History
Fir is named after one of the original lighthouse tenders built for the Lighthouse Service to resupply lighthouses and lightships, and to service buoys. The original USCGC Fir (WLB-212) was built by the Moore Drydock Company in Oakland, California in 1939. After serving as a truly multi-mission platform, adapting to the changing missions of the Coast Guard for over 50 years, Fir was decommissioned in 1991.
In May 2009, Fir was on scene commander for a plane crash in the Columbia River. An experimental plane flying from Astoria to Seattle suffered engine failure and ditched in the Columbia River in the vicinity of the 17th Street Pier where Fir and USCGC Steadfast (WMEC-623) were moored. Working with a local salvage crew, Fir recovered the airplane. Both passengers were rescued by the Columbia River Bar Pilots.
From June to October 2010, Fir was deployed to the Gulf of Mexico for Operation Deepwater Horizon. In total, eight of the Coast Guard's sixteen Juniper-class buoy tenders were deployed to the Gulf of Mexico for the nation's largest ever oil spill to conduct oil skimming operations, command and control and public relations. CGC ASPEN, CGC ELM, CGC OAK, CGC WALNUT, CGC JUNIPER, CGC SYCAMORE, CGC CYPRESS and CGC FIR were involved in skimming and/or other contingency operations.
It is distinct from a predecessor ship of the same name, USCGC Fir (WLM-212).
Read more about this topic: USCGC Fir (WLB-213)
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