Category Archives: homeland security

A little 5.56 will jam an outboard right up

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The downright elderly (60 years in commission) 210-foot Reliance-class USCGC Valiant (WMEC 621) recently offloaded approximately 12,470 pounds of cocaine, worth an estimated $141.4 million, at Coast Guard Base Miami Beach after wrapping up a patrol of the Florida Straits and Caribbean.

Valiant’s crew secured the illegal drugs after six interdictions in international waters, including one incident on 17 February some 50 miles northeast of the Dominican Republic, that included the crew of her 26-foot RHIB zapping a go-fast with M4s.

Now, being the Coast Guard, they aimed for the outboards, not the crew, and brought said coke boat to a halt.

Law enforcement crew members from USCGC Valiant (WMEC 621) stand in front of interdicted narcotics and engine covers at Base Miami Beach, Florida, Mar. 6, 2025. (U.S. Coast Guard photo 250306-G-FL647-1055 by Petty Officer 3rd Class Nicholas Strasburg)

A USCGC Valiant (WMEC 621) law enforcement team is underway with interdicted narcotics approximately 50 miles northeast of the Dominican Republic, Feb. 17, 2025. U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations aircrew detected the suspicious vessel and vectored in the Valiant crew who apprehended five suspected smugglers and seized approximately 1,280 pounds of cocaine. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Seaman Reese Fishbaugh)

Roll that beautiful bean footage:

Oldest Cutter Not Looking Too Bad at 61 Years Young

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The seniormost blue-water cutter, the USCGC Reliance (WMEC-615), has been in service almost continuously since she was commissioned on 20 June 1964, with the only break being regular yard periods and a 20-month Major Maintenance Availability from April 1987 to January 1989.

Constructed across a 22-month period for the sum of $4,920,804 by the Todd Houston Shipbuilding Corporation, the country has gotten its money’s worth out of Hull 615.

The lead ship of her class of 16 cutters, she originally carried a CODAG propulsion system and a 3″/50 gun forward as well as weight and space reserved for ASW weapons to serve as a patrol escort in the event of WWIII.

This black and white photo shows newly the commissioned Reliance (WMEC-615) with an HH-52 Sea Guard helicopter landing on its pad and davits down with one of its small boats deployed. Notice the lack of smokestack and paint scheme pre-dating the Racing Stripe or “U.S. Coast Guard” paint schemes. She has a 3″/50 forward as well as 20mm cannons for AAA work and weight and space for Mousttraps, a towed sonar, and Mk.32 ASW tubes, although they were never fitted. U.S. Coast Guard photo.

After her $16 million MMA in the late 80s, she lost her 3-incher, replaced with an early model manned MK38 25mm chain gun, while her engines were replaced with twin Alco diesels. Keep in mind that the MMA was supposed to just add 10-to-15 years to her lifespan, with a planned retirement along those lines in 2009-2015.

Post MMA

The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Reliance (WMEC 615) interdicts a low-profile vessel carrying more than $5 million in illicit narcotics in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, Feb. 15, 2024. Patrolling in support of Joint Interagency Task Force-South, the Reliance crew stopped two drug trafficking ventures, detaining six suspected traffickers and preventing nearly 4,000 pounds of cocaine and 5,400 pounds of marijuana, worth more than $57 million, from entering the United States. (U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy of Reliance)

She has earned at least four Coast Guard Unit Commendations, a Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation, multiple Joint Meritorious Unit Awards, and numerous USCG “E” ribbons. She has put out oilrig fires, saved at least four ships adrift on the sea, served on the Campeche Patrols for three years, picked up thousands of Haitian and Cuban migrants in the Florida Straits, bagged over 400 tons of MJ and $50M worth of cocaine, and just generally been a floating mensch.

Reliance just completed a 60-day patrol in the Florida Straits, Windward Passage, and Gulf of America, and managed to have a short video captured of her underway in the Gulf.

At some point in the coming years, she will be replaced by the future USCGC Reliance (WMSM-925), a Heritage-class 360-foot Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPCs), and will be the fifth vessel to bear the distinguished name going back to 1861.

