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N7KTP > NAVNET 27.07.04 07:10l 52 Lines 2618 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 65016_N7WE
Read: GUEST
Subj: USS REDBUD (AKL-398)
Path: DB0FHN<DB0RGB<OK0PPL<OK0NAG<9A0BBS<S50BOX<S50MBL<IV3LAV<I4UKI<IK5CKL<
IZ0AWG<HB9OK<IK1ZNW<N7WE
Sent: 040727/0046Z @:N7WE.#WWA.WA.USA.NA #:65016 [Bremerton] $:65016_N7WE
From: N7KTP@N7WE.#WWA.WA.USA.NA
To : NAVNET@USA
Lighthouse tender/cargo ship Redbud paves way through Arctic
By FRED MILES WATSON - Managing Editor - Northwest Navigator
Redbud, a name given it by the U.S. Coast Guard, started out as a
lighthouse tender WLB-398 for that seagoing branch, but became a light
cargo ship, AKL, for the Navy.
She was constructed at Marine Iron & Shipbuilding Co., of Duluth,
Minn., and was commissioned July 23, 1949 after being acquired by the
Navy and moved to the West Coast. Lt. Cmdr. F.E. Clark was the first in
command of AKL-398.
Redbud displaced l,025-tons fully loaded and was 180 feet in
length. She had a draft of 13 feet and could steam at a top speed of 13
knots. A total of 28 men were assigned in Redbud. Propulsion was via
one electric motor, two Westinghouse generators driven by two Cooper-
Bessemer GND8 diesel engines that produced 1,200 Shaft Horsepower
through a single propeller.
Following shakedown operations, Redbud departed Long Beach Aug. 3,
1949 and headed for the East Coast. On Sept. 18, she arrived at Boston.
She then continued on to Argentia to join the support force for the
construction and maintenance of air bases and early warning installa-
tions in the North Atlantic and Arctic areas. By the end of the year
and into 1950, she operated along the southwestern coast of Greenland,
adding more northerly ports and those on the Canadian side of Baffin
Bay to her schedule during the summer months. Until Feb. 28, 1952, she
continued her support of Arctic bases, rehabilitating navigational
aids, activating and repairing submarine petroleum lines, and
delivering bulk petroleum and general cargo, as a commissioned U.S.
Navy ship.
On that date she was decommissioned and simultaneously placed
in service with MSTS, and, with a civil service crew, returned to
sealift support for the Northeast Command (SUNEC).
In 1956 Redbud's schedule was altered to include winter (November
through March) supply runs to the Texas Towers which alternated with
warmer weather (April through October) SUNEC duties.
Maintaining that schedule through the 1960's, her primary mission
continued to be her SUNEC missions, and, unti1 197O, she was usually
the first MSTS ship to arrive in the far north to open a new resupply
season. On Nov. 10, 1970, she was returned to the Coast Guard and was
struck from the Navy list ten days later.
The Coast Guard then transferred her to the Republic of the
Philippines on March 1, 1972 under a grant-in-aid. She served the
Philippines as Kalinga (AG-89).
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