USCG to name new Sentinel class cutter for BMCS Horne
Back in 2012 I blogged about Senior Chief Horne, who while serving on an 87 foot WPB off the California coast, lost his life.
Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III of Redondo Beach and three others were on an inflatable boat in pursuit of suspected drug smugglers in a panga. Investigators say that the panga was running dark with no lights on when it was spotted near Santa Cruz Island around 2 a.m. Sunday.
The Coast Guard cutter Halibut deployed its small boat, and the crew chased after the smugglers with its law enforcement lights on.
Authorities say the suspects suddenly turned, and at a high rate of speed, hit the Coast Guard inflatable head-on, throwing two Coast
Guard members into the water.
Horne, 34, sustained a traumatic head injury and was pronounced dead at the Port of Hueneme. The other Coast Guard member suffered minor injuries.
Well, the Coast Guard is remembering Senior Chief Horne by gracing one of the new 154-foot Sentinel class fast response cutters, now under construction at Bollinger Shipyard, with the cutterman’s name. The ship will have a heck of a monicker to live up to.