USCGC Bramble (WLB-392) is one of the 39 original 180-foot (55 m) seagoing buoy tenders built between 1942 and 1944 for the United States Coast Guard.
In 1947 Bramble was present at the Nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll and in 1957 a circumnavigation of North America involved a forced traverse of the Northwest Passage.
In 2018 she was sold to a private owner, who is preparing MV Bramble to repeat her historic 1957 circumnavigation of North America.
In the spring on 1945, she departed the Great Lakes to her first homeport of San Pedro, California, to perform aids to navigation duties.
Later that year, Bramble was transferred to Juneau, Alaska, for supply and aids to navigation work around the Aleutian Islands.
From July to October 1947, Bramble participated in "Operation Crossroads", the first test of an atomic bomb's effect on surface ships, at Bikini Island.
Preparations for the difficult voyage included fitting Bramble with a stainless steel propeller and strengthening her bow to withstand tremendous pressures created by the Arctic ice pack.
Bramble departed for this historic adventure from Miami on 24 May 1957 en route Seattle, Washington via the Panama Canal.
The ships traveled through 4,500 nautical miles (8,330 km) of semi-charted water in 64 days to recross the Arctic Circle into the Atlantic.
In 1962 Bramble transferred to Detroit, Michigan to perform the missions of aids to navigation, search and rescue, icebreaking and law enforcement throughout the Great Lakes.
Bramble completed a major renovation and overhaul in 1974, during which her engines were removed and rebuilt and her berthing areas were expanded and modernized.
New 200 kW ship's service generators, boilers, associated plumbing and electrical cable were also part of the project.
While there, the crew also performed work on aids to navigation and participated with Venezuela in a joint law enforcement operation.
[1][3] In January 2013 the ship was purchased by Robert B Klingler of Marine City, Michigan, who created the company USCGC Bramble LLC.