WLB AND WLM - THE NEXT-GENERATION OF UNITED-STATES-COAST-GUARD BUOY TENDERS

The U.S. Coast Guard's current fleet of buoy tenders consists of appro ximately 40 cutters of the WLM and WLB classes. The majority of these vessels were built in the 1942-1944 time frame and have undergone nume rous modifications, overhauls, and renovations in their 50-year servic e lives. In 1979, the U.S. Coast Guard, facing increasing costs associ ated with operating this aging fleet of buoy tenders and increasing pr essure to control budget growth by operating fewer ships with fewer me n, embarked on an ambitious replacement program. This paper discusses the procurement approach resulting from this U.S. Coast Guard initiati ve and describes the WLB and WLM designs which were selected for procu rement. It also discusses a number of the significant design tradeoffs and design drivers and provides the rationale for selection of both t he overall ship configuration and specific shipboard systems for the t wo designs.