Perhaps the old girl will be retained as a museum, with the new National USCG Museum in New London being a good candidate.

Polar ops at both ends of the Globe

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Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf (WMSL 750) transits through Glacier Bay, Alaska, Oct. 24, 2024. During the patrol, Bertholf’s crew operated as far north as the Arctic Circle, patrolling along the maritime boundary line between the United States and Russia and supporting U.S. strategic interests in the North Pacific Ocean. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Troy Spence.)

The Legend-class national security cutter USCGC Bertholf (WMSL 750) and crew returned to Alameda recently after completing a 130-day deployment patrolling the Bering Sea, providing real-time presence along the maritime boundary line between Alaska and Siberia. They earned their Blue Nose certificates while providing SAR coverage of the Bering Sea– including responding to a disabled fishing vessel– conducting 24 boardings, and engaging in joint operations with medium icebreaker USCGC  Healy (WAGB 20) and MH-60s out of CGAS Kodiak.

Meanwhile, down south (all the way down…)

The country’s only heavy icebreaker, USCGC Polar Star (WAGB 10), departed the Antarctic region on 4 March after 65 days south of the Antarctic Circle in support of Operation Deep Freeze 2025, her crew picking up the rare Antarctica Service Medal. Commissioned in 1976, the 399-foot icebreaker is elderly but is still getting the job done. She doesn’t have a choice as she is the only polar bear in the stable.

As noted by USCG PAO: 

The crew has transited nearly 16,000 miles since departing its Seattle homeport in November with stops in Honolulu, Sydney, and McMurdo Station. Polar Star celebrated its 49th year of Service to the Nation and visited Cape Polar Star in the northern part of the Ross Sea. Cape Polar Star was named after Polar Star for the scientific support provided by the cutter in the area during Operation Deep Freeze 86.

 

The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star (WAGB 10) stand for a photo while the cutter is hove-to in McMurdo Sound during Operation Deep Freeze, Jan. 7, 2025. Polar Star is conducting ice-breaking operations in Antarctica in support of Operation Deep Freeze, a joint service, inter-agency support operation for the National Science Foundation, which manages the United States Antarctic Program.  (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Briana Carter)

Already Cold F-16s and CF-18s Have a Chance to Get Colder in Greenland

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As part of NORAD’s recently completed Operation Noble Defender, Canadian CF-18s and USAF F-16s saw an expeditionary deployment from their bases in Quebec and Alaska across the Artic Circle to Pituffik Space Base (ex-Thule AB) in Greenland to operate from there for two weeks.

They were supported by assorted KC-135s, E-3s, C-150s and CH-149s.

Airmen that supported the 18th Fighter Interceptor Squadron from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, for Operation NOBLE DEFENDER, pose for a group photo at Pittufik Space Base, Greenland, Feb. 5, 2025. Operation NOBLE DEFENDER is an air defense operation under the direction of the North American Aerospace Defense Command designed to demonstrate the command’s ability to defend the approaches of North America from current and future threats while integrating across domains with partners and allies. NORAD routinely conducts sustained, dispersed operations in defense of North America through one or all three NORAD regions, including Alaska, Canada, and the continental U.S. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Christopher Ruano)

F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft assigned to the 18th Fighter Interceptor Squadron from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, are placed on the flightline during Operation NOBLE DEFENDER at Pittufik Space Base, Greenland, Jan. 29, 2025. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Christopher Ruano)

A CF-18 Hornet from 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron out of 3 Wing Bagotville, Quebec, and a CC-150 Polaris from 437 (T) Sqn out of 8 Wing Trenton, Ontario, deployed in support of the Canadian NORAD Region (CANR) carry out air-to-air refueling during Operation NOBLE DEFENDER on February 3rd, 2025. (Capt Rachel Brosseau)

CH-149 Cormorant from 413 Transport and Rescue Squadron out of 14 Wing Greenwood, Nova Scotia, deployed to Pituffik, Greenland, in support of the Canadian NORAD Region (CANR), ready to respond to potential distress calls from NORAD assets during Operation NOBLE DEFENDER. (Capt Andrew Birchall)

As noted by NORAD:

During the operation, local temperatures were regularly below 0 degrees Fahrenheit, with the coldest days reaching minus 29 degrees F (-34 C) and a wind chill of minus 56 degrees F (-49 C). Maintenance and Civil Engineering airmen operated tirelessly in these conditions to ensure aircrews were able to conduct flying missions.

