Tag Archives: USCGC Decisive (WMEC-629)

Decisively Samudravijaya, or, Starting a New Career at 58

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The ex-USCGC Decisive (WMEC 629), a B-Type Reliance-class 210-foot gunboat/cutter, is now in active service as SLNS Samudravijaya (SLS P 628) in the Sri Lankan Navy. I guess SLS P 629 was already taken or something.

Note she now carries a twin Bofors 40mm L70 mount forward, an upgrade from the MK 38 25mm chain gun she carried for the past 30 years with the USCG, while, arguably, still short of the 3″/50 MK 22 Decisive, which she was commissioned with in 1968.

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.

She self-deployed 14,775nm to her new home from the USCG Yard at Curtis Bay, ironically, where she was built in the 1960s.

Once upon a time, she was stationed 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 in 2017.

A bit of Decisive remains on the Gulf Coast.

One of Decisive’s 26-foot Mark V Motor Surfboats (MSB), DEC1 is preserved as part of the USCG static display at the Battleship Alabama Park in Mobile.

This circa 1994 MSB MKV replaced one of Decisive’s original 1960s-era wooden-hulled 26-foot Monomoy surfboats and was used aboard while the cutter was stationed at Pascagoula. It was the go-to when having to conduct boardings or rescues in heavy seas.

Dubbed a “bathtub” for obvious reasons, these craft were self-righting and self-bailing. The MSB MKV was built by Ocean Technical Services in Harvey, Louisiana, and used a Cummings 4BT3.9M diesel to push it at 18 knots.

Typically manned by three, it could carry 10 passengers or 15 survivors in a pinch, depending on size.

The exhibit includes not only the surfboat but also a 41-foot UTM, a S-61/HUS-1G/HH-52A Seaguard (1371), and a S-55B/HO4S-2/HH-19G (1258), the latter two sourced from the National Museum of Naval Aviation to honor the nearby CG Aviation Training Center (ATC), which has trained the service’s pilots and aircrew since 1966.

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 Mighty D hangs up her guns

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The sun is getting low on the half-century-old Reliance class cutters, and one of my favorite ones just finished up her last official tasking.

Via Coast Guard LANT

USCGC Decisive returns home from Eastern Pacific Ocean deployment, completing final patrol

PENSACOLA, Fla. — The crew of the USCGC Decisive (WMEC 629) returned to their homeport in Pensacola, Friday, following a 33-day patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, concluding 55 years of service to the Nation.

Decisive patrolled the Eastern Pacific Ocean in the Coast Guard Eleventh District’s area of operations. While underway, the Decisive’s crew supported the Coast Guard’s drug interdiction and search and rescue missions to promote safety of life at sea and deter the flow of illegal narcotics into the United States.

While deployed, Decisive’s crew collaborated with Coast Guard assets and foreign military aircraft to detect, deter, and interdict illegal narcotics voyages. At one point, Decisive disrupted two vessels suspected of drug trafficking in the same night. Decisive also collaborated with the USCGC Alert (WMEC 630) to safely transfer three suspected smugglers. While aboard Decisive, the detainees received food, water, shelter and medical attention.

“The crew’s remarkable professionalism, competence and determination were on full display as we met the diverse challenges of operations at sea,” said Cmdr. Aaron Delano-Johnson, commanding officer of Decisive. “Whether it was conducting simultaneous boardings or our skilled engineers conducting voyage repairs in Panama, the crew exceeded expectations at every turn. After a successful, final patrol for Decisive, we are looking forward to returning home to our family and friends on shore.”

During the patrol, Decisive traveled more than 6,000 miles and traversed through the Panama Canal. By transiting the historic waterway, Decisive’s crew earned their Order of the Ditch certificates, a time-honored nautical tradition recognizing mariners who have crossed the Panama Canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Decisive is a 210-foot, Reliance-class medium endurance cutter with a crew of 72. The cutter’s primary missions are counter-drug operations, migrant interdiction, and search and rescue in support of U.S. Coast Guard operations throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Back in 2011, while working on an article about the old girl for Sea Classics, I spent a day hanging out with the Swamp Rats of Decisive while she was based at CGS Pascagoula, formerly NAVSTA Pascagoula, directly across from Ingalls on Singing River Island. Since Decisive moved to Pensacola in 2017, the sprawling base, which had been originally intended for a battleship surface action group in the 1980s, has largely just hosted a Sentinel-class (154-foot) fast response cutter and the occasional passing NOAA survey ship in addition to overflow from Ingalls.

Anyway, enjoy! These were cleared by 8th District over a decade ago, but never published. 

Of Swamp Rats and Little Birds

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The aging Reliance-class USCGC Decisive (WMEC-629) just returned to homeport in Pensacola, Florida, after 58-day patrol. I visited with the “Swamp Rats” when she was based at Pascagoula in 2011 and they have taken exceedingly good care of the now-51-year-old cutter.

On her helicopter deck, which regularly accommodate up to an HH-65-sized chopper and conduct HIFR on larger birds. A junior officer normally doubles as the ship’s LSO. (Photo: Chris Eger)

For an idea of just what era she dates from, for the first 20 years of her career, she carried a 3″/50 open mount forward as her main armament.

Sistership USCGC VIGILANT WMEC-617 12 May 1969, note her original 3″/50 and long helicopter deck. These ships were originally to be capable of supporting an 18,000-lb Sea King(!) augmented by a sonar and Mk32 torpedo tubes to conduct convoy operations/coastal defense in the event of WWIII. Those ASW upgrades never happened but these ships are still in service 50 years later. As far as helicopters went, they were only initially tested for and typically used with the 8,500-lb  HH-52 Seaguard, which is more of a baby Sea King than anything else. In wartime, they could have likely operated the SH-2 Seasprite, which went closer to 10,000-lbs.

Of interest in her latest deployment around the Gulf, which included a three-week TSTA at Mayport, saving a fishing vessel taking on water and conducting inspections, the Decisive became the first 210-foot Coast Guard cutter to conduct ship-helicopter operations with three U.S. Army MH-6 helicopters, “Little Birds,” from the elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (160th SOAR).

The crew of the Coast Guard cutter Decisive conducted helicopter operations with three Army H-6 helicopters in the Gulf of Mexico, March 9, 2019. The training is meant to help pilots land on a moving platform and for crewmembers to work with unfamiliar aircraft. (U.S. Coast Guard courtesy photo/Released)

Now that, is different.