USCG Cutter William Tate Departs Baltimore March 7, 2021

This 175x36ft (53x11m) Keeper-class cutter was built in 1999 by Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wisconsin for the US Coast Guard according to this wikipedia article which also says these are buoy tenders and are equipped with Z-drives similar to many modern tugboats instead of the normal propulsion and steering configuration of ships. She is home ported in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Vessels in the Keeper class are named after lighthouse keepers. This Wikipedia article on William Tate indicates he served from 1915 to 1939 and was responsible for keeping 42 lights along a stretch of 65 miles of waterway. Interestingly he also did work with the Wright brothers and eventually used an aircraft in 1920 to inspect the lights under his care. This led to the formation of the Lighthouse Service Air Arm.

In 2009 a change of command ceremony was held during which LT Megan Cull was relieved by LT Peggy Britton here in Baltimore according to this Coast Guard Mid Atlantic blog posting.

This 2009 Soundings article talks about this cutter’s mission and what life and work is like aboard her. Very interesting read.

In 2016 the William Tate assisted a 25-foot Response Boat-Small from Coast Guard Station Fortescue in rescuing two from a vessel taking on water according to this Gloucester City News article.

Check out this cool drone video of her placing a buoy on the Delaware River in 2018.

In my 2 minute 4K video below she can be seen heading outbound on the Patapsco River with some buoys on deck. She passes inbound ship Thamesborg in the first scene. In the final scene inbound container ship Maersk Gateshead is seen.

You can view my photography (more than just ships!) here and more videos here.