Category Archives: homeland security

Marine Narco Sub ops continue

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We’ve been covering the Marines’ interest and initiative in fielding their own, more legitimate, take on the narco sub or LPSS for use in supplying isolated outposts and quiet Marine Littoral Regiment fires elements dotted around the less visited atolls and islands of the Western Pacific.

With that in mind, check out these recently cleared images of 1st Marine Logistics Group Marines testing an Autonomous Low-Profile Vessel, on or about 22 January 2026.

The ALPV is an autonomous logistics delivery system the Marine Corps is experimenting with to deliver supplies and equipment in a timely manner throughout the littorals.

U.S. Marine Corps photos by Sgt. Mary Torres.

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Carlos Perez-armenta, a logistics specialist with 1st Distribution Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 1, 1st Marine Logistics Group, operates an Autonomous Low-Profile Vessel during testing on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, Jan. 22, 2026. The ALPV is an autonomous logistics delivery system the Marine Corps is experimenting with to deliver supplies and equipment in a timely manner throughout the littorals. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Mary Torres)

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Luna Eben, a logistics specialist with 1st Distribution Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 1, 1st Marine Logistics Group, conducts safety pre-checks before operating an Autonomous Low-Profile Vessel during testing on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, Jan. 22, 2026. The ALPV is an autonomous logistics delivery system the Marine Corps is experimenting with to deliver supplies and equipment in a timely manner throughout the littorals. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Mary T

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Carlos Perez-armenta, a logistics specialist with 1st Distribution Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 1, 1st Marine Logistics Group, conducts safety pre-checks before operating an Autonomous Low-Profile Vessel during testing on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, Jan. 22, 2026. The ALPV is an autonomous logistics delivery system the Marine Corps is experimenting with to deliver supplies and equipment in a timely manner throughout the littorals. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Carlos Perez-armenta, a logistics specialist with 1st Distribution Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 1, 1st Marine Logistics Group, operates an Autonomous Low-Profile Vessel during testing on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, Jan. 22, 2026. The ALPV is an autonomous logistics delivery system the Marine Corps is experimenting with to deliver supplies and equipment in a timely manner throughout the littorals. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Mary Torres)

And these earlier shots in early December 2025 of India Company, Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, conducting an at-sea resupply drill with supplies from an autonomous low-profile vessel during unmanned surface vessel training operations as part of MEU Exercise at White Beach Naval Facility, Okinawa, Japan.

U.S. Marine Corps photos by Sgt. Alora Finigan.

U.S. Marines with India Company, Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, conduct a simulated resupply with supplies from an autonomous low-profile vessel to during unmanned surface vessel training operations as part of MEU Exercise at White Beach Naval Facility, Okinawa, Japan on Dec. 2, 2025. The ALPV has the ability to deliver multiple variations of supplies and equipment through contested maritime terrain. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuou

U.S. Marines with India Company, Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, conduct a simulated resupply with supplies from an autonomous low-profile vessel to during unmanned surface vessel training operations as part of MEU Exercise at White Beach Naval Facility, Okinawa, Japan on Dec. 2, 2025. The ALPV has the ability to deliver multiple variations of supplies and equipment through contested maritime terrain. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuou

U.S. Marines with India Company, Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, conduct an at sea resupply drill with supplies from an autonomous low-profile vessel during unmanned surface vessel training operations as part of MEU Exercise at White Beach Naval Facility, Okinawa, Japan on Dec. 3, 2025. The ALPV has the ability to deliver multiple variations of supplies and equipment through contested maritime terrain. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuo

U.S. Marines with India Company, Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, conduct an at sea resupply drill with supplies from an autonomous low-profile vessel during unmanned surface vessel training operations as part of MEU Exercise at White Beach Naval Facility, Okinawa, Japan on Dec. 3, 2025. The ALPV has the ability to deliver multiple variations of supplies and equipment through contested maritime terrain. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuo

Meanwhile, in Greenland…

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The Danish military has been heavy with updates on operations in the suddenly controversial territory of Greenland, and notably has done more in the past month to boost the defense of the massive land mass than it has in the past 80 years.

I would think everyone would agree that this is a good thing.

The Arktisk Kommando (Joint Arctic Command) has been steady with posts on social media in the past couple of weeks detailing visits by the patrol frigate HDMS Vaeddernen (F359), and her embarked MH60 to coastal towns and ship tours to locals (more than 3,000 calling aboard her at Nuuk Harbor alone, about one-sixth of the capital city’s population).

