The Coast Guard Cutter Smilax (WLIC 315) arrived at the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore, May 4, 2015, to begin an anticipated 15-week repair availability for overhaul, inspection, and preservation work on the 71-year-old, 100-foot inland construction tender. Commissioned in l944, Smilax is the oldest vessel in active Coast Guard service today and proudly carries the title Queen of the Fleet (and the privilege of a gold hull number). The Cutter is homeported in Atlantic Beach, N.C., where it maintains over 1,000 fixed aids to navigation and several dozens of buoys throughout the North Carolina Outer Banks, assuring safe navigation for mariners. (USCG photo by Charles Wilson, Yard)
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