laststandonzombieisland

The Coast Guard just dropped the names for the first flight of 11 new 360-foot Offshore Patrol Cutters.

The agency stuck with the naming convention of recycling historical cutter names which is so much better than, oh, naming them after current members of Congress in charge of purse strings or, say, the political whims of the SECNAV.

From the CG:

The first flight of 11 OPCs will include the Active, Argus, Diligence and Vigilant, named for four cutters of the first fleet [of Alexander Hamilton’s 10 revenue service cutters in 1791] and subsequent cutters with the same names.

OPC Pickering will pay homage to the distinguished combat record of the Quasi-War cutter Pickering.

OPC Ingham will carry the name of a 327-foot “Treasury”-class cutter that served with distinction in World War II. [See Warship Wednesday entry on Ingham here]

OPC Icarus will honor the fearless 165-foot cutter that sank one of the first Nazi U-boats after U.S. entry into World War II.

OPCs Chase and Rush will bear two cutter names long associated with the Coast Guard, most recently with two high-endurance cutters of the 378-foot Hamilton-class [who put in time on the gun line off Vietnam.]

OPCs Alert and Reliance will bear the names of two famed workhorses of the medium-endurance cutter fleet.

The first offshore patrol cutter is scheduled for delivery in fiscal year 2021.