B-ONE Vibe Check

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19 February 1985. 40 years ago this week. Official caption: “Airman First Class Peter Warner, 3902nd Air Base Wing, Security Police Squadron, Wheaton, Illinois, provides security for a B-1B bomber aircraft (background) during a stopover. He is armed with an M16A1 carbine.”

USAF Photo DFST8600723, National Archives Identifier 6400254

Despite the caption, Airman Warner is sporting a GAU-5AA, Colt Model 649, XM177 carbine with its distinctive 11.5-inch barrel. Note the lack of forward assist and the characteristic beefy muzzle device.

Also, you have to love the hard 1980 vibe check to include the OG-107 cotton sateen olive drab uniform with the rolled sleeves and blue service stitching, the camo ascot, and the Casio digital watch with the OD flex band. You just know he has a Coleco Electronic Quarterback game in his desk drawer back at the guard shack, or a Rubik’s Cube.

Meet the New Army Small Arms Ammo Facility

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In WWII, the Army had 12 War Department-owned and operated plants dedicated to making small arms ammunition, around the clock.

These plants slowly shuttered post-war, with brief respites caused by Korea and Vietnam, until the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant, which had been placed on “standby” in 1976, was finally closed in 2005, leaving only Lake City AAP in Independence, Missouri as the only remaining Army small arms plant.

Even at that, Lake City was run on contract at first by Olin-Winchester, then Northrop Grumman, and, since 2019, by Olin-Winchester once again.

Well, the Army is moving ahead with the construction of its first new small arms ammunition factory in decades, and it will be dedicated to making ammo for the Next Generation Squad Weapons.

The new 450,000 sq. ft., facility, built on the Lake City AAP campus, had its groundbreaking on Feb. 5.

It will feature modern manufacturing systems capable of producing “all components” of 6.8×51 Common Cartridge ammunition as part of the NGSW program.

The 6.8x51mm, seen in SIG-loaded 113-grain ball for the NGSW program and a .277 Fury commercial load (white tip). (Photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

The Army specified this includes “cartridge case and projectile manufacturing, energetic operations for loading and charging ammunition, product packaging, process quality controls, testing laboratories, maintenance operations, and administrative areas.”

Opening by 2028 (ish), it is expected to be able to make upwards of 400 million rounds a year– against Lake City’s legacy capacity to make 1.4 billion rounds of all other calibers. Until then, 6.8 is sole-sourced through SIG.

More in my column at Guns.com.

T-AGSEs Surface

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An interesting addition to the Bollinger-built 87-foot Marine Protector class patrol boats for the Coast Guard in 2008 was four units– paid for wholly by the Navy– that would serve in two special Maritime Force Protection Units, assigned to the Submarine bases at Kings Bay and Kitsap, tasked to escort submarines (particularly SSBNs) heading in and out on patrol.

Each MFPU, which numbers 150-200 personnel, also has a dozen smaller craft (33-foot RIBs, etc).

In a nod to their taskings, these Navy-paid-for/assigned and CG-manned patrol boats carried the names of historic fleet boats of WWII fame:

  • USCGC Sea Dragon (WPB-87367) MFPU Kitsap
  • USCGC Sea Devil (WPB-87368) MFPU Kings Bay
  • USCGC Sea Dog (WPB-87373) MFPU Kitsap
  • USCGC Sea Fox (WPB-87374) MFPU Kings Bay

Armed with three 50 cal. machine guns (instead of the standard two for the class) these MFPUs carried their “extra” BMG in a permanently installed forward mount that was stabilized and remotely controlled.

TAMPA, Fla. – Coast Guard Cutter Sea Dog, a newly-designed 87-foot coastal patrol boat, transits Tampa Bay, Fla.,, Wednesday, May 6, 2009, during sea trials. The Sea dog is scheduled to be commissioned July 2, 2009, and is homeported in Kings Bay, Ga. (U.S. Coast Guard photo/PA3 Rob Simpson)

However, last year all four of these still rather young WPBs were withdrawn from CG service, decommissioned, disarmed, and relegated to auxiliary service with the Navy and Marine Corps.

