USCGC ''Firebush'' (WLB-393) was an 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 3 February 1944 and commissioned on 20 July 1944. She was eventually transferred to the

Nigerian Navy The Nigerian Navy (NN) is a branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is among the largest navies on the Africa, African continent, consisting of several thousand personnel, including those of the Coast Guard. History The Nigerian Navy owes its o ...

in June 2003 and renamed ''Nwamba''.

Design

The s were constructed after the s. ''Firebush'' cost $926,446 to construct and had an overall length of . She had a beam of and a draft 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 Cooper Bessemer GND-8 four-cycle diesel engines. The vessel 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 ha ...

/80-caliber guns, two Mousetraps, two

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use ...

tracks, and four Y-guns in 1945; these were removed in 1966.

Career

''Firebush'' was first assigned to the 3rd Coast Guard District and homeported in St. George, Staten Island, and later to Governors Island, New York, where she was used for ATON duties during the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In June 1979, she was transferred to

Kodiak, Alaska Kodiak ( Alutiiq: , russian: Кадьяк), formerly Paul's Harbor, is the main city and one of seven communities on Kodiak Island in Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska. All commercial transportation between the island's communities and the outside ...

to assist with ATON in Alaskan waters. During her time there, she tended 140 aids to navigation including 83 buoys. In May 2003, ''Firebush'' was decommissioned and turned over to the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Firebush Historic American Engineering Record in Alaska Iris-class seagoing buoy tenders 1943 ships Ships of the Nigerian Navy Ships built in Duluth, Minnesota Ships transferred from the United States Coast Guard to the Nigerian Navy

Design

Career

See also

References

External links