USCGC ''Spar'' (WLB-206) is a

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 ...

''Juniper''-class seagoing buoy tender home-ported in

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 ...

. The ship maintains

aids to navigation A navigational aid (NAVAID), also known as aid to navigation (ATON), is any sort of signal, markers or guidance equipment which aids the traveler in navigation, usually nautical or aviation travel. Common types of such aids include lighthouses, ...

in the

Twin Ports The Duluth MN–WI Metropolitan Area, commonly called the Twin Ports, is a small metropolitan area centered around the cities of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin. The Twin Ports are located at the western part of Lake Superior (the we ...

and

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

Construction

The

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

for ''Spar'' was laid on December 15, 1999 at

Marinette Marine Corporation Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) is an American shipbuilding firm in Marinette, Wisconsin. Marinette Marine was a subsidiary of Manitowoc Marine Group of Wisconsin from 2000 to 2009, when it was sold to Fincantieri Marine Group. History M ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. ''Spar'' was launched on August 12, 2000. She was christened by US attorney general Janet Reno. Also speaking at her launch ceremony was US senator Herb Kohl, and US Coast Guard Vice Admiral Timothy Josiah. She was the sixth of the fourteen ''Juniper''-class ships launched. Her hull is constructed of welded steel plates. She is long and has a beam of . She is capable of maintaining a sustained speed of 15 knots. The ship has thirteen diesel fuel tanks capable of holding 74,498 gallons. ''Spar'' has an unrefueled range of 6,000 miles at 12 knots. ''Spar'' has a single variable-pitch propeller that is powered by two

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

3608 Diesel engines, each with an indicated 3,100 shp. There are two electric maneuvering thrusters, the bow thruster producing 460 hp and the stern thruster producing 550 hp. The thrusters act as part of a

dynamic positioning system Dynamic positioning (DP) is a computer-controlled system to automatically maintain a vessel's position and heading by using its own propellers and thrusters. Position reference sensors, combined with wind sensors, motion sensors and gyrocompass ...

that is capable of maintaining the ship within five meters of a fixed position on the sea in winds up to 30 knots and seas up to . This allows the crew to work on buoys in difficult weather conditions. The ship's crane extends to and can lift onto her buoy deck, which is 2,875 square feet in area. ''Spar'' is armed with two 50-caliber machine guns and a variety of small arms for boarding operations. The cutter is named after the former U.S. Coast Guard Women's Reserves, also known as

SPARS SPARS was the authorized nickname for the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Women's Reserve. The nickname was derived from the USCG's motto, "—"Always Ready" (''SPAR''). The Women's Reserve was established by law in November 1942 during Wor ...

from the Latin and English translations of the Coast Guard Motto: ''Semper Paratus; Always Ready!'' She is the second Coast Guard ship of this name. The first USCGC ''Spar'' (WLB-403) was launched in 1943.

Operational history

After launch and sea trials, ''Spar'' sailed from

Marinette, Wisconsin Marinette is a city in and the county seat of Marinette County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the south bank of the Menominee River, at its mouth at Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay, part of Lake Michigan; to the north is Stephe ...

, to

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

, from March to June 2001. She was commissioned later that year on August 3. ''Spar's'' primary mission is to maintain aids to navigation. In 2007, her area of responsibility extended from Kodiak in the east to Attu in the western Aleutians and north into the Bering Sea, including the

Pribilof Islands The Pribilof Islands (formerly the Northern Fur Seal Islands; , ) are a group of four volcanic islands off the coast of mainland Alaska, in the Bering Sea, about north of Unalaska and 200 miles (320 km) southwest of Cape Newenham. The ...

. As of 2019, this area included 148 fixed and floating aids to navigation. ''Spar'' also supports a number of other Coast Guard missions including search and rescue, fisheries law enforcement, light icebreaking, and oil spill response. She cooperates with

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploratio ...

to maintain weather buoys in her area of responsibility and to collect hydrographic data to update charts. In her search and rescue function, ''Spar'' towed the disabled fishing vessel ''Equinox'' to Kodiak in 2008. The ship was dispatched to the disabled fishing vessel ''Lady Gudny'' in January 2017. ''Spar'' was able to secure a tow line on the fishing boat, but it broke in the heavy seas and high winds. The broken tow line wrapped around ''Spar's'' propeller, disabling the ship. She was towed back to Kodiak by a commercial tugboat. In 2012 ''Spar'' was part of a large Coast Guard response to the drifting Kulluk drilling platform. During the summer of 2013 Spar participated in the Coast Guard's Arctic Shield 2013 program to test and exercise the ability to operate in Arctic waters. Spar successfully deployed her

Vessel of Opportunity Vessel(s) or the Vessel may refer to: Biology *Blood vessel, a part of the circulatory system and function to transport blood throughout the body *Lymphatic vessel, a thin walled, valved structure that carries lymph *Vessel element, a narrow wat ...

Skimming System (VOSS) to practice oil spill recovery. The ship earned the special operations service ribbon for this deployment. In 2021 USCGC USCGC Alder (WLB-216), ''Alder'' and ''Spar'' switched home ports. After undergoing a refit in Baltimore, she sailed for her new home port arriving in Duluth, Minnesota on March 30, 2022. In 2024 ''Spar'' responded to the distress call of lake freighter Michipicoten (1952 ship), ''Michipicoten''.

Accomplishments

In 2012, ''Spar'' was adopted as honorary ship of the Kodiak, Alaska, Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak, the only known cutter to have received such a title. As part of the Coast Guard's community outreach program, ''Spar'' made annual “Santa to the Villages” trips to remote communities on Kodiak Island. Village elders later credited this relationship for trust in the federal government’s response when the Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit Kulluk ran aground on Tribal land. In 2013, ''Spar’s'' law enforcement boardings of gold dredge vessels around Nome, Alaska, Nome carried the Coast Guard’s mission to a national audience through the reality television series Bering Sea Gold.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spar (WLB-206) Ships of the United States Coast Guard Juniper-class seagoing buoy tenders 2000 ships Ships built by Marinette Marine