United States Coast Guard Yard The United States Coast Guard Yard or just Coast Guard Yard is a United States Coast Guard operated shipyard located on Curtis Bay in northern Anne Arundel County , Maryland , just south of the Baltimore city limits . It is the coast guard ' s sole shipbuilding and major repair facility , and part of the coast guard ' s core industrial base and fleet support operations . Its annual budget is $ 88 million . History . For over a century , the United States Coast Guard Yard has built , repaired and renovated ships in Baltimore , Maryland , for the U . S . Coast Guard . It is the service ' s sole shipbuilding and major repair facility . The Coast Guard Yard celebrated its centennial in 1999 and recognized the shipyard ' s outstanding " Service to the Fleet " since being founded on the shores of south Baltimore in April , 1899 . The yard ' s centennial focused customer attention on the shipyard ' s commitment to maritime excellence , honored the yard ' s past and present work force and sought public recognition of the accomplishment and goals of the coast guard ' s only shipyard . 1899 - 1909 . In April , 1899 , the Revenue Cutter Service ( RCS ) leased of farmland surrounding Arundel Cove . Two months later , Lieutenant John C . Moore , USRCS , arrived aboard the side - wheeler to begin establishment a shipyard . Lieutenant Moore set up four small buildings including a lumber mill . The following year saw the arrival of the USRC " Chase " , a training ship for the RCS . The crew set up permanent quarters , marking the beginning of the Coast Guard Academy . In 1905 , Congress authorized the purchase of the depot ' s and additional land . Throughout its first decade , the depot repaired many lifesaving boats , constructed a variety of small boats , conducted overhauls and painted RCS cutters . 1909 - 1919 . The depot ' s facilities were consistently improved upon during the decade of the teens . New construction included a boiler and pump house , a foundry , boat , sheetmetal , electrical , paint , upholstery and blacksmith shops , new mess halls , barracks , garages , recreation building and storage structures . In 1915 , when the Revenue Cutter Service and Lifesaving Service combined to form the U . S . Coast Guard , the depot was selected as the site to train surfmen in the care and operation of gasoline engines . The engine school was housed in a shed along the west depot boundary . 1919 - 1929 . During the 1920s , production of boats , canvas work and numerous other articles for the needs of the service were stepped up . Extensive overhauls and repairs were performed on the then - modern vessels " Yamacraw " , " Seneca " , " Seminole " and many 100 ' , 125 ' patrol boats and tugs . The 500 workers of the depot included civilian employees along with enlisted men . In 1928 , there were 245 wage board and 2 classified employees on the civilian payrolls . The military complement was 250 . The work load was flexible , increasing considerably in the summer months and decreasing in the winter months . Its small boats were famed throughout the world , wherever lifesaving stations were located or cutters patrolled the seas . The depot ' s production was excellent . 1929 - 1939 . By the 1930s , many of the original buildings and equipment at the depot had become outdated . A new boat , gas engine and machine shops were built and a 40 - ton marine railway was installed . With the transfer of the United States Lighthouse Service of the Department of Commerce to the coast guard in 1939 , buoy construction became another major depot function . 1939 - 1949 . With the advent of World World II , the depot underwent extensive expansion . Improvements included a 3000 - ton floating drydock , 2 shipways and a 320 ' x 60 ' concrete pier with tower crane . The depot , now comparable in size and functions to a medium - size navy shipyard , was officially designated the U . S . Coast Guard Yard . Work involved repair of vessels including submarines , buoy manufacturing , production of canvas work for the coast guard and building over 300 small wooden boats annually . Additional work included the construction of the largest cutters ever built at the yard - the 255 ' cutters " Mendota " and " Pontchartrain " . The yard employed 3100 civilian workers during World War II . Beside the assigned military complement , the coast guard ' s war - time training station or boot camp added to the number of personnel at the yard . 1949 - 1959 . As the yard reduced its work force to fit the service ' s post war needs , vessel overhaul , gun repair work , buoy construction and miscellaneous manufacturing made up much of the yard ' s work load . The era of the 50 ' s saw the construction of three hundred 40 ' steel lifesaving patrol boats , the coast guard lightships " San Francisco " and " Ambrose " and small craft like the 36 ' 8 " motor lifeboats . In February , 1953 , the first of the 95 ' steel patrol boats was launched at the yard . In total , fifty - eight 95 - footers were built for the coast guard and the navy throughout the decade of the 50 ' s into the early 1960s . The yard continued to perfect its reputation for the overhaul of aging coast guard and navy ships . Such cutters were the " Chilula , " " Avoyel , " " Dexter , " and " Commanche . " In March , 1958 , the Coast Guard Cutter " Azalea , " a 100 ' buoy tender , was launched at the yard . 1959 - 1969 . The yard continued to prosper during the decade of the 60 ' s . The first of 53 cutters built at the yard under the 82 ' patrol boat program was launched in February , 1960 . During the Vietnam War , 26 of the yard - built 82 - footers served with distinction assigned to Coast Guard Squadron One . In April , 1962 , the prototype of the 44 ' steel self - righting motor lifeboats ( MLB ) was launched . One of these was later built for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in the United Kingdom as the prototype for their . During the next 10 years , the yard built 110 44 ' MLB ' s . In May , 1965 , the yard sent its first 210 ' medium endurance cutter down the shipways , USCGC Confidence ( WMEC - 619 ) . The 210 ' Cutters " Confidence " , " Resolute " , " Durable " , " Decisive " and " Alert " were constructed by the skilled hands of the yard . During the 60 ' s and into the early 70 ' s , the yard constructed five 157 ' buoy tenders - the " Red Wood , " " Red Beech , " " Red Birch , " " Red Cedar " and " Red Oak . " Construction began on the " Red Cedar " in July , 1969 . On the small boat constructions side of production during the 60 ' s , the yard built 206 25 ' 8 " fiberglass motor surfboats . 