From: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol.V - p 150

Oleander

A poisonous evergreen shrub of the dogbane family.

Oleander was built under Coast Guard contract in 1940 by Marine Iron and Shipbuilding Corp., Duluth, Minn. Designed as a small river buoy tender, she was first assigned permanent station at Kansas City, Mo.

She commenced patrol and navigational aid maintenance operations on the Missouri River in the area of Kansas City and she was so engaged when Executive Order 8929 of 1 November 1941 transferred the Coast Guard to the Navy.

Through the war years Oleander continued to serve on the Missouri River as a buoy tender.

When the Coast Guard returned to the Treasury Department 1 January 1946, the tender remained in an active status. In 1961 she was assigned new permanent station at Point Pleasant, W. Va., on the Ohio River, In April 1967, after 177 years with the Treasury Department, the Coast Guard transferred to the new Department of Transportation. Oleander has remained active as a buoy tender through l969, operating on the Ohio River out of Point Pleasant.