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
Name	Morro Bay
Namesake	Morro Bay
Builder	Tacoma Boatbuilding Co.
Laid down	6 August 1979
Launched	11 July 1980
Commissioned	28 March 1981
Homeport	Cleveland, Ohio
Identification	IMO number: 8635215 MMSI number: 366999985 Callsign: NMHK Hull number: WTGB-106
Nickname(s)	Jack of All Trades
Honors & awards	See Awards
Status	Active
General characteristics
Class & type	Bay-class tugboat
Displacement	662 t (652 long tons)
Length	42.7 m (140 ft)
Beam	11.4 m (37 ft 5 in)
Draught	3.8 m (12 ft 6 in)
Propulsion	2 × Fairbanks Morse diesel engines 1 × Westinghouse DC motor Westinghouse DC generators
Speed	14.7 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)
Complement	3 officers and 14 enlisted
Armament	2 × 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, 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

• Coast Guard Presidential Unit Citation
• Transportation 9-11 Ribbon
• Coast Guard Unit Commendation
• Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation
• Coast Guard Bicentennial Unit Commendation
• National Defense Service Medal with star
• Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
• Humanitarian Service Medal
• Coast Guard Special Operations Service Ribbon
• Coast Guard Sea Service Ribbon