USCGC Mesquite (WLB-305)

The USCGC Mesquite (WLB-305) was a 180 foot sea going buoy tender (WLB). A "Mesquite" class vessel, it was built by Marine Ironworks and Shipbuilding Corporation in Duluth, Minnesota. "Mesquite's" preliminary design was completed by the United States Lighthouse Service and the final design was produced by Marine Iron and Shipbuilding Corporation in Duluth. On 20 August 1942 the keel was laid. It was launched on 14 November 1942 and commissioned on 27 August 1943. The original cost for the hull and machinery was $874,798.

"Mesquite" is one of 39 original 180-foot seagoing buoy tenders built between 1942-1944. All but one of the original tenders, the USCGC|Ironwood|WLB-297, were built in Duluth.

"Mesquite" served until December 4, 1989, when it grounded on a reef off of the Keeweenaw Peninsula in Lake Superior after, ironically, replacing the summer navigational buoy that warned of that very reef. After several hours of trying to free the vessel, the crew reluctantly abandoned ship. The Coast Guard had intended to salvage the ship in the spring, but after several winter storms swept through, further damaging the vessel through crushing ice and hammering waves, it was determined that the damage was too severe. "Mesquite" was turned into an underwater diving preserve by sinking it in 120 feet of water.

External links

* [http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/WLB_Photo_Index.html official USCG page devoted to Buoy Tenders built in the 1940s] .
* [http://www.wellandcanal.ca/shiparc/uscg/mesquite/mesquite.htm Welland Canal profile of the Mesquite, with a more recent photo] .
* [http://uscgcmesquite.com Unoffical fan site of USCGC Mesquite - before and after intentional sinking] .