Sassafras is a C-Class, 180-foot (55 m), seagoing buoy tender constructed for the United States Coast Guard by Marine Iron & Shipbuilding Corp. of Duluth, Minnesota.

Sassafras was one of 39 tenders commissioned for duties that would include aids-to-navigation, ice breaking, search-and-rescue, firefighting, law enforcement, providing fuel and potable water, and assistance to the National Oceanographic and Seismographic Survey.

1949 - Assisted USCGC Eastwind after she was severely damaged in a collision with MV Gulfstream on 19 January 1949 off Cape May, New Jersey.

1967 - On 30 April 1967, Sassafras rescued five from FV Mockingbird, which sank 130 miles (210 km) SE of New York City.

The "major renovation" program was conducted on the following 180-foot tenders between 1974 and 1979: Sedge, Bramble, Ironwood, Mariposa, Acacia, Sweetbrier, Hornbeam, Spar, Sassafras, Sundew, Firebush, and Woodrush.

This renovation involved the complete removal and overhaul of all mechanical systems including the main engines and the propulsion switchboard.

Rescued two people from the sailboat Joie de Mar, which was disabled 550 miles (890 km) southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii.

1990 - Rescued 28 crewmen from sinking Greek freighter (Vulca) 800 miles (1,300 km) northeast of Hawaii.