USCGC
OJIBWA
UNIT OF THE MONTH...
SHIPMATES Unit of the
Month for July is USCGC OJIBWA, 110-foot
harbor tug stationed at Buffalo--the first
named Coast Guard cutter to receive an
outstanding evaluation in operational
readiness by any area inspectors - She
earned this distinction on 16 May, when she
was given the outstanding rating during her
annual inspection by the Northern
Inspectors. During 1961 and 1962 she bad
received excellent evaluations in her annual
inspections.
Since July 1959, when the
present inspection standards were
established, only five other floating units
in the entire service have received the
outstanding evaluation, and they were all
patrol boat types. There are a total of 235
named cutters in the Coast Guard, with the
majority of them inspected annually.
According to CHBOSN Kenneth N. Black,
commanding officer of the OJIBWA, this
indicates that the outstanding rating earned
by the vessel was one out of a potential 940
inspections.
OJIBWA is one of 17
110-foot harbor tugs in service in the Coast
Guard, and one of five stationed in the
Ninth District. The other tour are the
ARUNDEL, in Chicago; KAW in Cleveland;
NAUGATUCK in Sault Ste. Marie; and the
RARITAN, based in Milwaukee.
Like the other 110-footers
in the Ninth, OJIBWA has an icebreaking bow,
and although her primary duties are listed
as search and rescue, she is probably
best known for her work each spring breaking
out an ice-bound Buffalo Harbor.
Built in Brooklyn in 1943,
the OJIBWA served the remainder of World war
II on escort and search and rescue duty in
the North Atlantic Area. From the end of the
war until her transfer to Buftalo1 in
1954, her home port was Boston.
OJIBWA takes her name from
a fierce tribe of the Al-gonquin Indian
family which originated in the Lake Superior
region of the United States and Canada. Her
crew consists of one officer, CHBOSN Black,
who assumed command in April 1961--and 19
enlisted men.
Icebreaker, tug, search
and rescue vessel; the OJIBWA, like the
other cutters of the Ninth District, is a
"Jack of all Trades". The most
descriptive word for the sturdy little
workhorse is that given it by the Northern
inspectors--OUTSTANDING:!
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