Blackberry, 1946
WLI 65303
Any of various shrubs of the genus Rubus, having usually prickly stems, compound leaves, and an aggregate fruit of small drupelets.
Builder: Dubuque Boat & Boiler Company, Dubuque, IA
Length: 65’
Beam: 17’
Draft: 3’ 6” max
Displacement: 68 tons (fl)
Cost: N/A
Commissioned: 25 August 1946
Decommissioned: Active
Disposition: N/A
Machinery: 1 General Motors diesel, 220 hp, single propeller
Performance & Endurance:
Max: 10 knots, 830 mile range
Cruising: 8 knots, 913 mile range
Complement:
Armament: Small arms
Electronics:
History:
The 65-foot class tenders were designed as inland buoy tenders. There were three built by Dubuque Boat & Boiler Company and all were unnamed until 1963 (Blackberry, WLI-65303; Chokeberry, WLI-65304; Loganberry, WLI-65305).
WLI 65303 was commissioned on 24 August 1946 and was initially stationed at Sheffield, Alabama and was used for tending aids to navigation but was capable of conducting SAR and LE missions as needed. She remained based out of Sheffield until 1 April 1950 when she transferred to Paris, Tennessee. She remained there until she was transferred to Southport, North Carolina on 1 October 1962. She was named Blackberry sometime after 1963.
Sources:
Robert Scheina. U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft, 1946-1990. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1990.