Coast Guard Station Oak Island
Coast Guard Station Oak Island referred to locally as the Oak Island Coast Guard Station (OICGS) is located in the Town of Caswell Beach on Oak Island in Brunswick County, North Carolina. A part of the Cape Fear region, the station is in the United States Coast Guard 5th District which is charged with ensuring the safety and security of the oceans, coastal areas, and marine transportation system within the Mid-Atlantic Region. The district encompasses some 156,000 square miles of ocean, bays, rivers, wetlands and tidal marshes, geographic waterways, several major mid-Atlantic ports , and the Nation’s capital. They also patrol the mouth of the Cape Fear River in Southport, North Carolina and the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) History. In the early 1800s, in recognition of the dangers to navigation caused by Frying Pan Shoals, Jay Bird Shoals, and Bald Head Shoals which lay south and southeast of Cape Fear, construction of a series of lighthouses and life saving stations in the area began. In 1888 the War Department designated a portion of Fort Caswell on the east end of Oak Island for use a life-saving station. Although it still owned the land , it gave the Treasury Department permission to occupy the beach in front of the fort to construct what would turn out to be the Oak Island Life Saving Station. Completed in 1889, this building was sold to a private owner in 1938 and is now a residence sitting across from the existing station’s main gate. Facilities. Immediately east of the station's main building is a helicopter pad and on its north perimeter is a dredged ship channel which provides access to the Atlantic Ocean via the Intracoastal Waterway and the Southport Channel. The station currently supports five major  waterborne assets: the 65’ Inland Buoy Tender USCGC Bayberry (WLI-65400) which was commissioned in 1954, and four 47′ motor lifeboats (MLB). These patrol boats are noted for their exceptional ability to operate in high seas, surf, and heavy weather conditions with a unique feature that they can self-right in only 30 seconds if knocked over by waves or surf. There are currently 117 MLBs in the Coast Guard inventory.<ref name="Coast Guard Vessels/Aircraft"></ref> The station also serves as home base to the US Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 10-5 which celebrated its 50th Anniversary in May 2017. Coast