CCG Willow (WLB-202)

CCG Willow (WLB-202) Story

The U.S. Coast Guard is the smallest of the five U.S. military services, with approximately 42,000 men and women serving on active duty. The assignments of these employees are the types of assignments for their own brand, which have not changed since the branch was established. These tasks include vital coastal and river patrols, enforcement of national maritime laws, prohibition of smuggling of substances, immigration control, and search and rescue of people stranded at sea.

Today, tenders like the advanced Juniper-class USCG Willow (WLB 202) are dedicated to these different types of missions.

Willow is the second ship in the Juniper class of cutters, officially commissioned in 1997. She is designed as an offshore "buoy tender" capable of deploying and maintaining navigation systems on the high seas.

Their general area of ??business becomes the sometimes unstable waters between the New England coast, between Newport, Rhode Island, and Bar Harbor, Maine, but their general responsibilities are broader - including from Canada to New York Harbor range.

There are approximately 189 buoy stations and navigational aids in total in their area, some of which correspond to weather types used by the Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), while others are used as navigational markers. Willow trees are used to remove such buoys for general repair and maintenance, and then put them back in place. The placement of these buoys is a challenging science because if they are not reset properly, their navigational equipment can be severely compromised - forcing other ships to crash into the reef or run aground.

Her onboard positioning system is linked to the Global Positioning System (GPS), even in winds of up to 30 knots and waves higher than 8 feet.

If necessary, Willow will reschedule her assignments based on current U.S. Coast Guard requirements. At this point, her primary buoy maintenance function is suspended in order to reassign Willow to other desired operations. She is a small boat with a total displacement of 2000 tons. She can be used as an icebreaker in northern waters in winter.

Her propulsion system includes a stern propeller with controllable pitch and bow and stern thrusters, allowing the vessel to hit ice sheets about 14 inches thick at 3 knots. Willow also maintains equipment in response to oil spills from leaking ships or offshore commercial rigs, and was successfully used in the massive oil spill in the Deepwater Horizon Gulf in 2010. Willow's recovery system can process 400 gallons of oil and seawater per minute, and the vessel can stay at sea for 21 days without resupply.

Her crew was relatively small, consisting of 8 officers and 34 soldiers. Crew members survive in relative comfort, six crew members can be assigned to a room on any other ship, the same 20 people need more hands to do the same job.

Like other USCG ships, Willow was dispatched to New York to assist in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. There, it conducted counterterrorism and force protection operations during this period, and in 2003 the Coast Guard was officially transferred from the Department of Transportation (DoT) to the Department of Homeland Security (DHLS).

Since then, Willow has conducted alien immigration and interception operations in the Florida Straits. She is also called upon to respond to search and rescue missions when necessary, performing regular marine conservation duties in addition to her primary role as a navigation aid.

If you're anticipating trouble, Willow is armed with a pair of heavy 12.7mm machine guns, as well as all the small arms the crew brings - including an M16 assault rifle and a 9mm M9 pistol.

Willow is notable for her first transatlantic crossing in nearly 40 years in a U.S. Coast Guard buoy tender. Because the Willow is not designed for high-speed operation, the voyage takes 68 days. Across the Atlantic, Willow represented the U.S.

Coast Guard at ports in Ireland, Portugal, France and Germany. The Willow then revisited New York for Fleet Week 2011 in May-June, as the U.S. Coast Guard ships "stand ready for any danger and threat."

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