I have wanted to post about the two SINKEX that were included in RIMPAC 2026, but I was unable to find a comprehensive source identifying what was used and what effect the weapon, had. Rather there were numerous reports of individual weapons being used, but other than the fact that the Canadian submarine HMCS Corner Brook, using Mk48 torpedo, administered the coup de grâce to the former USS Mobile Bay (CG 53) it was had to link cause and effect with so many weapons being used particularly against the former USS Peleliu (LHA 5).
Weapons used:
At least four US Army guided 227mm rockets (GMLRS) from M142 HIMARS
I never saw a photo or video of the LHA sink. In fact I never saw a photo or video that seemed to show she had lost stability or that she had taken on a lot of water. Huge sections of the hull were ripped away but the ship never appeared to be sinking.
The title of the release is not really accurate in that two of the tanker were immobilized while the third was destroyed.
It seems there is some messaging going on here. In the first two cases it appears the tankers were struck by Hellfire missiles targeting the stern so as to damage propulsion and/or steering while avoiding a massive release of oil. The third tanker was empty so destroying it did not result in a massive oil spill.
But the message was clear, we can destroy your tankers.
I would really like to know what weapons were used to destroy the third tanker. It may have been multiple Hellfires followed by secondary explosions.
I hope the Coast Guard is paying attention, because we need a ubiquitous weapon capable of forcefully stopping even large merchant ships that might be used a terrorist attack.
TAMPA, Fla. — U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces struck three Iranian crude oil carriers, Sept. 5, after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched ballistic missiles toward two U.S. Navy warships patrolling regional waters.
A U.S. aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyer successfully evaded multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks. No American personnel were harmed.
Following Iran’s failed attacks, CENTCOM permanently disabled the IRGC crude oil carriers M/T Downy off the coast of Kharg Island and M/T Stark 1 near Jask. American forces also completely destroyed the unladen crude oil carrier M/T Kylo (also known as the “Noxen”) in the Gulf of Oman, striking the vessel in multiple critical locations to render it inoperable after the crew was directed to abandon ship.
The three Iranian crude oil tankers are part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC and its regional proxies. Iran has no means by which to defend them.
“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost —taking out three of yours,” said Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander. “We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.”
Smoke rises after Iran carried out a missile strike on the main headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet in Manama, Bahrain. (Anadolu via Getty Images)
“”The more we learn about the attacks on the U.S. Naval Support Activity (NSA) in Manama, Bahrain, during the opening days of Operation Epic Fury, the clearer it becomes why the news of its near destruction was not initially reported or acknowledged.
“Extensive damage to one of our most significant forward bases in the Middle East is likely to have profound tactical and strategic repercussions that are only now coming into focus.”
PATFORSWA was the largest Coast Guard unit outside the US. It included a training facility to train boarding parties and the patrol craft made a number of seizures including drugs (here and here) and arms being smuggling to Yemen (here and here). The cutters could be maintained in their homeport.
PATFORSWA had a long term continuing relationship with 5th fleet including Unmanned system experiments over many years.
Two MANTAS T-12 unmanned surface vessels operate alongside a U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat during exercise New Horizon in the Arabian Gulf. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Dawson Roth)
MEDIA ADVISORY: Coast Guard to commemorate first graduating class at TRACEN-Birmingham Southern
WASHINGTON – Adm. Thomas Allan, vice commandant, U.S. Coast Guard will preside over Training Center (TRACEN) Birmingham Southern’s first graduation ceremony and host a press gaggle.
This Leadership and Management School graduation is a significant milestone for TRACEN Birmingham, which opened in June 2026. It follows on the heels of Rear Adm. M.T. Brown’s arrival in Birmingham and the flag raising ceremony held in his honor, a symbolic first step in the Coast Guard Force Readiness Command’s (FORCECOM) relocation from Norfolk, Virginia, and New London, Connecticut. Currently, 44 FORCECOM personnel are already serving in Birmingham full time.
