USCGC Hemlock (WAGL-217)

She was laid down in 1933 at the Seattle shipyard of the Berg Shipbuilding Company.[1][2] She was specifically designed for Alaska with a double-bottom and larger fuel tanks.[2] She was launched on 23 January 1934, acquired by the United States Lighthouse Service in March 1934, and commissioned later that year.[1] Assigned to the 16th Lighthouse District, she worked as a lighthouse tender in the waters surrounding the Territory of Alaska.[2] On 1 July 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Service was abolished and the United States Coast Guard took over its responsibilities and assets; and Hemlock became part of the Coast Guard fleet as USCGC Hemlock. She continued to operate out of Ketchikan, Territory of Alaska as her home-port.[1]

During World War II, she was assigned to the Alaska Sector of the 13th Naval District[2] (headquartered at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard) where she was one of the few ships then in newly-appointed Captain R.C. Parker's small "Alaskan Navy" which consisted of the gunboat and flagship USS Charleston, the cutter USCGC Onondaga, three converted patrol craft (YP-72, YP-73, YP-74),[3] and her sister lighthouse tenders, USCGC Alder and USCG Cedar.[4][1] She was decommissioned in 1958.[5] She was sold on August 2, 1961 and later served as a merchant ship.[6]