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USS Redbud (AKL 398) on 2 August 1949.

USS Redbud (AKL 398) on 2 August 1949.
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Class: REDBUD (AKL 398, USCG 180' TENDER)
Design: USCG 180' tender (WAGL)
Displacement (tons): 680 light, 1,070 full
Dimensions (feet): 180' oa, 170' wl x 37' e, 35' wl x 13' max nav
Armament: none
Accommodations: 11 officers, 17 unlicensed
Speed (kts.): 13
Propulsion (HP): 1,200
Machinery: Diesel electric, 1 screw

Construction:
AKLNameAcqBuilderKeelLaunchComm
398REDBUD18 Mar 1949Marine Iron & SB, Duluth21 Jul 194311 Sep 194323 Jul 1949

Disposition:
AKLNameTInactStrikeDisposalFateMA Sale
398REDBUDTr197020 Nov 197010 Nov 1970Trf--

Class Notes:
The preliminary design for the first batch of 180-foot "C" class coastwide tenders was initiated by the US Lighthouse Service before its amalgamation into the Coast Guard in 1939. In Coast Guard service they tended both lighthouses and buoys. REDBUD was one of 20 ships in the third batch, begun in 1943-44.

On 3 February 1949 SECNAV asked the Secretary of the Treasury for the indefinite loan of REDBUD (WAGL 398) to the Navy, with the Coast Guard retaining the option to recover the vessel whenever the need should arise. The Treasury Department agreed on 18 February 1949. On 28 March 1949 the commander of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard accepted custody of the ship for the Navy. The Navy commissioned her for resupply in Greenland and converted her at Long Beach. Working from Argentia, Newfoundland, she supported the construction and resupply of Arctic bases.

In November 1951 she was reported as no longer required by the Atlantic Fleet and the Coast Guard had no objection to her transfer to MSTS. She was decommissioned, transferred to MSTS on 12 December 1951, and placed in service as USNS REDBUD (T-AKL 398) on 20 February 1952. She was reduced to ready reserve at Staten Island on 2 January 1958 and then placed back in service on 28 March 1958 to replace T-AKL 17 as support ship for the Texas Towers. She also continued her Arctic resupply work.

On 29 September 1970 the Commandant of the Coast Guard wrote to CNO that he understood that REDBUD was then in service with MSC but that MSC was then reorganizing ship schedules in such a manner that REDBUD might become excess to its needs, possibly as early as October 1970. He stated that the Coast Guard would like to exercise its option to recall the ship. On 6 November 1970 CNO informed the Coast Guard that the ship would be available for transfer upon return from her current voyage at Bayonne, N.J. about 15 November 1970.

Ship Notes:
AKLNameMANotes
398REDBUD(ex-AG 398 31 Mar 1949, ex Coast Guard WAGL 398). To MSTS as T-AKL 398 12 Dec 1951. Transferred on 20 Nov 1970 to the Coast Guard at Curtis Bay and struck. Inactive 1970-72. Trf. 1 Mar 1972 to the Philippines as KALINGA (AK 89).

Page Notes:
Compiled: 9 Aug 2021
© Stephen S. Roberts, 2021