White Sage, 1947
WAGL / WLM-544; YF-444
Any of various plants of the genus Salvia, especially S. officinalis, having aromatic grayish-green, opposite leaves. Also called ramona.
Builder: Erie Concrete & Steel Supply Company, Erie, Pennsylvania
Commissioned: 1944 (USN); 9 August 1947 (USCG)
Decommissioned: 28 June 1996
Disposition:
Length: 132' 10"
Beam: 30'
Draft: 8' 9" max
Propulsion: 2 x 600 bhp Union diesels with twin screws
Complement: 1 warrant, 20 crewmen (1948)
Armament: None
Class & Design History:
The White Sage was the former Navy lighter, YF-444. The Coast Guard acquired a total of eight of these former Navy YF-257-class lighters between 1947-1948 for conversion to coastal buoy tenders. They were needed to supplement the larger seagoing buoy tenders which were unable to service short-range-aids-to-navigation placed in coastal waters and harbors.
They were built entirely of steel and were originally designed to carry ammunition and cargo from shore to deep-draft vessels anchored off-shore. These lighters were well suited for a variety of coastal tasks because their hull design incorporated a shallow draft with a solid engineering plant. All of these 133-foot lighters had sufficient cargo space for storing equipment and an open deck and boom for handling large objects. They proved to be capable and useful buoy tenders. Each was named for a plant, shrub or tree, prefixed by "White."
History:
White Sage began her
career as YF-444. Her keel was laid at the Erie Concrete & Steel
Supply Co., Erie, Pennsylvania, on 28 March 1943. She was launched on
19 June 1943. Her trials were held on Lake Erie on 17 April 1944, and
she was placed in service on 20 May 1944. YF-444 and YF-446 departed
Erie on 9 May 1994, with YF-640 and YF-641 in tow. Outfitted at the
Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York, YF-444 was assigned to the Third Naval
District to work in the Naval Ammunition Depot in Earle, New Jersey.
After World War II, YF-444 was acquired by the USCG in 1946. The fifth
vessel in her class, White Sage was commissioned into the Coast Guard
as WAGL 544 on August 9,1947.
According to her “Ship’s Characteristics Card,” dated 21 November
1966, White Sage was 133’-6” in overall length, 32’ in length
between perpendiculars, 30’-9” in extreme beam, 12’-2 7/8” in depth
of hold, 7’-2” in draft forward fully loaded, and 5’-6” in draft
forward with a light load. She is listed as having two masts, the
forward mast being 57’ tall and the aft 36’. The vessel displaced
476 tons and had a maximum speed of 10 knots fully loaded. Her hull,
decks, bulkheads, and frames were constructed of steel, while her
superstructure was steel and wood.
Auxiliary boats in 1966 included a motor cargo boat, dinghy, and three
seven-man rubber lifeboats. In 1966, she had her original diesel
engines, which were opposed piston Fairbanks-Morse Diesels built by Union
Diesel Engine Company, in Oakland, California. The engines had two
propellers, 300 horsepower each, and two auxiliary diesel generators.
In 1971, White Sage underwent a major renovation at the U.S. Coast
Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland. Her machinery was modernized in
1975 . These modifications brought about many changes, including updated
equipment to improve her AtoN capabilities.
Before decommissioning in 1999, White Sage’s length, beam, and
draft remained the same. The engines in 1999 were Caterpillar D353
Diesel reduction (4 to 1), for each screw. The screws were constant
pitch propellers. White Sage and other ships built and later
modified at Erie (including White Sumac, White Heath, and White
Lupine) had a quiet room for the engine room controls.
White Sage had an oily water separator unique among the ships of the
class. In 1999, she still had the original electric engine-augmented
shaft-and-cable steering system. She had a chill water air
conditioning system (essentially radiators in boxes), which could also use
hot water from the hot water boiler in the engine room. Air
conditioning for the crew’s berthing area was requested by the commander
of the First District in a 1971 memo.
White Sage had a heavy-duty A-frame boom, which replaced the original
single mast, used to handle buoys and anchors. There was a weather
deck broken by a topgallant forecastle raised about 4’ above the main
deck. The open foredeck was surrounded by a partial bulwark and pipe
rails. The main deck continued at the same level aft through the
superstructure onto the small fantail area, aft of the superstructure.
