The USCGC Redbud (WLB-398) was one of 20 "C" class buoy tenders that entered service during World War II. She was assigned to the 7th Naval District and was based out of Miami, Florida, where she serviced aids to navigation. She was loaned to the U.S. Navy on 18 March 1949 and was redesignated as AKL-398 (although the Navy retained her Coast Guard-given name) on 31 March 1949. The Navy had her converted at Long Beach, California and she was commissioned on 23 July 1949 under the command of LCDR F. E. Clark, USN.