USCGC ''Sagebrush'' (WLB-399) was a USCG seagoing buoy tender. An ''Iris'' class vessel, she was built by Zenith Dredge Corporation. On 15 July 1943 the keel was laid; she was launched on 30 September 1943 and commissioned on 1 April 1944. She was decommissioned on 26 April 1988 and

scuttled Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull, typically by its crew opening holes in its hull. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vesse ...

at some point after 6 July 1988.

Ship history

Sagebrush was built by the Zenith Dredge Corporation of

Duluth, Minnesota Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

during World War II. The original cost for the hull and machinery was $925,134. From March to April 1944 she acted as an

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

on the Great Lakes. She spent the rest of her service life home-ported in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

, from which she maintained floating and fixed aids-to-navigation (AtoN) in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and surrounding waters. In addition to her main duties, she performed

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

Search-and-Rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

(SAR), drug and illegal alien interdiction patrols, and provided logistical services in her area of operations. She also made occasional "show the flag" visits to various independent and colonial islands around the

Leeward Islands The Leeward Islands () are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In Engl ...

to foster international familiarity and cooperation in the region. She served as OSC (On Scene Commander) for the search and rescue mission following the crash of the aircraft carrying

Roberto Clemente Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker (; August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball player who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, primarily as a right fielder. On December ...

and his supplies for Managua earthquake victims in January 1973. Sagebrush located the wreckage of the plane in 129 feet of water in the Atlantic Ocean north of Puerto Rico, and recovered the pilot's body, but the body of Clemente was never found. In 1974, her crew, under then Captain, LCDR. Lindon Onstad, also conducted the successful rescue of four persons from an overturned cabin cruiser in the surf on the rocky north coast just west of the entrance to San Juan Harbor. Several members of the crew received personal commendations for that action. The ship underwent a three-month Service Life Extension & Rehabilitation yard maintenance program at the

United States Coast Guard Yard The United States Coast Guard Yard or just Coast Guard Yard is a United States Coast Guard operated shipyard located on Curtis Bay in northern Anne Arundel County, Maryland, just south of the Baltimore city limits. It is the Department of Homela ...

in Curtis Bay, Maryland, in the spring of 1973. She then returned to San Juan and worked out her service career there. In 1978 the Sagebrush ran aground on the reef north of the channel that is charted south of the island of Culebra in the Spanish Virgins East of Puerto Rico, a narrow strait of water with numerous corral outcroppings located between Puerto Rico and St. Thomas. The ship was on a return trip to San Juan after a patrol.KC O'Dunn, Crew Member In 1978 on its return to Puerto Rico from a yard period in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, to repair the damage done in the grounding, the ship captured the M/V Heidi off the Florida East coast. The Heidi carried a record payload of marijuana in excess of 100 tons. In April 1988, she was decommissioned, then salvaged by a group who intended to use her as part of a man-made reef off the Georgia coast between

St. Simons Island St. Simons Island (or simply St. Simons) is a barrier island and census-designated place (CDP) located on St. Simons Island in Glynn County, Georgia, United States. The names of the community and the island are interchangeable, known simply as ...

and

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

. She was scuttled off of

St. Catherines Island St. Catherines Island is a Sea Islands, sea island on the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, south of Savannah, Georgia, Savannah in Liberty County, Georgia, Liberty County. The island, located between St. Catherine's So ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

on 28 April 1988. The helm from ''Sagebrush'' is on display in the National Aids to Navigation Museum in Canfield Hall at the Coast Guard's

Training Center Yorktown The United States Coast Guard Training Center (TRACEN) in Yorktown, Virginia, is one of eight major Coast Guard training facilities in the United States. The others are Training Center Petaluma, Training Center Cape May, Aviation Training Cente ...

Gallery

File:Sagebrush bridge.JPG, Bridge of ''Sagebrush'', 1984 File:Sagebrush in Panama Canal.JPG, ''Sagebrush'' in the Panama Canal, 1984 File:Sagebrush aft view.JPG, View from the aft of ''Sagebrush'' in the Panama Canal, 1984 File:Sagebrush with Sleeping Marines.JPG, Sleeping U.S. Marines aboard ''Sagebrush'' in the Panama Canal, 1984

References

External links

Brief history at the Coast Guard Channel
*http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Sagebrush1944.asp *http://www.coastguardchannel.com/spclFeatures/sagebrush.shtml * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sagebrush WLB-399 1943 ships Historic American Engineering Record in Puerto Rico Iris-class seagoing buoy tenders Icebreakers of the United States Coast Guard Ships built in Duluth, Minnesota Ships sunk as artificial reefs Shipwrecks of the Georgia (U.S. state) coast