The invitation was unlike
any I’ve ever received. The commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard and the
Marinette Marine Corporation requested “the honor” of my presence at
the christening and launching of an incredible U.S. Coast Guard vessel.
Alder, built in Marinette, Wisconsin, is the 16th and
last of the 225-foot Juniper “B” Class Seagoing Buoy Tenders launched
into the Menominee River.
My wife and first mate, Jan, and I quickly accepted the
invitation, working with Mary George, who planned the entire round trip
through the Lake Superior Marine Museum Association. Two busloads of
people from Duluth, Minnesota, had two special reasons for wanting to
make this journey.
The first was because Alder will replace our beloved Sundew, the Coast Guard cutter constructed in Duluth in 1944 and that served many of its 60 years in its birth port.
The second reason was reflected in the name of our road trip,
the Tim Slattery Memorial Tour. This launching would be part of
remembering the talented and personable Duluth photographer who drowned
in the harbor last fall. All of us on the buses knew without a doubt
that Tim, the “unofficial official photographer” for the Coast Guard,
as he often said, would have been with us except for that tragic
accident. Perhaps he still was.
Even for those of us who are seasoned sailors, the big splash of the side launch of Alder into the Menominee River left us in awe.
“I didn't expect the surge of emotion that struck me as the Alder
plunged into the river,” says Davis Helberg, retired as executive
director of the Duluth Port Authority. “The realization that a ship had
suddenly sprung to life and the spontaneous roar of the crowd sent
chills down my spine. Donn Larson was standing not far away and I
blurted out something about witnessing a ship’s birth and Donn, eyes
full, said, ‘Can’t talk ... too choked up.’”
Baptism of U.S. Coast Guard cutter, Alder, came with quite a
big splash and a lot of appreciative gasps from the crowd at Marinette
Marine Corporation at 10 a.m., February 7, 2004. PHOTO BY DAN RAU
Maritime historian and author Frederick Stonehouse, though he’s been to several launches, still finds them impressive.
“Before the launch (of Alder), Coast Guard Cutter Mobile Bay
had to clear thick ice from the river along the launch ways.
Considering her assignment to Lake Superior, this was a fitting
baptismal,” he says. “It was also fitting that as Alder hit the water her big cousin Mackinaw II
was taking shape in the assembly building. I wonder how many times they
will meet again in calm water, stormy seas or deep in winter ice?
Having these two ships, built in the same yard at the same time, is
indeed remarkable.”
Alder started its life with something of a history
already. It is named for a one-of-a-kind, 72-foot vessel built in 1917
for commercial services and that in 1924 joined the Light Lifesaving
Service, when purchased by the Department of Commerce for $9,690. (The
new Alder cost about $30 million.)
The new Alder certainly overshadowed its namesake in size and power. It even overshadows the Sundew that it replaces.
Baptism of U.S. Coast Guard cutter, Alder, came with quite a
big splash and a lot of appreciative gasps from the crowd at Marinette
Marine Corporation at 10 a.m., February 7, 2004. PHOTO BY KEN NEWHAMS / DULUTHSHIPPINGNEWS.COM
With almost four times the power and 225 feet instead of the Sundew’s 180-foot length, Alder
embodies improvements learned over the years and comes with
state-of-the-art everything. Broader and more stable for rough water,
it features sophisticated computer navigation and communication
systems. It also has a significantly reduced onboard crew, which will
allow retention of some crew members to handle on-shore tasks while the
cutter is under way.
The one advantage Sundew has over its replacement is its ice-breaking bow that lets it rides up on the ice to break it. Alder’s
reinforced ice belt, by contrast, stops below the bow so it cannot ride
on the ice and must push through it instead, says its future captain,
Lieutenant Commander Steve Teschendorf.
Berthed in Duluth, Alder will be of service all over the western and central Great Lakes. As for Sundew, it is slated for retirement to Duluth for permanent display.
If water traffic is not part of your everyday life, please
realize that vessels move much of our commerce, and that they depend on
good water depth and visible navigation aids. Alder joins its
sister cutters, now operating worldwide, as technically advanced,
highly capable buoy tenders. It is also equipped to perform
search-and-rescue operations, law enforcement, pollution response and
domestic icebreaking missions.
After a few shakedown tours, Alder will arrive on Lake
Superior in late fall, just in time to collect some buoys and prepare
for its winter chores. Then we will celebrate a new chapter in this
history of our lake.
A selection of Jim Marshall’s columns of lake lore and his inland sea voyages
has been published as Lake Superior Journal: Views from the Bridge
by Lake Superior Port Cities Inc. Follow this link
for more information.
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