USCGC Acacia (WLB-406)
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The USCGC ''Acacia'' (WAGL-406/WLB-406) is an Iris-class 180-foot seagoing buoy tender operated by the United States Coast Guard. ''Acacia'' was a multi-purpose vessel, nominally a
buoy A buoy () is a floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. Types Navigational buoys * Race course marker buoys are used for buoy racing, the most prevalent form of yac ...
tender, but with equipment and capabilities for
ice breaking An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and Ice navigation, 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 r ...
,
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 ...
, fire fighting, logistics, oil spill response, and other tasks as well. She spent almost all of her 62-year Coast Guard career on the Great Lakes. After decommissioning she became a museum ship in Manistee, Michigan.


Construction and characteristics

''Acacia'' was built at the Zenith Dredge Company shipyard in Duluth, Minnesota. Her keel was laid down on January 16, 1944, she was launched on April 7, 1944, and she was commissioned on September 1, 1944. She was the second-to-last of the 39 similar 180-foot seagoing buoy tenders built. Her original coast was $927,156. Her hull was constructed of welded steel plates framed with steel I-beams. As originally built, ''Acacia'' was long, with a beam of , and a draft of . Her displacement was 935 tons. While her overall dimensions remained the same over her career, the addition of new equipment raised her displacement to 1,025 tons by the end of her Coast Guard service. She was designed to perform light ice-breaking. Her hull was reinforced with an "ice belt" of thicker steel around her waterline to protect it from punctures. Similarly, her bow was reinforced and shaped to ride over ice in order to crush it with the weight of the ship. ''Acacia'' had a single 5-blade propeller in diameter. It was driven by a diesel-electric propulsion system. Two Cooper-Bessemer GND-8 4-cycle 8-cylinder Diesel engines produced 600 horsepower each. They provided power to two Westinghouse generators. The electricity from the generators ran an electric motor which turned the propeller. She had a single cargo boom which had the ability to lift 20 tons onto her buoy deck. The ship's fuel tanks had a capacity of approximately ''. Acacia's'' unrefueled range was at 13 knots, at 12 knots, and at 8.3 knots. Her potable water tanks had a capacity of . Considering dry storage capacity and other factors, her at-sea endurance was 21 days. Her wartime complement was 6 officers and 74 enlisted men. By 1964 this was reduced to 5 officers, 2 warrant officers, and 42 enlisted personnel. ''Acacia'' was initially armed with a
3"/50 caliber gun The 3"/50 caliber gun (spoken "three-inch fifty-caliber") in United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun fired a projectile in diameter, and the barrel was 50 calibers long (barrel length is 3 in × 50 = ). Different guns (identifi ...
mounted behind the pilot house. She also had two 20mm guns, one mounted on top of the wheelhouse and one on the aft deck. She carried these weapons in the Great Lakes under a wartime agreement with the Government of Canada. The Rush-Bagot Treaty had largely demilitarized the lakes, but the United States and Canada agreed to suspend some of its provisions during World War II. After the war ended, the treaty came back into full effect and all of ''Acacia's'' on-deck armament was removed, leaving only small arms for law enforcement actions. In 2006 ''Acacia'' and the other 10 Coast Guard cutters in the Great Lakes were armed with M 240B machine guns. This action was taken due to greater concerns regarding smuggling and terrorists entering the United States by boat. It was preceded by consultation with the Government of Canada under the terms of the Rush-Bagot Treaty. At the time of construction, ''Acacia'' was designated WAGL, an auxiliary vessel, lighthouse tender. The designation was system was changed in 1965, and she was redesignated WLB, an oceangoing buoy tender. The ship's original name was ''Thistle'', but when it was learned that the US Army was operating USAHS ''Thistle'' the Coast Guard changed it to ''Acacia.'' She was named after the United States Lighthouse Service tender ''Acacia'', the only tender sunk during World War II.