Guard details mounted at the temporary military area in Qinngorput outside of Nuuk– with soldiers practicing guarding critical infrastructure.

For the first time, Jægerkorpset arctic specialists (recently established) from metropolitan Denmark have been sent to Greenland’s roughest terrain at the Blosseville coast for operations.

There have even been visits and joint operations with small detachments of French (27e BIM) and German mountain troops (since withdrawn), brought in by two Danish C-130Js to Nuuk and Kangerlussuaq.

The exercise, Operation Arctic Endurance, also saw liaison personnel from Belgium, Britain, Finland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, and Sweden– typically two officers from each.

In all, some 150 Danish troops from the Engineer Regiment and the Jutland Dragoon Regiment (Jydske Dragonregiment), and about 50 from NATO allies have been sent to Greenland for the Arctic Endurance mission, which is slated to run “a year or more.”

This bolsters the 90 regular personnel of the Arktisk Kommando, effectively tripling its size.

Keep in mind that when Germany invaded Denmark proper in April 1940, Greenland only had four police officers and two small (70-foot) sailing ships— the Royal Danish Navy’s opmålingsskib (survey ship) Ternen, and inspektionsskip Maagen, with 22 total crew– a sum of just 26 military and police to secure a land three times the size of Texas.

The French FREMM-class frigate Bretagne has been seen in the Greenlandic littoral and has been cross decking operations with her embarked Aeronaval EH101 helicopter.

Finally, two Danish F-35s from Fighter Wing Skrydstrup deployed directly to the area around Kulusuk on Greenland’s east coast with the aid of a French Air Force MRTT tanker.

All of this is an “about time” sort of thing.

USCG Out There Getting it Done Around the Globe with Ancient Hulls

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The U.S. Coast Guard is very active around the globe recently, featuring ships that would easily be considered floating museums in any other first or second world fleet, but, rather than having these old girls dockside for tours and ceremonies, the USCG is Sempering that Paratis, so to speak.

Polar Star

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star (WAGB 10) began icebreaking operations in the Southern Ocean in support of Operation Deep Freeze 2026 and marked her 50th year of commissioned service last week by freeing and escorting a 17,000-ton cruise ship trapped in pack ice.

USCGC Polar Star (WAGB 10) escorts an Australian-owned cruise ship out of pack ice in the Ross Sea after the vessel requested assistance amid Operation Deep Freeze 2026, Jan. 17, 2026. Pacific Air Forces operates on a 24-hour basis to provide the U.S. National Science Foundation with complete joint operational and logistic support for Operation Deep Freeze. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Bokum) 260117-G-FN033-1008

The Australian-owned cruise ship Scenic Eclipse II contacted Polar Star at approximately 11 p.m., local time, Friday, after becoming beset in pack ice roughly eight nautical miles from McMurdo Sound. Polar Star’s crew conducted two close passes to break the vessel free, then escorted it approximately four nautical miles to open water.

“At 50 years old, Polar Star remains the world’s most capable non-nuclear icebreaker,” said Cmdr. Samuel Blase, Polar Star’s executive officer. “That’s a testament to the crews that have maintained it over the decades. With years of service left to give, Polar Star will continue to guide the way in the high latitudes well into the future.”

USCGC Polar Star (WAGB 10) crew members pose for a group photo while the cutter sits hove-to in the Ross Sea during Operation Deep Freeze 2026, Jan. 12, 2026. The cutter turns 50 years old on Jan. 17, 2026, amid Operation Deep Freeze, which is a joint service, inter-agency support operation for the National Science Foundation that manages the United States Antarctic Program. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Bokum) 260112-G-FN033-4120

Commissioned 17 January 1976, Polar Star remains in service with a combination of parts salvaged from her late sister, Polar Sea, out of service since 2010, but still afloat in mothball status in Suisun Bay, and yearly lengthy yard periods (she just finished a 175-day SLEP at Mare Island Dry Dock last summer, a yard which sadly closed on Dec. 31 2025).

She won’t be retired until a new heavy icebreaker arrives in USCG red as part of the Polar Security Cutter program in 2030 (maybe).

She is on her 29th deployment to Antarctica in support of Operation Deep Freeze, leaving her Seattle homeport in November, and is slated to return home later this year.

