Cutter celebrates 49th birthday with a “first”

SEPTEMBER 7, 2012 — Although the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Buckthorn is the oldest Great Lakes USCG cutter, it recently notched up a “first.”

When the 100 ft inland buoy tender was hauled out on Tuesday, August 28 at Great Lakes Shipyard, Cleveland, Ohio, using the shipyard’s 770-ton Marine Travelift, it became the first Great Lakes cutter to be drydocked using a Travelift.

The Buckthorn was drydocked a few days after its 49th birthday, having been commissioned on August 18, 1963. It was in at Great Lakes Shipyard for extended inspection, maintenance, and repairs including steel repairs, cleaning, and painting.