USCGC Morro Bay

USCGC Morro Bay (WTGB-106) is the sixth vessel of the Bay-class tugboats built in 1980 and operated by the United States Coast Guard.[1] The ship was named after a seaside city in San Luis Obispo County, California.[2]

USCGC Morro Bay
History
United States
NameMorro Bay
NamesakeMorro Bay
BuilderTacoma Boatbuilding Co.
Laid down6 August 1979
Launched11 July 1980
Commissioned28 March 1981
HomeportCleveland
Identification
Nickname(s)Jack of All Trades
Honors and
awards		See Awards
StatusActive
General characteristics
Class and typeBay-class tugboat
Displacement662 t (652 long tons)
Length42.7 m (140 ft)
Beam11.4 m (37 ft 5 in)
Draught3.8 m (12 ft 6 in)
Propulsion
Speed14.7 knots (27.2 km/h; 16.9 mph)
Range
  • 1,500 nmi (2,800 km; 1,700 mi) at 14.7 knots (27.2 km/h; 16.9 mph)
  • 3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
  • 6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement3 officers and 14 enlisted
Armament2 × M240 machine guns

Design
Main article: Bay-class tugboat

The 140-foot (43 m) Bay-class tugboats are operated primarily for domestic ice breaking duties. They are named after American bays and are stationed mainly in the northeast United States and the Great Lakes.

WTGBs use a low pressure air hull lubrication or bubbler system that forces air and water between the hull and ice. This system improves icebreaking capabilities by reducing resistance against the hull, reducing horsepower requirements.

Construction and career

Morro Bay was laid down by the Tacoma Boatbuilding Co., in Tacoma, Washington on 6 August 1979. She was launched on 11 July 1980 and later commissioned at the Reserve Training Center in Yorktown, Virginia, on 28 March 1981. She served at Yorktown until 1998 and then at New London, Connecticut, before she was reassigned to Cleveland, Ohio in the summer of 2014.

On 2 July 2008, Morro Bay was returning to New London when she collided with a Block Island ferry.[3]

In May 2018, Morro Bay arrived at the Great Lakes Shipyard for repairs and maintenance.[4]

On 13 June 2021, while the museum ship USS Cod was being towed out of Cleveland for repairs, Morro Bay collided with Cod at 11:30 a.m., though damage to the vessels was minor.[5]

Awards

References
  1. "CGC MORRO BAY". www.atlanticarea.uscg.mil. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  2. "MORRO BAY History". www.atlanticarea.uscg.mil. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  3. "Cutter Morro Bay Collision Update | Coast Guard News". coastguardnews.com. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  4. "US Coast Guard Cutter MORRO BAY in Shipyard » Great Lakes Shipyard". The Great Lakes Group. 3 October 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  5. "MORRO BAY History". www.atlanticarea.uscg.mil. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
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