The USCGC ''Iris'' (WLB-395) was a belonging to the
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...
launched on 18 May 1944 and commissioned on 11 August 1944.
Design
The
Iris-class buoy tenders were constructed after the
Mesquite-class buoy tenders. ''Iris'' cost $926,446 to construct and had an overall length of . She had a
beam of and a
draft
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
of up to at the time of construction, although this was increased to in 1966. She initially had a displacement of ; this was increased to in 1966. She was powered by one electric motor. This was connected up to two
Westinghouse generators which were driven by two CooperBessemer GND-8 four-cycle diesel engines. She had a single screw.
The ''Iris''-class buoy tenders had maximum sustained speeds of , although this diminished to around in 1966. For economic and effective operation, they had to initially operate at , although this increased to in 1966. The ships had a complement of six officers and seventy-four crew members in 1945; this decreased to two warrants, four officers, and forty-seven men in 1966. They were fitted with a SL1 radar system and QBE-3A sonar system in 1945. Their armament consisted of one
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 (identif ...
, two
20 mm
20 mm caliber is a specific size of popular autocannon ammunition. It is typically used to distinguish smaller-caliber weapons, commonly called "guns", from larger-caliber "cannons" (e.g. machine gun vs. autocannon). All 20 mm cartridges h ...
/80 guns, two Mousetraps, two depth charge tracks, and four Y-guns in 1945; these were removed in 1966.
Career
Upon receiving her commission, ''Iris'' was assigned to the 8th Coast Guard District and
homeported in
Galveston, Texas, where she was used for general
ATON
Aton, ATON or variants thereof may refer to:
People
* Aton Ben-Horin (born 1979), American music executive and record producer
* Aton Edwards (born c. 1962), American expert in the fields of emergency preparedness, self-reliance and sustainable ...
duties through the end of the war.
[ In April 1947, she assisted with evacuating the injured from the Texas City disaster in which carrying ]ammonium nitrate
Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, although it does not form hydrates. It is ...
exploded.[ In April 1989, she responded out to the Exxon Valdez oil spill and assisted with the clean up of ]Prince William Sound
Prince William Sound ( Sugpiaq: ''Suungaaciq'') is a sound of the Gulf of Alaska on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula. Its largest port is Valdez, at the southern terminus of the T ...
. In 1997, she was transferred to the Maritime Administration Maritime administrations, or flag state administrations, are the executive arms/state bodies of each government responsible for carrying out the shipping responsibilities of the state, and are tasked to administer national shipping and boating issue ...
.[
]
See also
* List of United States Coast Guard cutters
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iris
Iris-class seagoing buoy tenders
1944 ships
Historic American Engineering Record in Oregon
Ships built in Duluth, Minnesota