For instance, the two Kings Bay-based boats were transferred to MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina to be used as range/target towing boats.

Disarmed and without her racing stripe, the ex-USCGC Sea Dragon WPB-87367 at MCAS Cherry Point for target support

Their replacements?

Meet T-AGSEs

The civilian mariner crewed Military Sealift Command has a small flotilla of eight vessels tasked with “Submarine and Special Warfare Support.”

These vessels, typically oilfield supply boats operated by Louisiana-based Hornbeck Offshore Services, include a quartet of 250-foot EDF type who have been christened as U.S. Naval Ships with hull numbers.

They also carry fixed armament, something extremely rare for the MSC, namely two Mk. 38 25mm mounts, operated by a USCG Tactical Boatcrew. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had MANPADs, AT4s, and M2s stowed as well

  • USNS Black Powder (T-AGSE 1)
  • USNS Westwind (T-AGSE 2)
  • USNS Eagleview (T-AGSE 3)
  • USNS Arrowhead (T-AGSE 4)

Built by Leevac Industries of Jenerette, these four brand-new 250EDFs were operated by HOS between 2009 and 2015 on a Navy contract and then purchased outright for $152 million.

The MSC has their file pictures all still in their HOS livery:

HOS Black Powder 200819-N-IS698-0004

HOS Eagle View 200819-N-IS698-0007

HOS Arrowhead

Since 2015, these craft have been Navy (MSC) owned and operated by HOS, typically for 215 days per year at a rate of about $30,000 per day.

Arrowhead and Eagleview are out of Kitsap while Black Powder and Westwind are out of Kings Bay.

Being some 250 feet in length, they are often referred to as “Blocking Vessels” in operations.

They rarely get any attention, with the USCG operating their guns and providing an MLE team for intervention/boarding if an escort gets…weird. Why the Coasties pull the gig is that they are federal law enforcement with a pretty far-reaching jurisdiction around U.S. flagged vessels in U.S. waters. 

USNS Black Powder and USNS Westwind. Note the 25mm Mk 38 Mod 2 mounts, and the MSC blue and yellow stripes around Westwind’s pilothouse. Wiki commons

Ohio class USS West Virginia (SSBN-736) USNS Black Powder

U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft from Moody Air Force Base, Ga., escorted ballistic missile submarine USS Wyoming (SSBN 742), July 15, 2024. The aircraft conducted a live fire exercise and U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Force Protection Unit Kings Bay, USNS Black Powder (T-AGSE-1), and USNS Westwind (T-AGSE-2) also participated in the escort of the submarine. Joint operations, such as this one which involved the Air Force, Coast Guard, and Navy, ensure the U.S. military is ready to meet its security commitments at home and abroad

Being three times the size of the 87s, they can also help serve as mini-tenders and, during Covid, were used to swap out Blue/Gold crews on SSBNs at sea, as well as replenishment for parts and stores transfers via a moving brow.

Note the USCG ensign on Black Powder’s mast and her USNS designator on her bow. 

ATLANTIC OCEAN (Jan. 24, 2022) Sailors assigned to the Blue Crew of the Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine USS Wyoming (SSBN 742) prepare to execute an exchange of command and crews at sea. This regularly scheduled exchange of command at sea demonstrates the continuity and operational flexibility of our sea-based nuclear deterrent operations and our ready, reliable ballistic submarine force. The efficiency of exchanges of crews at sea allows Sailors to reunite with their families and provides a ready, resilient submarine force. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Xavier Saldana/Released)

ATLANTIC OCEAN (Jan. 24, 2022) USNS Black Powder supports the Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine USS Wyoming’s (SSBN 742) exchange of command and crews at sea. This regularly scheduled exchange of command at sea demonstrates the continuity and operational flexibility of our sea-based nuclear deterrent operations and our ready, reliable ballistic submarine force. The efficiency of exchanges of crews at sea allows Sailors to reunite with their families and provides a ready, resilient submarine force. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Xavier Saldana/Released)

