Thanks to Guy Smith on Alki Point for sharing the photo of the 175-foot buoy tender USCGC Henry Blake, seen between our peninsula and Bainbridge Island today. We noticed it while out for a midday walk on Duwamish Head, but didn’t have binoculars or zoom lens or even MarineTraffic.com handy at the time; Guy’s e-mail tonight with the photo enabled us to identify it via its number, WLM-563. It’s based in Everett and was commissioned there in 2000, according to the Henry Blake’s official USCG fact sheet, which notes, “Henry Blake’s primary mission is servicing navigational aids, but it also provides marine environmental protection and search and rescue.” Closer view:

P.S. Bonus info – here’s a closer look at the Coast Guard’s “black-hulled fleet,” including this ship, and how the USCG’s ships are color-coded.