Operating history

''Acacia's'' first home port was Detroit, Michigan. Her primary mission was maintaining aids to navigation. Much of her activity was driven by the annual advance and retreat of heavy winter ice on the Great Lakes. Buoys were brought to port in the fall to prevent them from being damaged, sunk, or set adrift by ice. ''Acacia'' was reported to have picked up about 150 buoys from the Detroit River and nearby waters in ten days in December 1948. Buoys were cleaned, repaired, and repainted over the winter and redeployed by the ship in the spring. Her second mission was icebreaking, a service she performed throughout her career. One aspect of her icebreaking work was to free ships that became trapped in the ice. In January 1945, for example, the freighter ''James Watt'' with a cargo of coal for the Ford River Rogue factory became ice-bound in Lake Erie. She struggled to free herself for two days without success. ''Acacia'' freed her within a half-hour of her arrival. In a similar case, she freed two tankers and a collier from Lake Erie ice in December 1951. A second icebreaking role was to escort ships through the ice, breaking a channel for the ship following her. This service was not without risk. On April 1, 1954 ''Acacia'' was leading the tanker ''L. S. Westcoat'' through the ice when she was rammed in the stern by her charge. The hulls of both vessels were damaged. A third icebreaking activity was to clear shipping lanes for future ship traffic. ''Acacia'' cleared ice in Lake Erie, the
Straits of Mackinac The Straits of Mackinac ( ; french: Détroit de Mackinac) are the short waterways between the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas, traversed by the Mackinac Bridge. The main strait is wide with a maximum depth of , and connects ...
,
Lake St. Clair Lake St. Clair (french: Lac Sainte-Claire) is a freshwater lake that lies between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Michigan. It was named in 1679 by French Catholic explorers after Saint Clare of Assisi, on whose feast day ...
e, and the Saint Claire River. ''Acacia'' also participated in numerous search and rescue missions. In October 1951, the freighter ''George F. Rand'' collided with another ship in the Saint Claire River. Her hull was breached and she began to flood. ''Acacia'' was dispatched to provide assistance which included emergency pumps to control the flooding. On June 1, 1956 ''Acacia'' towed the disabled freighter ''George Hindman'' from the Saint Claire River where she was blocking ship traffic. The freighter ''Daniel J. Morrell'' broke up and sank in a storm on
Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...
in November 1966. ''Acacia'' was dispatched to search for the crew and recovered the bodies of eight. A happier outcome was obtained after two freighters collided at the mouth of the Saint Claire River during the night of August 26, 1971. ''Acacia'' was able to rescue 16 people from ''Trans Michigan''. In the summer of 1958 ''Acacia's'' home port was changed to
Port Huron, Michigan Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 30,184 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administered separately. Located along the St. Clair ...
, where a new berth was built for her. The city spent $10,667 on the dock. The change in home port did not fundamentally change the ship's mission. She was responsible for 145 aids to navigation in the Port Huron area. She continued to break ice in the Saint Claire River, and during several winters participated in "Operation Coal Shovel" to break ice between Toledo, Ohio and Detroit for the coal ships supplying power plants and industries in Detroit. In May 1975 ''Acacia'' sailed from Port Huron to the
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 largest industrial fac ...
in Curtis Bay, Maryland for major renovations. The majority of ''Acacia's'' crew transferred to the freshly renovated USCGC ''Bramble'' and sailed their new ship back to Port Huron. ''Acacia's'' main electrical motor was renovated, and new electrical switchboards and wiring were installed. Her main engines were overhauled. Crew spaces were modernized and enlarged by reducing the size of the forward hold. Water pipes were replaced and a new sewage system was installed. A bow thruster was added to improve the ship's maneuverability. The electric drive that ran the cargo boom was replaced with a hydraulic system. Over $9 million was appropriated for this renovation. After her refit, ''Acacia'' was assigned to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, where she replaced USCGC ''Mesquite'', which was beginning her own renovation. ''Mesquite's'' crew was assigned to ''Acacia''. Upon leaving the Coast Guard Yard, ''Acacia'' sailed to the
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
for training exercises. She arrived at her new homeport in September 1976. Her time at Sturgeon Bay was similar to her earlier service in Lakes Huron and Erie. Heavy seasonal ice drove much of her work on the buoy system and icebreaking was a frequent responsibility. In the spring of 1979 ''Acacia'' was transferred to