Vigilant

The 210-foot Reliance-class medium endurance cutter USCGC Vigilant (WMEC 617) returned to her Cape Canaveral homeport last Friday after a 33-day patrol in the Caribbean Sea supporting Operations Pacific Viper (including transits through the Panama Canal) and Southern Spear.

Notably, she returned to the U.S. with an impounded “Shadow Fleet” tanker, with the assistance of a Navy MH-60S from the “Tridents” of HSC-9.

During the patrol, Vigilant escorted a motor tanker, which was seized by a U.S. Coast Guard tactical boarding team with support from the Department of War, for operating as a vessel without nationality in the Caribbean Sea. Vigilant’s crew coordinated with naval and law enforcement partners to transfer personnel and provisions to the tanker. A law enforcement team from Vigilant boarded the vessel to provide security during the 600-nautical-mile transit to the United States.

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Vigilant (WMEC 617), right, sails in the Western Atlantic Ocean while escorting a motor tanker after a right of visit boarding, Jan. 7, 2026. Vigilant escorted the motor tanker, which was seized by a Coast Guard tactical boarding team with support from the Department of War, for operating as a vessel without nationality in the Caribbean Sea. (U.S. Navy Photo)

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Vigilant’s (WMEC 617) small boat crew comes alongside a motor tanker in the Atlantic Ocean, Jan. 7, 2026. Vigilant escorted the motor tanker, which was seized by a Coast Guard tactical boarding team with support from the Department of War, for operating as a vessel without nationality in the Caribbean Sea. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandon Feehery) 260107-G-G0100-1001

U.S. Coast Guard crewmembers transfer from the Coast Guard Cutter Vigilant (WMEC 617) to a motor tanker by a helicopter crew assigned to U.S. Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 9 in the Atlantic Ocean, Jan. 7, 2026. Vigilant escorted the tanker, which was seized by a joint Coast Guard and Department of War team for conducting illicit activities in the Caribbean Sea. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandon Feehery) 260107-G-G0100-1003

Valiant was commissioned in 1964 (not a misprint) and had her mid-life refit in 1989-90– some 36 years ago at this point.

Talk about golden years.

Hickory

The USCGC Hickory (WLB 212), a 225-foot Juniper-class seagoing buoy tender, arrived at her new homeport in Guam on 14 January, following a more than 13,000-mile transit over 71 days from the U.S. Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore via the Panama Canal.

The USCGC Hickory (WLB 212), a 225-foot Juniper-class seagoing buoy tender, arrives in Apra Harbor as it comes to their new homeport in Guam on Jan. 14, 2026, following a more than 13,000-mile transit over 71 days from the U.S. Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore through the Panama Canal. After an extended Major Maintenance Availability at the Yard, part of the In-Service Vessel Sustainment Program that modernizes the entire Juniper-class fleet with hull repairs, system upgrades, and replacement of obsolete equipment, the Hickory is now fully revitalized. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Warrant Officer Muir)

Hickory, commissioned in 2003, spent the first half of her career as “The Kenai Keeper” and “Bull of the North” while stationed in Alaska and has recently capped an extensive and lengthy modernization at the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore that will steel her for the next 20 years.

Hickory is the most forward-deployed Juniper in the Pacific, joining sisters USCGC Juniper (WLB 201) and Hollyhock (WLB 214), both homeported in Honolulu. In addition to tending hundreds of aids to navigation, WLBs in the region regularly complete 40-50-day Operation Blue Pacific patrols of Oceana with Allied ship riders aboard, important hearts-and-minds stuff.

While not romantic, these large WLBs have often clocked in on exercises and operations supporting SOCOM, the Marines, and the gray-hulled fleet. They have also zipped through the Northwest Passage and conducted long-ranging LE patrols when needed.

If things go squirrely, say with non-nation actors, pirates, or other rogues in those areas that a small group of pipe hitters could fix and naval assets are not available, some may see NG SF ODAs or the Coast Guard’s own MSST units carried from buoy tenders as a low-tech option. They have room for an Mk 38 (which isn’t installed) and carry a few .50 cals and small arms as well.

