The USCGC Willow was a distinctive side-wheel steamship constructed between 1924 and 1927 to resemble a 19th-century Mississippi Riverboat. Originally built for the U.S. Lighthouse Service and commissioned on October 7, 1927, she featured a design overseen by Captain Thomas B. Good, who later made modifications in cooperation with the U.S. Navy. These modifications increased her draft significantly, which sometimes limited her ability to operate efficiently in shallow waters. She was homeported in Memphis, Tennessee, with a seasonal presence in New Orleans, serving primarily as a buoy tender responsible for installing and maintaining navigation aids such as buoys, channel markers, fog signals, and beacons. Due to her deep draft, much of her work was conducted from boat deployable from her deck, as her hull often kept her at a distance from shoreline work areas. Willow’s original propulsion consisted of side-wheel steam engines, which were later removed when she was transferred to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1945. This transfer marked a significant transformation, as her propulsion machinery and original small pilothouse were removed, and she was extensively rebuilt with a full third deck to serve as living quarters for work crews, including some German POWs during late WWII. Her role shifted from navigation aid maintenance to auxiliary support, and she was used as a berthing hul and later as a showboat. Throughout her lengthy service life, Willow changed hands multiple times, with plans to repurpose her as a floating hotel, museum, and attraction—none of which fully materialized. After being sold in 1962, she suffered damage from hurricanes and was abandoned at times, eventually being purchased by a UK leisure company in 1989. Restored temporarily in Belgium, she was intended to be moored in London but remains a notable example of a riverboat with a storied history spanning nearly a century. As of 2023, her hull has been partially dismantled, with her superstructure removed and the vessel lying just below the surface in a marina in Spain.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.