USCGC ''Alder'' (WAGL-216) was a wooden-hull

lighthouse tender A lighthouse tender is a ship specifically designed to maintain, support, or tend to lighthouses or lightvessels, providing supplies, fuel, mail, and transportation. In the United States, these ships originally served as part of the Lighthous ...

in commission in the fleet of the

United States Lighthouse Service The United States Lighthouse Service, also known as the Bureau of Lighthouses, was the agency of the United States Government and the general lighthouse authority for the United States from the time of its creation in 1910 as the successor of the ...

as USLHT'' Alder'' from 1924 to 1939, and in the fleet of the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

as USCGC ''Alder'' from 1939 until 1948. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she was given the additional designation (WAGL-216).

History

She was launched in 1917 and acquired by the

in March 1924 for work as a

in the waters surrounding the

Territory of Alaska The Territory of Alaska or Alaska Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from August 24, 1912, until Alaska was granted statehood on January 3, 1959. The territory was previously Russian America, 1784–1867; the ...

. In 1929, she exploded and sank but was soon after re-floated and rebuilt. On 1 July 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Service was abolished and the

took over its responsibilities and assets; and ''Adler'' became part of the Coast Guard fleet as USCGC ''Adler''. She continued to operate out of

Ketchikan Ketchikan ( ; tli, Kichx̱áan) is a city in and the borough seat of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough of Alaska. It is the state's southeasternmost major settlement. Downtown Ketchikan is a National Historic District. With a population at the 202 ...

as her home-port. She was commissioned in December 1940 and attached to the newly created Alaska Sector of the

13th Naval District The naval district was a U.S. Navy military and administrative command ashore. Apart from Naval District Washington, the Districts were disestablished and renamed Navy Regions about 1999, and are now under Commander, Naval Installations Command ...

(headquartered at

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted u ...

) where she was one of the few ships then in newly-appointed

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

R.C. Parker's small "Alaskan Navy" which consisted of the gunboat and flagship , the cutter , three converted patrol craft (, , ), and her sister lighthouse tenders, and USCG ''Cedar''. She was decommissioned on 11 December 1947. On 14 June 1948, she was sold, renamed ''Acme'', and operated as a merchant vessel. In 1960, she was sold and renamed ''Lummi''. On 15 November 1960, she foundered and sank off the coast of

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alder (WAGL-216), USCG 1917 ships Ships of the United States Coast Guard Ships of the United States Lighthouse Service Lighthouse tenders of the United States World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Ships of the Aleutian Islands campaign