The USCGC Hickory (WLB 212), a 225-foot Juniper-class seagoing buoy tender, arrives in Apra Harbor as it comes to their new homeport in Guam on Jan. 14, 2026, following a more than 13,000-mile transit over 71 days from the U.S. Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore through the Panama Canal. After an extended Major Maintenance Availability at the Yard, part of the In-Service Vessel Sustainment Program that modernizes the entire Juniper-class fleet with hull repairs, system upgrades, and replacement of obsolete equipment, the Hickory is now fully revitalized. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Warrant Officer Muir)

Myrtle Lighting the Way: 5,380 nautical miles on a 154-footer

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The USCGC Myrtle Hazard (WPC 1139) crew returns home Dec. 14, 2025, after completing a successful expeditionary patrol under Operation Blue Pacific, deepening partnerships with Pacific nations and bolstering maritime security in the region. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Mandy Thomas) 251214-G-G0020-7958

The tired crew of the 154-foot Sentinel (Webber)-class fast response cutter USCGC Myrtle Hazard (WPC 1139) returned home to Guam last week, capping a 5,380nm expeditionary patrol that lasted just under a month (17 November to 14 December) under Operation Blue Pacific. Of that, 15 days were dedicated to” providing a persistent presence in the exclusive economic zones of the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau.”

They also conducted five community events, including a volleyball game with locals, swimming lessons for children, and tours of the cutter.

“The patrol went beyond simple transit. It focused on building maritime security, engaging directly with Pacific partners, and enforcing international maritime law through shared operations,” notes the service.

Keep in mind that the FSM and Palau are being highly courted by Chinese interests, as are just about every island chain between Guam and the Philippines and Australia and Taiwan. So this is truly a hearts and minds mission in addition to showing the flag.

That’s why the two dozen Coasties aboard the 154-footer are punching above their weight class.

Hazard is the 39th FRC, named in honor of the first enlisted woman in the U.S. Coast Guard who served as an electrician and radio operator in the Great War.

She is one of three cutters of her class currently based in Guam and arrived there five years ago, replacing two aging 110-foot Island-class WPBs.

Santa Rita, Guam (Sept. 24, 2020) Coast Guard Cutter Myrtle Hazard (WPC 1139) enters Apra Harbor before arriving at its new homeport in Santa Rita, Guam. The new Fast Response Cutter (FRC) is the first of three scheduled to be stationed on Guam and is replacing the 30-year old 110-foot Island-class patrol boats. FRCs are equipped with new advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems and boast greater range and endurance. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class MacAdam Kane Weissman)

The FF(X): The Navy’s New (USCG’s Old) Small Surface Combatant

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As we covered previously, SECNAV and CNO have been flirting with the Coast Guard’s 418-foot Legend (Bertholf)-class National Security Cutter– one of which is often deployed on 2nd or 7th fleet tasking at any given time already– as the country’s new fast frigate.

Now, the flirting is over, and it is “Facebook official.” 

The FF(X) is a highly adaptable vessel. While its primary mission will be surface warfare, its ability to carry modular payloads and command unmanned systems enables it to execute a broad spectrum of operations, making it ready for the challenges of the modern maritime environment. Small surface combatants have always been essential to the fleet, handling a wide range of missions where a large warship isn’t required. The FF(X) will continue this vital role and will take on more routine operations, enhancing the fleet’s operational flexibility, adaptability, and mission readiness.

FF(X) is engineered for rapid, cost-effective production, enabling this vital capability to the fleet faster. This is made possible by basing the new frigate on HII’s proven Legend-Class National Security Cutter. This approach leverages a mature design to deliver ships to our sailors without delay.

Note, the “G” moniker doesn’t seem to be mentioned anymore as they apparently won’t have many guided missiles other than up to 16 NSMs on the stern and what looks to be a 21-cell RAM and an 8-cell tactical VLS forward, which could be quad-packed with Enhanced Sea Sparrows to give it 32 of the latter. If they could make that a 16-cell VLS, that could at least add a couple of SM-2s and vertically launched ASROCs to the mix.

Is a long-hulled variant coming, with, say, a 64-cell VLS, better sensors, and a twin helicopter hangar, while a Flight I group of ships gets built by a lead yard (Ingalls), then is expanded to a multi-yard design (Bath, Fincantieri, Austal, Bollinger?). Perhaps, as hinted at in the video.

In the meantime, well, any frigate is better than none.

I guess.

A family reunion in the Indian Ocean

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The Sri Lanka Navy, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, just took possession of a ship almost as old as the service.

A familiar old friend, ex-USCGC Decisive (WMEC-629), a B-Type Reliance-class 210-foot gunboat/cutter, is now pennant number SLS P 628 in the Sri Lanka Navy, transferred at her birthplace, the USCG Yard, earlier this month.

