USCG's 180-foot Seagoing Buoy Tender

[Timerover51]

I will be going in with another bid on the Bramble, but presently the ship is closed to the public, and is to be laid up this winter.  Ron, you might want to take a look at the November 14 Port Huron Times-Herald to see what is going on with the ship.

[BuoyJumper]

U.S. Coast Guard cutter Bramble
continues to sit idle, cost money


Decommissioned Coast Guard ship Bramble sits at the Seaway Terminal in August.  The ship was
once a museum but now sits idle.

By CRYSTAL GARCIA
Times Herald

The decommissioned U.S. Coast Guard cutter Bramble is steering uncharted waters.

The Bramble, commissioned in 1944, is owned by the Port Huron Museum, which received the ship after it was decommissioned in 2003.

The museum's board of trustees decided in December 2009 to sell the ship. Since then, the museum has received three offers, said Susan Bennett, executive director of the Port Huron Museum.

One of the offers was about 15% of the $300,000 asking price, she said. The other was about half and the most recent offer, which came in August was close to the full price, Bennett said.

Unfortunately, financing fell through for the person who made the third offer, she said.

The ship has been closed since Aug. 17, but continues to cost the museum money for insurance and utilities, Bennett said.

Still, having the ship closed will cost the museum less than having it opened, she said.

Utilities totaled about $60,000 last year and are expected to be less because things that were never shut down have been turned off, she said. An open ship costs $25,000 a year for insurance, but a closed ship with no one on it will cost $12,000, she said.

"We have no plans to reopen," she said. "We're securing it as best we can."

Last year, the Bramble made about $40,000, Bennett said, which was considered a good year.

At this point, the museum's only option to get rid of the ship would be to scrap it, but Bennett said, that is something officials do not want to do.

"We can't afford it indefinitely, but at some point, we're going to have to pull the trigger," she said.

With the weather cooling down and the shipping season having ended, Bennett said the museum has missed the window to have the ship towed anywhere and doesn't think anything will happen with it until spring.

In the meantime, plans are in the works for overnight events at the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse, Bennett said.

"We hope to pick up the slack from what we're losing on the Bramble," she said.

No official date has been set for when the lighthouse will be open, but Bennett said it could be as early as next spring or summer.

Contact Crystal Garcia at (810) 989-6276 or cagarcia@gannett.com.

Original Article

[BuoyJumper]

We finally have some photos of the former cutter GENTIAN serving in Columbia as the ARC San Andres (PO-45) being posted on the internet.

[tc1uscg]

They don't make'm like that anymore. I remember when the Acacia was moved when the Mobile Bay came to town. Not many warmed to that idea (the towns people). However, I met my wife when I was on Mobile Bay (didn't know it at the time). Took 28 years to figure it out. 

[BuoyJumper]

We have finally learned that the CGC MARIPOSA WLB-397 was salvaged and scrapped on the Columbia River last fall.  To all who served aboard the cutter MARIPOSA .... FAIR WINDS, FOLLOWING SEAS and THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.

[Timerover51]

Has anyone found out who owns the Sorrel, now the M/V Fearless?

[BuoyJumper]

Dale .... The salvage vessel USS Fearless is owned by Seaway Marine (d/b/a Seaway Trading, Inc.) a Delaware Corporation.  David Rose is the President of Seaway.

For more Info Telephone
714-904-3255
 

[BuoyJumper]

Tim Smith's CGC MESQUITE 74-75

[BuoyJumper]

Here's a couple of recent photos (Mar 18) taken by Pete Alexander of BASSWOOD being scrapped.  Sad to see one of our 180s being scrapped knowing all the hard work crews put into keeping their cutter shipshape.

[BuoyJumper]

Bramble could be listed on National Register of Historic Places
State to have meeting May 18



By CRYSTAL GARCIA
Times Herald ... April 30, 2012

PORT HURON - The decommissioned U.S. Coast Guard cutter Bramble could be headed to a spot on the National Register of Historic Places.

Commissioned in 1944, the Bramble is owned by the Port Huron Museum, which received the ship after it was decommissioned in 2003.

The state’s Historic Preservation Board will consider the nomination at its next meeting at 10 a.m. May 18 in Lansing. If the nomination is approved, the nomination materials will be forwarded to the national register and a decision should be reached in about six weeks, said Robert Christensen, national register coordinator.

Jon Ottman of Warren has been working on the designation since January. He was a relief site manager at the Thomas Edison Depot and Bramble from March to August 2007 and volunteered at the Fort Gratiot Light Station and Huron Lightship during that time, too.

He said he put together the nomination to recognize the great history of the Bramble.

“It’s one of the most historic cutters ever to serve the United States Coast Guard,” Ottman said. “She’s a proud ship with a proud history, and she deserves recognition.”

The museum’s board of trustees decided in December 2009 to sell the ship. It has been on the market since April 2010, said Susan Bennett, executive director of the Port Huron Museum. A few offers came in, but some were too low, and others couldn’t secure financing.

It has been closed since August.

Bennett said museum officials will not object to the national registry listing.

“I’m thrilled that somebody in the community thought enough about it to (complete the nomination),” she said. “And unfortunately, it won’t change the status of the ship.”

Whether the ship is on the list will not impact the sale, Christensen said.

“As a private owner, the museum is free to do with it as they choose,” he said. “… This is just an encouragement. The ship is important, and that should be taken into consideration with whatever is done with it. That’s really all this is. Hopefully, it’s one more thing to remind everybody concerned the significance of the ship.”

Ottman, who has a master’s degree in historic preservation, said he knew the listing would not impact the sale.

“I think if the museum does something rash that does something to desecrate the ship, that speaks volumes to their credibility and integrity,” he said. “Bad economy or not, there is no excuse for destroying history.”

He said he completed the nomination to honor the ship, its sister ships and the people who served on them. He said he would like to see the ship go to “a new steward who is going to treat her like she deserves.”

“She needs to be a monument to the Coast Guard,” Ottman said. “To the men who sailed on the Bramble and to the men and women who sailed on all 39 Coast Guard cutters.”

Bennett said whatever happens to the ship, it needs to be handled right and stressed that “scrapping has never been on the table.”

The ship has been winterized, and the museum still pays insurance on it, she said.

“Until we have a real offer in hand with financing, there is no decision to be made,” she said.

Original Port Huron Times Hearld article