laststandonzombieisland

There has been a lot of quiet yet noteworthy news concerning the Coast Guard in the past couple of weeks.

Blue Water ops abound

First, it should be noted that things are definitely in motion in the Pacific.

The 49-year-old 210-foot USCGC Resolute (WMEC-620) just arrived back in CONUS yesterday, following a 59-day patrol in the Eastern Pacific under JIATF-South, and offloaded over six tons of coke, showing she is still capable of interdiction duty in blue water.

The crew of USCGC Resolute (WMEC 620) poses for a group photo during a drug offload at Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg, July 17, 2025. Resolute deployed in support of Joint Interagency Task Force-South (JIATF-South), an interagency and international task force that conducts counter-illicit trafficking and security cooperation operations in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Riley Perkofski)

The aging 270-foot Bear-class USCGC Harriet Lane (WMEC 903), the only member of her class stationed on that side of the globe, just wrapped a 73-day 15,000 nm patrol of Oceania around the Hawaiian Islands, French Polynesia, Cook Islands, and American Samoa.

U.S. Coast Guardsmen assigned to medium endurance cutter USCGC Harriet Lane (WMEC 903) prepare to moor the cutter on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, Hawaii, July 9, 2025. The crew returned from a 73-day patrol during which they exercised partnerships with the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, and New Zealand through bilateral maritime law enforcement agreements. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jennifer Nilson)

They did a lot of “hearts and minds” outreach stuff with allied militaries as well as “interagency and Pacific Island partners to reinforce the rules-based international maritime order in the region.”

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane (WMEC 903) approaches the island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands during a passenger transfer and ship resupply on June 13, 2025. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Austin Wiley)

Next, the frigate-sized USCGC Stratton (WMSL 752) has been busy on a Westpac cruise under the control of 7th Fleet’s DESRON 15. With an embarked ScanEagle UAV detachment and Navy/Marine ship riders, she has been conducting in-port and at-sea engagements with Japan Coast Guard (JCG), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and other “racing stripe” forces in the region.

The Legend-class U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stratton (WMSL 752) steams alongside the Japan Coast Guard Patrol Vessel Asanagi (PLH-43) and the Philippine Coast Guard vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua (MRRV-9701) during a trilateral search and rescue exercise in Kagoshima, Japan, June 20, 2025. Stratton is deployed and assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, the Navy’s largest DESRON and the U.S. 7th Fleet’s principal surface force. Stratton is deployed to the Indo-Pacific to advance relationships with ally and partner nations to build a more secure and prosperous region with unrestricted, lawful access to the maritime commons. (Japan Coast Guard courtesy photo)

Philippine and Japan Coast Guard members observe a ScanEagle long-endurance unmanned aerial system aboard the Legend-class U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stratton (WMSL 752) during a trilateral search and rescue exercise in Kagoshima, Japan, June 20, 2025. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Kate Kilroy)

She just arrived in Guam with ship riders of the maritime forces from Australia, India, and Japan aboard, and you can spot a few USN Bluejackets among the crew.

Quad partners from the U.S. Coast Guard, Japan Coast Guard, Australian Border Force, Indian Coast Guard, and the command and crew of the Legend-class U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stratton (WMSL 752) take a photo on the flight deck during the first Quad at-sea mission while Stratton patrols the Pacific Ocean, July 1, 2025. Stratton is deployed and assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, the Navy’s largest DESRON and the U.S. 7th Fleet’s principal surface force. Stratton is deployed to the Indo-Pacific to advance relationships with ally and partner nations to build a more secure and prosperous region with unrestricted, lawful access to the maritime commons. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Kate Kilroy)

Meanwhile, in Alaska, where the USCG counts more than 2,500 active duty, reserve, civilian, and auxiliary personnel, a new (to them) face on the beat has arrived.

The 87-foot USCGC Blacktip (WPB 87326) just reported for duty in her new homeport of Valdez, replacing the recently retired 110-foot Island-class WPB, USCGC Liberty. A key takeaway on that is that she self-deployed there after transiting approximately 2,800 miles.

On an 87-foot boat.

You learn to sail in the Coast Guard, dammit.

Blacktip in Valdez, her new home. A big change from Oxnard. 250708-G-GM914-0001

Speaking of Liberty, the 39-year-old cutter and her two sisters, ex-Mustang (WPB-1310), and Naushon (WPB-1311), completed their final sail, arriving in San Diego from Alaska under USCG crews to be handed over to the Colombian Navy. Other members of the 49-member class have been transferred to Costa Rica, Georgia, Greece, Pakistan, Tunisia, and Ukraine. Only 14 have been scrapped. Not a bad run considering the last unit was delivered from Bollinger in 1992, and they had a 15-year planned lifespan.

A Ukrainian Island-class patrol boat in dazzle camouflage. 2024, with a bit of up-arming from when she was in USCG service. Photo credits: Ukrainian Navy

Also headed to Alaska, eventually, is the recently commissioned “icebreaker” USCGC Storis (WAGB 21), which arrived last week at her temporary homeport in Seattle alongside the service’s other ice crunchers. The service says that “The arrival of Storis marks a milestone in the Coast Guard’s Force Design 2028 initiative and broader Arctic strategy.” She is slated to move to Juneau once a facility is constructed there to berth her.

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Storis (WAGB 21) transits through Puget Sound en route to Coast Guard Base Seattle, July 11, 2025. The newly acquired polar icebreaker will conduct missions in the Arctic and aims to strengthen the U.S. presence in the region. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Annika Hirschler)

Large Cutter Program Blues

And in “whomp-whomp” news to cheer you on down, the Coast Guard recently did what it probably should have done two years ago and canceled the planned Heritage-class offshore patrol cutters (OPCs) number three and four from Panama City’s Eastern Shipbuilding Group.

Still not here: the Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutter/Maritime Security Cutter.

The Florida shipyard won a contract for what should have been the first eight of 25 OPCs in 2016, and, almost a decade later, just two are nearing completion. ESG’s delivery of the first OPC, the future USCGC Argus (WMSM-915), was initially due in June 2023 but will now be completed by the end of 2026 (!) at the earliest. The second OPC, the future USCGC Chase (WMSM-916), was supposed to be delivered in April 2024, and no one really knows when that will actually happen.

Odds are that the future USCGC Ingham (WMSM-917) and Rush (WMSM-918) will likely be re-awarded to Austal in Mobile, which is already working on a second flight of eight OPCs itself. The service needs a second yard on board for these.

I would say that nearby Ingalls had the bandwidth to crank out some of these white hulls, but the USCG last month terminated their contract for the 11th and final National Security Cutter last month, clawing back $260 million in long-lead funds already awarded for that long-overdue vessel. The service will use the parts and materials to keep its 10 other Ingalls-built NSCs running.

It’s a shame as the NSCs are the most functional cutters ever to sail under Coast Guard tasking, and, like Stratton above, are a favorite in the Westpac to fill frigate missions that the Navy has few other assets to accomplish.

Meanwhile, the nearly year-old Icebreaker Collaboration Effort (ICE) Pact between the USCG, Finland, and Canada has produced little in the way of concrete results, although Trump said in a news conference recently that the country may buy as many as 15 icebreakers from Finland (hold your breath).

The first modules for the planned U.S. Coast Guard Polar Security Cutter (PSC) were only cleared in April, and that program was awarded in 2019.

Semper paratus, indeed.