Decisive’s keel was laid on 12 May 1967 at the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore. Launched on 14 December of that year, she was commissioned on 23 August 1968.

Following her commissioning, she was homeported in New Castle, New Hampshire, where she soon clocked in protecting the fishing fleet, enforcing the 200-mile marine resource zone (including chasing and citing Soviet trawlers), and participating in the International Ice Patrol.

USCGC Decisive WMEC-629 with HH-52A #1463 1970s USCG Photo

Key moments in her career included rescuing three ships back to back in a terrible winter storm in 1978 and rescuing the crew of the foundered Canadian S/V Toberua after that majestic craft sank in 40-foot seas and 60 knot winds.

In warmer climes in the 1980s, she had to fire 300 rounds into the engine compartment of a rogue Colombian fishing vessel, the Cone, to get the drug smuggler to finally stop. She also saved thousands of migrants at peril on the sea, including a 1995 interception of a 75-foot coaster overloaded with an amazing 516 thirsty and overheating Haitians– still listed as the second largest migrant interdiction in history.

The cutter moved homeports several times during her service, including St. Petersburg, Florida, and at CGS Pascagoula, formerly NAVSTA Pascagoula, directly across from Ingalls on Singing River Island– where I was very familiar with the “Swamp Rats” and toured her for an article in Sea Classics— before her final assignment to Pensacola.

USCGC Decisive, photo by Chris Eger, 2011, at CGS Pascagoula

USCGC Decisive’s salad bar, photo by Chris Eger, 2011, at CGS Pascagoula

USCGC Decisive, photo by Chris Eger, 2011, at CGS Pascagoula

She was decommissioned earlier than planned in March 2023 due to budget issues with the service, capping a 55-year run, only interrupted by a two-year Major Maintenance Availability in 1996-98, which saw her undergo a major overhaul in terms of electronics, habitability, weapons, and engineering. The CGY just gave her a refresh as well.

A simple ship with twin diesel engines and almost zero automation, she joins class member SLNS Samudura (P261)/ex-USCGC Courageous, which has been in service with the force since 2005, and two former 378-foot Hamilton-class cutters transferred in recent years, SLNS Gajabahu (P626)/ex-USCGC Sherman, and SLNS Vijayabahu (P627)/ex-USCGC Munro.

HMS Kent with the Sri Lanka OPC SLNS Samudura (P261), a 210-foot Reliance class cutter, formerly USCGC Courageous (WMEC-622), Oct 24, 2021. RN photo

Talk about a family reunion!

Eight of Decisive’s sisters remain in USCG service while four others are laid up “In commission, special status” due to personnel shortfalls; their crews transferred to other Coast Guard units to help meet the service-wide shortage of enlisted personnel.

The Icelandic Coast Guard sees you, and they want you to know they see you

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The Icelandic Coast Guard (Landhelgisgæsla Íslands, or LHG) was established in 1926– predating the country’s independence by almost two decades– but has roots that go back to 1859.

And, as we have talked about in the past, they are the Stan “I didn’t hear no bell” Marsh of the racing stripers.

The plucky Icelandic Coast Guard Cutter Tyr chasing off one of HM’s much larger and better armed frigates during the “Cod Wars” in the 1970s.

The closest thing the country of 200,000 has to a uniform military service, the 200-member LHG has a small but well-cared-for collection of cutters and aircraft, and runs the Skógarhlí-based Iceland Air Defence System (Íslenska loftvarnarkerfið) whose four U.S.-established radar installations–formerly run by the country’s Radar Agency (Ratsjárstofnun)– augmented by satellites, provide a full-time surveillance capability of the country’s air and waters, interfacing with NATO and commercial ship tracking services.

The service recently posted that they had 295 active vessels at sea under the watchful eyes of the LHG, and that five Russian fishing vessels were huddled up, just skirting the line of the country’s EEZ.

As noted by the LHG (mechanically translated)

Surveillance and law enforcement with Icelandic jurisdiction is carried out both with remote surveillance and satellites alongside real surveillance carried out with TF-SIF [a Bombardier Dash 8-Q-314 maritime patrol aircraft], Coast Guard cutters Thor and Freyja, as well as Coast Guard helicopters.

Coast Guard ships have been monitoring the eastern part of the country lately and have, among other things, boarded foreign ships that fish herring within the jurisdiction. The journeys of these ships will continue to be closely monitored.

You’re damnned right they are closely monitored.