The superstructure consisted of a single-deck-height house surmounted by a
raised pilothouse, and commander’s stateroom forward. The engine
room casing extended up through the top of the house, topped by skylights,
with the funnel amidships forward. Hoses for dewatering pumps were
contained in plastic tubing mounted on the centerline above the engine room
skylights.
The controls for the boom were located forward of the pilothouse,
immediately behind the mainmast and boom. The winches for operation of
the cargo boom were located in the forward section of the house. The
crew’s mess of White Sage was remodeled in the 1980s entirely in
stainless steel. Her galley was athwartships aft of the crews
mess. The tables and chairs were replaced by booths. All of the
class had new bridges and bridge controls installed, reportedly each
unique. Some remnants of original technology remained, however, such
as the telephone communication system. White Sage had
upside-down “J”-shaped davits to starboard, which were
hand-operated. A single angle-iron davit was mounted forward of the
funnel to port. The hull was longitudinally framed with deep web
frames at about 5’ intervals.
White Sage was originally homeported in Bristol, Rhode Island, where
she primarily serviced aids to navigation in the First Coast Guard
District. In 1950, her homeport was changed to Woods Hole,
Massachusetts, also located within the First Coast Guard District. In
1988, her homeport was changed back to Bristol.
White Sage was responsible for 275 AtoN from Chatham to Block Island,
which included the waters of Nantucket Sound, Buzzards Bay, and Narragansett
Bay. She extended her service area out to New Haven, Connecticut, when
she took over an additional 160 buoys when the CGC Redwood was placed
out of service. White Sage transported freight and vehicles to
Coast Guard units in the islands of Nantucket and Cuttyhunk, as well as
serviced the lights in Buzzards Bay.
In addition to her AtoN duties, White Sage performed
many assists and rescues and sometimes acted as an icebreaker. Notable
rescue missions included salvaging a capsized boat near Nantucket Island in
1952; providing assistance following the collision between two motor
vessels, Francisville and Luckenback, in July 1959; and assisting the
disabled tug, M. Moran, two miles east of Cape Cod Canal on March 4, 1960.
On 29 January 1959, White Sage was requested to clear a passage
through the ice to East Greenwich Cove, Rhode Island. Fishing boats
were stuck, some damaged and sunk. White Sage routinely cleared
channels after severe storms or nor’easters, including Hurricane Bob in
1991, when the eye of the storm passed directly over Woods Hole and
disrupted the entire aids-to- navigation system. White Sage was
crucial in keeping open shipping lanes on Narragansett Bay during severe ice
conditions during the winter of 1993-1994, ensuring delivery of heating oil
to homes in the affected area.
White Sage responded to the collision of the M/V Fernview and the T/V Dynafuel in Buzzards Bay. White Sage's Quartermaster at the time, Leo B. Tyo, remembered:
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White Sage participated as a Command and Control platform in many
marine events including the America’s Cup regattas. In addition to
serving as a platform to provide support for the small patrol craft, she
maintained the security zone for the race course. Before retirement, White
Sage served as the Command and Control platform for the Patrol Commander
for the Quonset, Rhode Island, airshow in 1995. White Sage
played an important role in pollution response, assisting in the North Cape
oil spill cleanup off Point Judith.
White Sage was decommissioned on 7 June 1996. She was replaced
with the first keeper-class 175’ tender, Ida Lewis. In 1999,
White Sage was transferred, along with the White Holly, to the
Canvasback Missions, Inc.
"(WAGL-544) White Sage."
February, 1949; No photo number.; Photographer unknown.
"CGC White Sage."
30 October 1955; Photo No. 1CGD 103055-1; Photographer unknown.
"CGC WHITE SAGE."
28 December 1964; Photo No. CGY 122864-03; Photographer unknown.
"USCGC White Sage (WLM-544) 133 ft. coastal tender."
11 March 1969; No photo number.; Photographer unknown.
"White Sage lifting 40 footer from bottom at Woods Hole."
October, 1970; No photo number.; Photographer unknown.
"544 White Sage [Vineyard Sound]."
8 June 1987; No photo number.; Photo by Boston Photographers -- Tony Cammarata (Official U.S. Coast Guard Photograph)
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