USCGC ''Alder'' (WLB-216) is the final ''Juniper''-class, seagoing buoy tender of the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

. ''Alder'' was built by Marinette Marine Corporation and launched on February 7, 2004. ''Alder''s maiden voyage was on September 12, 2004. From commissioning until August 2022, ''Alder'' was assigned to

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 ...

as its home port. ''Alder'' replaced the previous cutter stationed in Duluth, , which retired after 60 years of service. In the summer of 2021, ''Alder'' was temporarily relocated to Baltimore, Maryland for a yearlong maintenance period. In August 2022, she was reassigned to the San Francisco Bay area. Her duties in the Twin Ports of Duluth/Superior were taken over by her sister tender . ''Alder'' is designed as a multi-mission vessel, with its missions being Aids to Navigation, Icebreaking, Search and Rescue, Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, and Marine Environmental Protection.

History

2010s

Operation Nanook 2010

In August 2010 the

guided missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers which have a pr ...

and USCGC ''Alder'' participated in

Operation Nanook 2010 Operation Nanook (OP NANOOK; ) is an annual sovereignty operation and manoeuvre warfare exercise conducted by the Canadian Armed Forces in the Arctic. Sovereignty patrols in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and northern Canada are conducted by ...

Baffin Bay Baffin Bay (Inuktitut: ''Saknirutiak Imanga''; ; ; ), located between Baffin Island and the west coast of Greenland, is defined by the International Hydrographic Organization as a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is sometimes considered a s ...

and the

Davis Straits The Davis Strait ( Danish: ''Davisstrædet'') is a southern arm of the Arctic Ocean that lies north of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. To the north is Baffin Bay. The strait was name ...

. This was the fourth annual Operation Nanook organized by the

Canadian Government The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes ministers of the Crown ( ...

, but it was the first to host foreign vessels.

References

External links

Official Web Page for USCGC ''Alder''
USCGC Alder (WLB-216) Ships of the United States Coast Guard Juniper-class seagoing buoy tenders 2004 ships Ships built by Marinette Marine {{US-mil-ship-stub