Skal!

The Frigate Gap meets the Cutter Gap

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If only we kept the OHP FFG-7 line active in the same way the Burke DDG-51s have been, we wouldn’t have this problem and could have saved the whole LCS waking nightmare. I mean, you could see a Flight IIA FFG-7 with a 32-cell VLS instead of the old “one-armed bandit” Mk 13 launcher, C-RAM instead of CIWS, and a 57mm gun along with pocket Aegis sensors, couldn’t you?

Stripped-down white hulled versions could have clocked in with the Coast Guard, saving a lot of heartburn there as well.

Alas, with the Perrys, we never knew what we had til they were gone.

The Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate USS Aubrey Fitch (FFG 34) underway in 1982 during Bath trials DN-SC-85-04399

As everyone well knows, the Constellation class FFGs have been canceled after falling years behind schedule and millions over budget, with not much to show for it besides two building ships that will no doubt be tough to maintain by themselves over their lifecycle once they finally hit the fleet sometime in the 2030s.

Now, word comes that the current SECNAV wants a new frigate class to be “in the water” as soon as 2028, returning the type to the Navy List for the first time since USS Simpson (FFG-56) decommissioned in September 2015.

The only way to really do that is to restart a barely dormant program with a grey hull variant of the proven Ingalls-built Legend (Bertholf)-class National Security Cutter, being specifically mentioned by “sources.”

With decent sensors, TACAN, IFF, and Links 11 and 16, the NSCs have often been deployed with the frigate-poor Second Fleet in the Atlantic (roaming as far as the Black Sea) and to the West Pac under Seventh Fleet control since 2019, where their long legs (12,000nm, almost three times that of a Burke) and shallower draft (22 feet compared to a Burke’s 31+) come in handy.

Canadian Halifax-class frigate HMCS Ville de Québec (FFH 332) and U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stone (WMSL 758) steam in formation, on June 9, 2024, while underway in the Atlantic Ocean. Stone and Ville de Québec operated in the Atlantic Ocean in the U.S. 2nd Fleet area of operations in support of maritime stability and security in the region. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Ensign Alana Kickhoefer)

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf (WMSL 750) transits near the Singapore Straits, Feb. 29, 2024. The Bertholf is a 418-foot National Security Cutter currently deployed to the Indo-Pacific region under the tactical control of U.S. 7th Fleet. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier)

Two F/A-18E Super Hornets, attached to the “Tomcatters” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 31, fly over the world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81), and the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) James (WMSL 754), April 2, 2025. The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group is underway in the Atlantic Ocean, completing integrated naval warfighting training. Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) is the Joint Force’s most complex integrated training event and prepares naval task forces for sustained high-end Joint and combined combat. Integrated naval training provides America’s civilian leaders and commanders with highly capable forces that deter adversaries, underpin American security and economic prosperity, and reassure Allies and partners. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Maxwell Orlosky)

Legend-class cutter USCGC James (WSML 754), left, and Brazilian navy Niterói-class frigates União (F 45) and Independência (F 44) operate in formation with Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) as part of a bilateral exercise between the U.S. and the Brazilian navy in the Atlantic Ocean, May 18, 2024. Porter is deployed as part of Southern Seas 2024, which seeks to enhance capability, improve interoperability, and strengthen maritime partnerships with countries throughout the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility through joint, multinational, and interagency exchanges and cooperation. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class David C. Fines)

The NSCs are frigate-sized, at 4,700 tons and 418 feet oal (the old long hull FFG-7 Perrys were 4,200 tons and 453 feet oal) and are good for 28 knot bursts on a CODAG powerplant. Of course, they are not frigate armed, with just a 57mm Bofors and Block 1B CIWS, as well as some 25mm Mk 38s and .50 cals, but they have weight and space reserved for additional weapons and sensors as well as all the “soft kill” stuff you’d expect from a frigate such as SLQ-32, SRBOC, and Nukla.

The USCG has 10 NSCs with an 11th (the would-be USCGC Friedman) canceled in June, and Long Lead Time Materials funded as an option for a 12th hull– both of which the service could actually use, especially in Alaska. That kinda qualifies as having a “hot” line.

Ingalls has seriously shopped a few different National Security Cutter patrol frigate (FF) variants over the years, with the most aggressive of these being the FF4923.