ATLANTIC OCEAN (Jan. 24, 2022) Sailors assigned to the Blue and Gold Crews of the Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine USS Wyoming (SSBN 742) execute an exchange of command and crews at sea. This regularly scheduled exchange of command at sea demonstrates the continuity and operational flexibility of our sea-based nuclear deterrent operations and our ready, reliable ballistic submarine force. The efficiency of exchanges of crews at sea allows Sailors to reunite with their families and provides a ready, resilient submarine force. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Xavier Saldana/Released)

They just popped up in a DOD Contract list this week, as noted below, with the current daily rate being more like $50K per vessel including operation and maintenance:

Hornbeck Offshore Operators, Covington, Louisiana, is being awarded a $48,360,544 firm-fixed-price contract (N3220525C4134) for the operation and maintenance of four government-owned Transportation Auxiliary General Submarine Escort (T-AGSE) vessels. The vessels under this award include USNS Arrowhead, USNS Eagleview, USNS Westwind, and USNS Black Powder. The contract includes a six-month base period with a six-month option. The contract will be performed in Kings Bay, Georgia; and Bangor, Washington, beginning March 1, 2025, based on the availability of funds clause at Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.232-18 and will utilize fiscal 2025 working capital funds (Navy), and will conclude Feb. 28, 2026, if the option is exercised. This contract is a Sole Source Bridge and was not competitively procured, under the authority of 41 U.S. Code 3304(a)(2), as implemented by FAR 6.302-2 Unusual and compelling urgency. Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

Fresh 154 Action in Alaska

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The 17th Coast Guard District is now just over halfway through its slow-motion upgrade from its squadron of elderly Reagan-era 110-foot Island-class patrol cutters to the much more capable new 154-foot Sentinel (Webber) class Fast Response Cutters.

The future USCGC John Witherspoon (WPC 1158) arrived at the cutter’s new homeport in Kodiak on Tuesday, following an unescorted 7,000-mile self-deployment from Key West.

The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter John Witherspoon (WPC 1158) arrives at their homeport in Kodiak, Alaska, aboard their cutter for the first time, on Jan. 28, 2025. The Witherspoon is the first of three new cutters to be stationed in Kodiak, has a crew of 24 people, and has a range of approximately 2,500 miles. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Shannon Kearney)

Witherspoon joins three Ketchikan-based sisters: USCGC John McCormick (WPC-1121)— the first Sentinel-class stationed in Alaska in 2017– USCGC Anthony Petit, and USCGC Bailey Barco— in Alaskan waters and will be the first of three of her class based at Kodiak.

USCGC John McCormick (WPC-1121), the first Sentinel-class cutter stationed in Alaska in 2017

Scheduled to be “officially” commissioned during a ceremony in April when things warm up, Witherspoon’s crew spent the past three months in shakedown and training in the Gulf of Mexico (America?). She is the 58th FRC delivered by Bollinger under the U.S. Coast Guard’s current program.

Armament includes a Mk 38 Mod 2 25mm gun forward and four flex mounts for M2 .50 caliber BMGs (or anything else that can be put on those pintles) along with assorted small arms. These vessels have been operating small UAVs as of late. 

As referenced by the builder:

FRCs have conducted operations as far as the Marshall Islands—a 4,400 nautical mile trip from their homeport. Measuring in 154 feet, FRCs have a flank speed of 28 knots, state of the art C4ISR suite (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance), and stern launch and recovery ramp for a 26-foot, over-the-horizon interceptor cutter boat.

Stacking the two classes against each other is dramatic. 

110-foot Island class cutters compared to the new 154-foot Sentinel (Webber) class FRCs

The Coast Guard had a force of six 110-foot Island-class cutters stationed in Alaska in the late 1980s-2020s, of which two remain in service:

  • USCGC Liberty (WPB-1334) has spent her 33-year career at Juneau and Valdez.
  • USCGC Mustang (WPB-1310) has spent her 39-year career stationed in Seward.
  • USCGC Naushon (WPB-1311), which has been in Homer since 2016. 

