Alder, 1924 (WAGL-216)
Any of various deciduous shrubs or trees of the genus Alnus, native chiefly to northern temperate regions and having alternate simple toothed leaves and tiny fruits in woody, cone-like catkins
Builder: ?
Length: 72'
Beam: 16'
Draft: 7' 6"
Displacement: 80 tons
Cost: ?
Launched: 1917 (commercial)
Commissioned: Purchased by the Lighthouse Service in 1924
Decommissioned: 11 December 1947
Disposition: Sold, 14 June 1948
Machinery: 1 Atlas Imperial diesel, 110 BHP, single screw
Performance: 8.0 knots maximum; range of 875 miles at 8.0 knots
Complement: 13 (1942)
Armament: 1 depth charge track (1945)
Tender History:
Alder, originally built as a wooden-hulled commercial vessel, was purchased from her owner by the Lighthouse Service in 1924. She served initially as an unmanned harbor launch based at Ketchikan, AK. She exploded and sank in June, 1929, but was salvaged and returned to service in 1930.
During the war she was based out of Ketchikan, Alaska. She was damaged while towing SS Tongass on 27 December 1942.
She was decommissioned on 11 December 1947 and was sold on 14 June 1948.
Sources:
Douglas Peterson. U.S. Lighthouse Service Tenders, 1840 - 1939. Annapolis, Maryland: Eastwind Publishing, 2000.
Robert Scheina. U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft of World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1982.