1969 - 1979 . The 1970s engaged the yard in a flurry of activity . The trades continued the manufacturing of the coast guard ' s lighted buoys , a program which began at the yard during the Second World War . Constructed in an assembly - line mode , lighted reflector buoys - large , steel buoys used for round - the - clock aids - to - navigation and lighted ice buoys used for heavy ice conditions were manufactured at the yard . Begun in 1975 , the yard became the sole source for overhaul of the coast guard ' s 5 " 38 caliber gun mount . The 5 " gun mounts were used on the service ' s 378 ' cutters . In 1971 , the yard completed construction of a prototype 41 ' utility boat ( UTB ) which had an aluminum hull and fiberglass superstructure . The yard - built boat was adopted and from 1973 through the early 1980s , the yard constructed 207 41 ' UTB ' s . The craft is well known to recreational and commercial boaters throughout the United States and is used primarily for search and rescue . The yard had a proven record for the design of experimental maritime projects . The construction of the prototype Stable Semi - Submerged Platform , or SSP , was the highlight of the 1970s . The SSP " Kailmalino " used the SWATH concept - Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull . The craft operated successfully for many years in the Hawaiian Islands . In 1974 , the yard laid the keel for a 160 ' single unit construction tender , the " CGC Pamlico . " Throughout the remaining decade , 3 more 160 ' construction tenders were built at the Yard : the " CGC Hudson , " " CGC Kennebec , " and " CGC Saginaw . " From the late 70 ' s into the early 80 ' s , the yard renovated sixteen 95 ' patrol boats . Built at the yard in the 1950s , the cutters were in need of modernization or repair . 1979 - 1989 . Entering the 1980s , the yard constructed a prototype oil skimmer used to clean up oil spills . The Zero Relative Velocity Skimmer , ZRV , represented the best available technology in the coast guard ' s field of fast current pollution control research . The first of the new 270 ' medium endurance cutters , the " Bear , " arrived at the yard in 1983 to begin post - construction and electronics work . The yard accomplished a retrofit on 12 additional 270 ' cutters throughout the 80 ' s . Beginning in 1984 , the yard began the Service Life Extension Program ( SLEP ) for nine 180 ' buoy tenders in the Coast Guard fleet . From the mid - 80 ' s through the early 90 ' s , the cutters " Sorrrel " , " Gentian " , " Cowslip " , " Conifer " , " Madrona " , " Laurel " , " Papaw , Sweetgun " and " Buttonwood . " received mid - life overhauls and given an anticipated 20 additional years of service life as a result of the yard ' s renovation . In 1984 , the yard recommissioned the first 210 ' medium endurance cutter under the Coast Guard ' s Major Maintenance Availability Program ( MMA ) . The cutters " Active " , " Confidence " ) and " Reliance " received their upgrades during the 80 ' s decade . Eleven more vessels would undergo renovation throughout the 1990s before the program came to a close . The yard ' s overhaul gave each MMA cutter an anticipated additional 15 years of service life . In 1985 , the yard completed a major renovation of a ferryboat for coast guard use at Governor ' s Island , New York . The " Kulshan , " a 30 - year old vessel bought by the Coast Guard from the State of Washington ' s ferry system , was renamed the " Governor " following renovation at the yard . As the decade of the 80 ' s came to a close , the coast guard tasked the yard with construction of 6 river barges for Coast Guard use on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers . The project was transferred to the yard when the awarded private contractor filed for bankruptcy prior to contract completion . In 1983 , the U . S . Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay was listed on the National Register of Historic Places . 1989 - 1999 . After completing an extensive , four - year repair project on the Coast Guard Cutter Barque " Eagle " in the 1980s , the cutter returned to the yard in 1995 and 1998 for repair availabilities . The yard is building an anticipated 26 small aids - to - navigation workboats , the 49 ' BUSLs , through the year 2000 . The first BUSL was launched in August , 1997 . The yard completed the 210 ' Major Maintenance Availability Program in October , 1998 , with the recommissioning of the cutter " Decisive . " Fourteen of the coast guard ' s 210 ' cutters underwent , respectively , an 18 - month , $ 21 million renovation at the yard since the program began in 1984 . With the dedication of the new $ 18 million shiplift in November , 1997 , the yard increased its capability to accommodate repairs of coast guard vessels . The land - based shiphandling facility replaced the yard ' s nearly 60 - year old drydocks . It is environmentally - friendly and offers lower maintenance cost . The yard is the sole source for major repair of naval weapons systems used by the Coast Guard . Topping the list is the repair of the MK 75 76 mm guns and includes a contract with the Naval Sea Systems Command for the overhaul of the Saudi Arabian MK 75 weapons systems . The yard expanded its market base in the mid 1990s to include the overhaul of the Paxman engine , the main propulsion engine in the 110 ' patrol boat . The work is considered a primary example of core work for the shipyard . The yard has excelled in its capability to bring its expertise to the customer rather than the customer coming into the yard for service . The yard has built a celebrated reputation for taking its skills " on - the - road " to the coast guard fleet worldwide . The yard became the first organization in the United States government to achieve ISO 9001 certification in 1995 and ISO 9001 recertification in 1998 . ISO 9001 is a set of internationally recognized standards for quality management systems .