USCGC Lilac (WLM-227)

USCGC Lilac (WLM-227) was a United States Coast Guard buoy tender launched in 1933 and commissioned the same year. Built at the Pusey & Jones Shipyard in Wilmington, Delaware, Lilac served primarily along the East Coast, maintaining aids to navigation and performing icebreaking duties. Throughout World War II, the vessel supported wartime logistics by ensuring crucial harbor channels and navigational routes remained open and safe. Decommissioned in 1972, USCGC Lilac is now preserved as a museum ship in New York City, recognized as the last surviving steam-powered lighthouse tender in America.