The Coast Guard Cutter Liberty crew prepares to moor at their homeport of Juneau, Alaska, on March 13, 2018. The crew of the Cutter Liberty, a 110-foot patrol boat homeported in Juneau, Alaska, was completing tailored ship’s training availability, a biennial readiness assessment of the cutter and crew. Coast Guard photo by Lt. Brian Dykens.

Legacy 110s on the Alaska beat included:

  • USCGC Anacapa (WPB-1335), which was decommissioned in 2024, spent 32 of her 34 years stationed in Petersburg, Alaska, and famously sank by NGF a Japanese “zombie trawler” a few years back that had drifted across the Pacific from Fukushima in 2012.
  • USCGC Farallon (WPB-1301), which was in Valdez from 2015 to 2019
  • USCGC Chandeleur (WPB 1319), which was at Ketchikan until decommissioned in 2021.
  • USCGC Sapelo (WPB-1314,) which was at Homer from 2015 to 2022.
  • USCGC Roanoke Island (WPB-1346,) which was at Homer from 1992 to 2015.

Four recently decommissioned CENTCOM Islands— ex-Adak (WPB-1333), Aquidneck (WPB-1309), Monomoy (WPB-1326), and Wrangell (WPB-1332)— were just handed over to the Greek Navy earlier this month.

A much smaller 87-footer, USCGC Reef Shark (WPB-87371), has been stationed in Auke Bay since 2022 while her sister, USCGC Pike (WPB-87365) is in Petersburg.

USCGC Reef Shark (WPB-87371), on patrol in Alaska (USCG photo)

 

Curious Airborne Puffer Fish

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Captured 80 years ago this month.

Official wartime caption: “Japanese balloon, Fu-Go [Fugu, 河豚; 鰒; フグ]. A completed Japanese balloon is inflated for laboratory tests at a California base. It was recovered at Alturas, California, January 10, 1945. Ineffective as it is, however, the Japanese balloon is an ingenious device. The balloon itself at a maximum altitude is a true sphere, 100 feet in circumference. It is made of five layers of mulberry paper, each about as thick as cigarette paper, but strong and water-repellant when cemented together. It is filled with hydrogen. Suspended like a chandelier below the envelope by 19 shroud lines, each 45 feet long, is a device for automatic control of altitude. The bomb load is attached to the ‘chandelier’ with an automatic release mechanism. The balloon is further equipped with automatic demolition blocks which are supposed to destroy it in the air. On many of the balloons recovered the self-destroying device failed to function.”

Print received August 1945 from Publications Sec., AC/AS, Intelligence. Used in the August 1945 issue of “Impact.” Copied August 27, 1945. U.S. Army Air Corps (Air Force) photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. 342-FH-3B23422

It is estimated that an amazing 9,300 Fu-Go balloons were launched from Japan against the U.S. and Canada from Coastal Honshu Island between November 1944 and April 1945.

While only 285 were documented as reaching North America, as many as 1,000 may have made it this far, meaning their wreckage is likely sprinkled over remote forests and lakes, waiting.

Surely this is something China would never consider doing again, right?

Floating History

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Great comparison of old vs. new, bookends of the service, so to speak.

Here we see the 210-foot Reliance class USCGC Venturous (WMEC 625), outboard of the 418-foot Legend (Bertholf) class USCGC Hamilton (WMSL 753), at a rendezvous at sea, 21 November 2024, in the Eastern Pacific Ocean while in support of Joint Interagency Task Force – South. Both notably have MH-65C Dolphins of the Coast Guard’s Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) squadron aboard, and are East/Gulf Coast-based cutters deployed a few thousand miles from home.

(U.S. Coast Guard photo 21-2024-241121-g-g0100-1002)

For reference, Venturous, based in St. Petersburg, Florida, was commissioned on 12 September 1968, making her 56 years young!

Meanwhile, Hamilton— the sixth cutter (after circa 1830, 1871, 1921, 1937, and 1967 vessels) to bear the name of the first secretary of the treasury and the “father of the Coast Guard”– is based in Charleston, South Carolina and commissioned 6 December 2014.

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