USCGC Balsam

USCGC Balsam (WLB-62) was a 180 ft United States Coast Guard Cactus-class seagoing buoy tender (WLB) in commission from 1942 to 1975. She operated in the Pacific Ocean during World War II, then saw service in Hawaii, along the United States West Coast, and in Alaska.

Construction and commissioning
Balsam was one of 39 original 180 ft seagoing buoy tenders built between 1942 and 1944, all but one of which – USCGC Ironwood (WLB-307) – were built in Duluth, Minnesota. Balsam's preliminary design was completed by the United States Lighthouse Service, which was abolished on 1 July 1939 and merged into the U.S. Coast Guard, and her final design was produced by the Marine Iron and Shipbuilding Corporation in Duluth. She was built by the Zenith Dredge Company in Duluth. Her keel was laid on 25 October 1941. She was launched on 15 April 1942, and commissioned into U.S. Coast Guard Service as USCGC Balsam (WLB-62) on 13 October 1942. The original cost for her hull and machinery was $916,109.

Operational history
Balsam's initial service was in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. On 10 July 1944 a United States Navy Martin PBM-3-D Mariner flying boat experienced an engine fire and made a forced landing in the ocean off Howland Island. The aircraft was beached by the pilot and although it burned, the crew escaped unharmed and were rescued by Balsam.

After the war, Balsam was based on the United States West Coast with her home port at Astoria, Oregon, and Eureka, California. She also was home-ported in Honolulu, Hawaii, before being transferred to Alaska to serve out her remaining years in the Coast Guard fleet. After the landing craft Bettles ran aground and broke up in gale with 65 mph winds off Semisopochnoi Island in the Aleutian Islands without loss of life on 8 November 1966, Balsam rescued her crew.

The U.S. Coast Guard decommissioned Balsam on 6 March 1975 and sold her to a private company for $53,687. She was subsequently sold again and then converted into an Alaskan crab-fishing boat named Baranof.