USCGC Sweetgum
{{Short description|Mesquite-class tender of the United States Coast Guard}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = File:UA 46.01 US Coast Guard Collection.jpg | Ship caption = USCGC Sweetgum hoisting a Martin PBM Mariner }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = United States | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|United States|coast guard}} | Ship name = Sweetgum | Ship namesake = Sweetgum | Ship cost = $871,619 | Ship ordered = | Ship awarded = | Ship builder = Marine Iron and Shipbuilding Corp. | Ship original cost = | Ship yard number = | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = 21 February 1943 | Ship launched = 15 April 1943 | Ship sponsor = | Ship christened = | Ship completed = | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = 20 November 1943 | Ship decommissioned = 2 February 1990 }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = yes | Ship recommissioned = 10 January 1992 | Ship decommissioned = 15 February 2002 | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship renamed = | Ship reclassified = *WLB-309, 1965 | Ship refit = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship homeport = *Miami (1943-1946) | Ship identification = *Callsign: NRQW
| Ship motto = | Ship nickname = | Ship honors = See Awards | Ship captured = | Ship fate = Transferred to Panama, 2002 | Ship status = | Ship notes = | Ship badge = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = title | Ship country = Panama | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Panama|naval}} | Ship name = Independencia | Ship namesake = Independencia | Ship acquired = 2002 | Ship commissioned = | Ship recommissioned = | Ship decommissioned = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship renamed = | Ship reclassified = | Ship refit = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship homeport = Noel Rodriguez | Ship identification = *{{IMO|8635124}}
| Ship motto = | Ship nickname = | Ship honors = | Ship captured = | Ship fate = | Ship status = Active | Ship notes = | Ship badge = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = {{sclass|Mesquite|buoy tender|0}} buoy tender | Ship displacement=*{{convert|935|t|LT|0|abbr=on}} | Ship length = {{convert|180|ft|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = {{convert|37|ft|abbr=on}} | Ship draft = {{convert|12|ft|m}} | Ship propulsion = 2 × Cooper-Bessemer GN8 diesel engines | Ship speed = {{convert|13|kn|abbr=on|lk=in}} | Ship range = {{convert|8000|nmi|abbr=on}} at {{convert|13|kn|abbr=on}} | Ship complement = 6 officers and 74 enlisted | Ship sensors = | Ship armament= *2 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannons | Ship armor= | Ship notes= }} |
USCGC Sweetgum (WAGL-309) was a {{sclass|Mesquite|buoy tender|0}} buoy tender built in 1943 and operated by the United States Coast Guard. She was later transferred to Panama as SMN Independencia (A-401). The ship was named after a North American tree of the genus Liquidambar having prickly spherical fruit clusters and fragrant sap.{{Cite web|last=Record|first=Historic American Engineering|title=U.S. Coast Guard Cutter SWEETGUM, Mobile, Mobile County, AL|url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/al1306/|access-date=2022-02-06|website=www.loc.gov|language=en}}
Construction and career
Sweetgum was laid down by the Marine Iron and Shipbuilding Corp., in Duluth, Minnesota on 21 February 1943. She was launched on 15 April 1943 and later commissioned on 20 November 1943. She was then assigned to Seventh District Miami, Florida.{{Cite book|url=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/al/al1300/al1306/data/al1306data.pdf|title=U.S. COAST GUARD CUTTER SWEETGUM|work=National Park Service|publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior|location=Washington (state)|pages=3}}
= Service in the United States Coast Guard =
During World War II, she operated around the Panama Canal Zone.{{Cite book|title=Sweetgum Fought Battle of Coco Solo|publisher=U.S. Coast Guard Magazine|date=July 1956|pages=34}} On 22 September 1944, she hoisted a US Navy Martin PBM Mariner onto the ship, from the which grounded on a coral reef of Carti Village, Gulf of San Blas, Panama.{{Cite web|title=UA 46.01 US Coast Guard Collection|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/our-collections/photography/alphabetical---donations0/c/ua-46-01-us-coast-guard-collection.html|access-date=2022-02-06|website=NHHC|language=en-US}} The ship was reassigned to Mayport, Florida in September 1946.
In September 1955, the ship evacuated the population of Florida after 1955 Atlantic hurricane season. She transported 43 tons of marijuana that had been seized in the Bahamas to Miami.
In 1965, she was re-designated to WLB-309. In August and September 1967, she was part of a research effort to determine the pollution hazard posed by the almost one hundred oil tankers sunk near the U.S. coast during World War II.{{Cite book|title=Coast Guard Begins Search for Sunken Oil Tanker|publisher=Commander's Digest|year=1967|volume=64|pages=4}}
Sweetgum took part in the salvaging of the remains of the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster that were scattered in the sea after shuttle exploded 75 seconds after liftoff on 28 January 1986. The ship features a long-reach mechanical arm that allows it to pick up and place objects from the ship's deck out to sea. That was the reason why they used it in the work of the Challenger.{{Cite web|date=2007-03-18|title=Barco Independencia será renovado {{!}} La Prensa Panamá|url=https://www.prensa.com/politica/Barco-Independencia-renovado_0_1974552584.html|access-date=2022-02-06|website=www.prensa.com|language=es}}
The Sweetgum was decommissioned on 2 February 1990 but was recommissioned again on 10 January 1992 and deployed to Mobile, Alabama.
= Service in the Panamanian National Navy =
On 15 February 2002, Sweetgum was put out of service and sold to Panama as SMN Independencia (A-401).Jeff Beach, interview by author, 10 February 2002, Washington, D.C. She is home-ported at Noel Rodriguez Naval Base. On 18 March 2007, it was reported that the ship would undergo repairs that costs more than $100,000, at a shipyard in Colombia.
Awards
References
{{Refbegin}}
- [https://www.navalcovermuseum.org/wiki/SWEETGUM_WLB_309 Naval Cover Museum: Sweetgum]
- [https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/content/history/nhhc/our-collections/photography/alphabetical---donations0/c/ua-46-01-us-coast-guard-collection.html UA 46.01 US Coast Guard Collection]{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
{{Refend}}
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://coastguard.togetherweserved.com/uscg/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=PublicUnitProfile&type=Unit&ID=12736 TogetherWeServed: Sweetgum Crew Members]
- {{HAER |survey=AL-198 |id=al1306 |title=U.S. Coast Guard Cutter SWEETGUM, Mobile, Mobile County, AL |data=5}}
{{180-class buoy tender}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweetgum (WAGL-309)}}
Category:Historic American Engineering Record in Alabama
Category:Ships built in Duluth, Minnesota
Category:Ships transferred from the United States Coast Guard to the Panamanian Public Forces