USCGC Henry Blake (WLM-563)

USCGC Henry Blake (WLM-563)
Ship name	USCGC Henry Blake (WLM-563)
Ship country	United States
Ship namesake	Henry Blake
Ship operator	United States Coast Guard
Ship builder	Marinette Marine Corporation
Ship laid down	2009
Ship launched	2010
Ship commissioned	2011
Ship homeport	Ketchikan, Alaska
Ship class	Keeper-class buoy tender
Ship displacement	2,000 tons (full load)
Ship length	175 ft
Ship beam	36 ft
Ship draft	8 ft
Ship propulsion	Diesel-electric with Ulstein Z-drives
Ship speed	12 knots
Ship complement	~24

USCGC Henry Blake (WLM-563) is a Keeper-class coastal buoy tender operated by the United States Coast Guard. She is one of the 14 175-foot buoy tenders built to replace aging 100-foot tenders and to maintain aids to navigation, conduct search and rescue, enforce law, and support maritime safety in coastal and near-shore waters. Based in Ketchikan, Alaska, Henry Blake serves the complex waterways of southeastern Alaska, supporting commerce, fisheries, and maritime communities.

Design and Characteristics

Henry Blake belongs to the Keeper-class buoy tender series designed by J. J. McMullen Associates and built by Marinette Marine Corporation in Marinette, Wisconsin. The class features a welded steel hull with a strengthened ice belt and a continuous welded main deck, enabling operations in seasonal ice common to the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. For maneuverability, Henry Blake uses computer-controlled Ulstein Z-drives and a bow thruster — innovations that enhanced station-keeping compared with older 100-foot buoy tender designs. Her diesel-electric propulsion plant allows for efficient long-duration patrols and precise positioning when servicing buoys. The cutter carries a full-length hydraulic deck crane and a buoy deck optimized for handling large aids to navigation such as 2,000-pound buoys used throughout the Inside Passage and Southeast Alaska waterways. Habitability improvements over previous classes include welded aluminum superstructure, improved berthing, and modern navigation and communications suites compatible with Automatic Identification System and Global Positioning System technologies.

Construction and Commissioning

Henry Blake was laid down and assembled at Marinette Marine during the late 2000s as part of a multi-vessel contract awarded under the Coast Guard’s program to modernize its buoy tender force. Her hull and superstructure construction followed contemporary United States shipbuilding practices emphasizing modular assembly and shock-resistant systems influenced by standards applied to vessels supporting National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration partners. Launched in 2010, she underwent builder’s trials and Coast Guard acceptance trials on the Great Lakes before transiting to her homeport via coastal waterways. The cutter was commissioned in 2011 in a ceremony attended by Coast Guard leadership, local officials from Alaska, and family members of the ship’s namesake, commemorating Henry Blake’s contributions to maritime services.

Operational History

After commissioning, Henry Blake assumed responsibility for maintaining hundreds of fixed and floating aids to navigation throughout southeastern Alaska’s complex archipelagos. Operating from Ketchikan, she frequently transits the Tongass Narrows, Revillagigedo Island, and adjacent channels to service range lights, buoys, and daymarks critical for commercial fishing fleets, Alaska Marine Highway ferries, and recreational craft. Henry Blake’s seasonally adaptive operations reflect Alaska’s maritime calendar, with summer months focused on buoy maintenance and winter months increasingly devoted to ice operations and search-and-rescue readiness. She has integrated Coast Guard district directives from Seventh Coast Guard District-equivalent administrative regioning for Alaska missions and coordinates with regional entities such as the Alaska Department of Fish and Game during resource-protection tasks.

Missions and Roles

Henry Blake performs a broad spectrum of Coast Guard missions associated with Keeper-class cutters: aids to navigation (ATON), marine environmental protection, search and rescue (SAR), law enforcement support, and community engagement. In ATON duties, her deck crew replaces lighted buoys, inspects mooring chains, and recalibrates electronic position references used by commercial shipping in the Inside Passage. For marine environmental protection, Henry Blake conducts vessel boardings in concert with United States Environmental Protection Agency guidance and supports oil-spill contingency activities alongside United States Fish and Wildlife Service responders. In SAR, she coordinates with Air Station Sitka and local search assets to respond to distress calls, medevac requests, and overdue-vessel reports. Her law enforcement role includes fisheries patrols in coordination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries and interagency enforcement actions targeting illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. Public affairs and community outreach missions include port visits, school tours, and participation in regional maritime festivals in Juneau, Sitka, and other Southeast Alaska communities.

Awards and Recognition

As an operational Coast Guard cutter, Henry Blake and her crew have been eligible for unit awards and campaign recognitions tied to mission performance, readiness inspections, and incident responses. Crew members have received individual commendations from Commandant of the Coast Guard authorities for exemplary performance during search-and-rescue cases and for complex buoy-tending evolutions in adverse weather. The cutter’s operational readiness ratings and successful inspections by Coast Guard material readiness teams have been recorded in service evaluations, contributing to the broader modernization narrative championed by the Department of Homeland Security for maritime safety assets.

Notable Incidents and Deployments

Henry Blake has participated in multi-unit responses to regional incidents such as search-and-rescue operations involving commercial fishing vessels, medevac extractions coordinated with Alaska State Troopers, and pollution-response drills that included United States Coast Guard District 17 coordination. She has deployed for joint exercises with other Coast Guard assets and partner agencies, including NOAA Ship Rainier in charting support operations and interagency fisheries enforcement with NOAA Fisheries Enforcement. The cutter has also executed emergency buoy repair missions following severe storms and seasonal ice damage affecting navigation in the Alexander Archipelago. Through these deployments, Henry Blake has demonstrated the Keeper-class emphasis on flexibility, endurance, and precision in servicing the United States’ northern coastal waterways.

Category:Keeper-class buoy tenders Category:United States Coast Guard ships Category:Ships built in Marinette, Wisconsin