This FF4923 would be 4,675 tons, have two STIIR 2.4 FC radars, a Captas VDS towed sonar, a KINGKLIP sonar, space for two, maybe four anti-ship missile box launchers, Mk 32 ASW torpedo tubes, a C-RAM rather than CIWS, and 16 MK41 VLS cells. However, it looks like those cells would be limited to tactical-length (no Tomahawk or SM-3) loads.

The model is shown with a 76mm gun, which I like (would prefer a 5 incher), but the NSC sports a 57mm Mk 110 (along the lines of the Connies and the LCSs, as well as the USCG’s 25~ planned Heritage/Argus-class Offshore Patrol Cutters), so let’s be honest, that is what a frigate-ized NSC in U.S. service would carry. This might allow a 32-cell VLS to be shoehorned into the design, which is the same as Connie. If not, the FF4923 would be limited to just 16 SAMs if using SM-2s (with a 90nm published range), or 64 shorter-ranged (27nm) but quad-packed ESSMs, less if ASROC is carried (e.g., maybe 4 SM-2s, 4 VLAs, and 32 ESSMs).

Sure, it is not perfect, but it is a better plan than not having a frigate at all, which is what we are doing now.

Plus, if the FF4923 was greenlit and other yards (Bath and Austal, for instance) got into the build-out, the prospect that the canceled 11th and 12th NSCs could get built is high– which could help the Coast Guard with its delayed Offshore Patrol Cutter program.

Speaking of the struggling OPCs, these 4,500-ton 360-foot OPVs are a bit slow (22 knots) to be thought of as a proper FF but do have a long (10,200nm) range, MH-60 helicopter and small boat facilities, as well as the same soft and hard kill batteries as the larger NSC (sans CIWS), or the LCS classes for that matter, with little weight and space reseved for anything heavier, so they are more of a dark horse candidate for a new frigate design.

“With a range of 10,200 nautical miles at 14 knots and a 60-day endurance period, each OPC will be capable of deploying independently or as part of task groups, serving as a mobile command and control platform for surge operations such as hurricane response, mass migration incidents, and other events. The cutters will also support Arctic objectives by helping regulate and protect emerging commerce and energy exploration in Alaska.”

Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC)/Maritime Security Cutter (MSC)

But at least their line is hot, with the Coast Guard just authenticating the keel for the future USCGC Pickering (WMSM-919) during a ceremony Monday at Austal in Mobile.

Again, better than what the Navy has now, I guess.

Ship sponsor Dr. Meghan Pickering Seymour, fifth-generation granddaughter to Col. Timothy Pickering, and Ravi Khamsourin, Austal USA advanced welder, tig-welded her initials during a keel laying ceremony in Mobile, Alabama, Dec. 8, 2025. The Coast Guard Cutter Pickering (OPC 5) is named for the first USCGC Pickering that launched in 1798. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Grace McBryde)

The Many faces of the Triple Three

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Pre-Mayberry, actor Andy Griffith, exempted from service at age 18 in 1944 due to a herniated disk,  made a couple of military service comedies during the late 1950s: the better-received Korean War-set USAF-based No Time for Sergeants, and the lesser-known Onionhead.

In Onionhead, Griffith portrayed country simple Cook 3rd Class– now known as a Culinary Specialist Third Class (CS3)– Alvin Woods, who signs up for the Coast Guard during World War II and is assigned to the fictional buoy tender USCGC Periwinkle, cue laugh track and burned cinnamon roll hilarity.

Periwinkle somehow sinks an enemy U-boat, and Wood/Griffith ends up with the girl in the end.

Based on a novel by William R. Scott, a native Oklahoman who served in the USCG during “the Big Show,” the movie was filmed at Coast Guard Base Alameda and Yerba Buena Island circa 1958, with at least some footage of the USCGC Yamacraw (WARC-333) making it to the finished, albeit ill-received, movie.

Yamacraw was a very interesting ship.

Constructed during WWII at Point Pleasant, W. Va., by the Marietta Manufacturing Co as Hull 480, a 1,320 ton, 188-foot Coastal Artillery mine planter for the U.S. Army as USAMP Maj. Gen. Arthur Murray (MP-9), she was delivered to the Army on 1 October 1942.

USAMP Maj. Gen. Arthur Murray (MP-9). Records (#742), Special Collections Department, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.

