USCGC Spar (WLB-206)
 USCGC Spar (WLB-206). | |
| Career (United States) |  |
|---|---|
| Laid down: | 15 December 1999 |
| Launched: | 12 August 2000 |
| Commissioned: | 3 August 2001 |
| Nickname: | The Aleutian Keeper |
| Status: | in active service, as of 2015 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 2,000 long tons (2,000 t) (full load) |
| Length: | 225 ft (69 m) |
| Beam: | 46 ft (14 m) |
| Draft: | 13 ft (4.0 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × Caterpillar 3608 Engines Marine Engines 3,100 shp (2,300 kW) |
| Speed: | 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) at full load displacement (80% rated power) |
| Range: | 6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement: | 8 Officers 40 Enlisted |
| Armament: | 2 x .50 caliber machine guns |
The USCGC Spar (WLB-206) is a United States Coast Guard seagoing buoy tender home-ported in Kodiak, Alaska. The ship tends buoys in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, and has acquired the nickname Aleutian Keeper. The Spar also performs other duties, such as maritime border security, maritime environmental protection, maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, and domestic icebreaking. The cutter is named after the Coast Guard Women's Reserves, also known as SPARS from the Latin and English translations of the Coast Guard Motto: Semper Paratus; Always Ready!
History
The keel for the Spar was laid on December 15, 1999 at Marinette Marine Corporation in Wisconsin. SPAR was launched on August 12, 2000. She made the trip from Marinette, Wisconsin to Kodiak from March to June 2001 and was commissioned later that year on August 3. The Spar took Alaskan Aids to Navigation responsibility for the waterways of decommissioned USCGC Ironwood and USCGC Firebush and regularly sees duty throughout the Aleutian Chain, as far west as Adak and the Bering Sea and as far north as the Kuskokwim River.