Grand Haven, Michigan Grand Haven is a city within the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Ottawa County. Grand Haven is located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Grand River, for which it is named. As of the 2010 census, Grand Ha ...
. She was replaced in Sturgeon Bay by the newly launched USCGC ''Mobile Bay''. Though moved across
Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...
, ''Acacia'' remained responsible for maintaining the same fleet of 220 buoys from
Calumet Harbor The Port of Chicago consists of several major port facilities within the city of Chicago, Illinois, operated by the Illinois International Port District (formerly known as the Chicago Regional Port District). It is a multimodal facility featuring ...
to Little Bay De Noc. The smaller ''Mobile Bay'' did not have a crane capable of the work. She did get at least one new job while based at Grand Haven. In 1984, in cooperation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hatcheries and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, ''Acacia'' released 400,000 lake trout fingerlings on offshore reefs in Lake Michigan. It was hoped that fish released in the middle of the lake would have a higher survival rate than those released along the shore. For four months during the winter of 19871988 ''Acacia'' was temporarily assigned to patrol Caribbean waters. During one of her patrols she intercepted 88
Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
ans on a 45-foot (14 meter) wooden boat attempting to reach Florida. These refugees were repatriated to Haiti. She also assisted in the arrest of two Cuban drug smugglers. She arrived back in Grand Haven in April 1988, in time to replace buoys after the spring ice break-up. In December 1989, ''Acacia'' responded to the grounding of USCGC ''Mesquite'' off of the
Keweenaw Peninsula The Keweenaw Peninsula ( , sometimes locally ) is the northernmost part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It projects into Lake Superior and was the site of the first copper boom in the United States, leading to its moniker of "Copper Country." As o ...
in Lake Superior. ''Acacia'' was able to assist in stabilizing the wreck and containing the diesel oil spill. She was awarded the
Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or s ...
for her work, but winter storms destroyed the abandoned ''Mesquite''. The Coast Guard reassigned ''Acacia'' to Charlevoix, Michigan to replace ''Mesquite''. There was no replacement cutter assigned to Grand Haven, reducing the number of buoy tenders in the Great Lakes from five to four. The Coast Guard justified the move based on cost savings, but others attributed it to the influence of U.S. Representative Bob Davis, who represented Charlevoix in Congress. He was vice-chairman of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee at the time. The move left ill-feeling towards the Coast Guard in Grand Haven. ''Acacia'' arrived at her new homeport on June 15, 1990. After rioting broke out in Cuba in August 1994,
Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
announced that anyone who wanted to leave the country could. Thousands did so, creating a crisis of unsafe small boats and rafts intent on reaching the United States. On August 26, 1994 ''Acacia'' was ordered to the Caribbean to respond. By the time she reached the area, Operation Uphold Democracy, the United States intervention to restore
Jean-Bertrand Aristide Jean-Bertrand Aristide (born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in ...
to the presidency of Haiti, was underway. ''Acacia'' was retasked to survey and buoy the major ports that were used to support the operation including
Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...
, Cap-Hatien, and Miragoane. The ship earned the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for her work in Haiti. She returned to Charlevoix on November 17, 1994. ''Acacia'' was decommissioned on June 7, 2006, after 62 years of service. She was the last of the 180-foot buoy tenders to be retired.


Museum

Immediately after decommissioning, ''Acacia'' was donated to the State of Illinois for the benefit of the American Academy of Industry. This nonprofit group planned to turn her into a maritime museum in Chicago. The vessel, which was delivered in full working order with only her machine guns removed, was temporarily moored at Burns Harbor in Indiana. The plan for a Chicago-based museum was never executed because suitable moorage could not be found. Through the efforts of a common board member, the ship was transferred from the American Academy of Industry to The Society for the Preservation of the S.S. City of Milwaukee. On October 16, 2009, ''Acacia'' steamed under her own power to Manistee, Michigan, where she became part of the SS ''City of Milwaukee'' National Historic Landmark museum. The ship was dedicated in her new museum role on August 13, 2011. ''Acacia'' is open to the public as part of the museum.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Acacia Historic American Engineering Record in Michigan Iris-class seagoing buoy tenders Museum ships in Michigan Ships built in Duluth, Minnesota 1944 ships Museums in Manistee County, Michigan