After serving on the East Coast during WWII, once the threat of Axis invasion passed, Randolph transferred to the Navy on 2 January 1945. She was then converted into an auxiliary minelayer by the Navy Yard, Charleston, S.C., and commissioned there on 15 March 1945 as USS Trapper, designated ACM-9, a Chimo-class auxiliary minelayer, Lt. Richard E. Lewis, USNR, in command.

Her armament included one 40mm Bofors mount and four 20mm mounts, and she was fitted with both listening gear and radar.

USS Trapper (ACM-9), ex-USAMP Maj. Gen. Arthur Murray (MP-9), off San Francisco, California, circa 1945.Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, Corte Madera, California, 1973. NH 77370

It was planned that she was to take part in the last push for the Japanese home islands in late 1945/early 1946, but that never materialized, and she only made it as far as Pearl Harbor by the time the Pacific War ended.

Trapper arrived at Kobe on 25 November 1945 and operated out of that port repairing minesweeping gear until 1 February 1946, when she shifted her base of operations to Wakayama for a month. She was then sent back stateside and arrived at San Francisco on 2 May, where she was decommissioned.

Transferred to the USCG on 20 June 1946 for use as a cable layer, USCGC Yamacraw (WARC-333), after a traditional cutter name, ex-Trapper/ex-Murray was struck from the Navy list on 19 July 1946.

She remained in USCG custody until early 1959.

This included filming of Onionhead and a 1957-1958 lease during the International Geophysical Year to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for acoustic studies of the North Atlantic and Mediterranean. In that task, the ship towed a cable that recorded ambient sound in the ocean, plus a thermistor chain for measuring temperature.

The Navy then re-acquired the old Army mine ship on 17 May 1959, painted her haze gray, kept the USCG name, and redesignated her as ARC-5, a cable repair ship.

The difference as told by two Jane’s entries:

USS Yamacraw (ARC-5), port quarter view of cable repair ship USS Yamacraw (ARC-5) anchored in an unidentified location. Previously served as minelayer USS Trapper (ACM-9) and Coast Guard Cutter Yamacraw (WARC-333).NHHC L45-314.01.01

As a Naval auxiliary, she operated from Portsmouth to Bermuda and spent much of her at-sea time conducting research projects for the Office of Naval Research and for the Bell Telephone Laboratories.

On 2 July 1965, Yamacraw was decommissioned by the Navy for a second and final time, transferred to the permanent custody of the Maritime Administration, and struck, again, from the Navy list.

Her final fate is unknown.

Eastern Shipbuilding Stops Work on all Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Cutters

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So much unrealized potential…

The future Offshore Patrol Cutter ARGUS, in launch position, 2023. Photo Eastern Shipbuilding Group

After being chosen to supply as many as 25 new 360-foot Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutters to the USCG in 2016, Panama City’s Eastern Shipbuilding Group has been consistently playing the whomp-whomp tuba.

After nearly a decade, not a single ship is within striking distance of entering service.

Yes, the yard was all but flattened by Hurricane Michael in 2018, but that was seven years ago and of the four cutters they were working on in the first flight (Hull# 302A: WMSM-915: USCGC Argus, Hull# 305A: WMSM-916: USCGC Chase, Hull# 307A: WMSM-917: USCGC Ingham, and Hull# 309A: WMSM-918: USCGC Rush) only Argus has hit the water and has slowly been fitting out for the past 25 months but is still long from finished, while work on the last two were ordered stopped by DHS back in June as so little progress had been made.

Now, as reported by GCaptain, ESG has announced the suspension of work on the U.S. Coast Guard’s first two Offshore Patrol Cutters (Argus and Chase), citing unsustainable financial pressures and workforce reductions as the company struggles with what CEO Joey D’Isernia described as “significant financial strain caused by the program’s structure and conditions.”

However, ESG is still hard at work on commercial vessels and Ingalls, and by extension, the Navy, in September inked a contract with ESG to help craft subassemblies for Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, so, yeah. That doesn’t sound promising for anyone involved.

As for the OPC program, the USCG has shifted it to Austal in nearby Mobile, which has just wrapped up its semi-successful (at least they were delivered) Independence-class LCS program.

The Coast Guard should bounce back.

It’s not the first time that they had a disastrous start to a large cutter program; just look back to the 270-foot Bear (Famous) class cutters of the 1980s, in which the original contract winner didn’t even own a shipyard, and the yard eventually selected, the Tacoma Boatbuilding Company, soon entered Chapter 11. Yacht builder Robert E. Derecktor went on to finish the class, and the Bears have been soldiering on admirably ever since.

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