The Juniper Class fleet will include sixteen 225-foot seagoing buoy tenders, eight of which are already in service.

USCGC Oak Launch Photos January 26, 2002
	USCGC OAK on the ways awaiting her launch.
	Mrs. Henry Brown Christens USCGC OAK.
	USCGC OAK sliding off the launch ways.
	USCGC OAK making her first big splash.
	A view of USCGC OAK hitting the water from across the Menominee River.
Some of the pictures and graphics are provided by the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Association, Inc. Those images are not intended for commercial use.