Who: Adm. Thomas Allan, vice commandant, U.S. Coast Guard
What: Graduation ceremony for the first Leadership and Management School class
Coast Guard Lt. Raymond J. Cerrato III and Lt. John “Jack” P. Stone pose for a photo after the change of command of the Fast Response Cutter Oliver Henry (WPC 1140), Apra Harbor, Guam, Aug. 21, 2026. Stone, a native of Atlanta, relieved Cerrato as commanding officer of the Sentinel-class fast response cutter. Cerrato, a native of Melbourne, Fla., led Oliver Henry through more than 75,000 nautical miles of operations across Oceania and the Micronesian subregion. During his three years in command, Oliver Henry and crew conducted search and rescue missions, law enforcement, disaster response, diplomatic engagements and partner-nation operations in support of U.S. Coast Guard missions throughout the region. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer Lisa Ferdinando)
I don’t normally pass along reports of Change of Command but I thought this one was remarkable in two ways, what this little ship has done in the last three years and the depth of experience the new commanding officer brings to the job. Lt Stone has been out of the Academy only a little more than four years but all that time was afloat.
Aug. 31, 2026
New commanding officer takes the helm of Fast Response Cutter Oliver Henry
SANTA RITA, Guam — Lt. John “Jack” P. Stone relieved Lt. Raymond J. Cerrato III as commanding officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Oliver Henry (WPC 1140) during a change of command ceremony in Apra Harbor, Aug. 21, 2026.
Cmdr. Grant Johnson, chief of response, U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia / Sector Guam, presided over the ceremony.
Cerrato, a native of Melbourne, Fla., led Oliver Henry through more than 75,000 nautical miles of operations across Oceania and the Micronesian subregion. During his command, the cutter and crew conducted search and rescue missions, law enforcement, disaster response, diplomatic engagements and partner-nation operations in support of U.S. Coast Guard missions throughout the region.
During Cerrato’s three-year command, Oliver Henry and crew:
Rescued 28 people in multiple, multi-agency responses
Responded to Super Typhoons Mawar and Sinlaku, facilitating the reopening of critical ports in Rota and Tinian
Delivered more than 45,000 pounds of relief supplies to remote Pacific communities in support of Operation Rematau and in response to Super Typhoons Mawar, Sinlaku, and Bavi
Conducted more than 30 Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission boardings
Executed bilateral shiprider agreements with Palau, FSM, Marshall Islands and Kiribati to combat transnational criminal organization activity
Executed the first U.S.-Kiribati shiprider agreement patrol in 8 years
Made historic port calls, including the first U.S. ship visit to Nauru, also known as the Republic of Naoero, and the first Coast Guard Fast Response Cutter visits to Tarawa and Rota
Completed more than 60 professional exchanges with regional maritime police forces
Stone, a native of Atlanta, earned his commission in 2022 from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, where he received a Bachelor of Science in management. He previously served aboard the Coast Guard cutter Mohawk (WMEC 913) as an electronics material officer, weapons officer and assistant operations officer. In 2024, he began a two-year assignment aboard the U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge, where he served as a navigator.
Oliver Henry arrived in Guam Sept 2022, and is one of four Fast Response Cutters homeported in Guam, along with the Coast Guard cutter Frederick Hatch (WPC 1143), Coast Guard cutter Vincent Danz (WPC 1162), and Coast Guard cutter Myrtle Hazard (WPC 1139).
The cutter is named in honor of Oliver T. Henry, Jr., an African American enlisted Coast Guardsman who served from 1940 to1966. Henry broke the services color barrier after becoming the first African American to transfer from the mess steward rating, then an all-black rating, to another rating – motor machinist.
I love it. They boarded the vessel and took custody of the crew before sinking the vessel. Hopefully they will be the source of additional intelligence.
The video above shows that they were towing four smaller vessels. Were these small boats carrying drugs? They don’t say.
The news release doesn’t say where this happened but since it was done in cooperation with Ecuador it had to have been in the Eastern Pacific. We have seen previous interceptions that happened in the Area of the Galápagos Islands which are Ecuadorian territory.
Other video on Youtube indicates a destroyer may also have been involved in the operation.
How the vessel was sunk is not indicated in the news release, but the video suggests that it was machine-gun fire rather than something like a Hellfire.
Aug. 28, 2026
Interdiction of Narco-Terrorist Refueling Vessel, Aug. 28, 2026
On Aug. 28, at the direction of U.S. Southern Command Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, and in coordination and collaboration with the Government of Ecuador, Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere (JTF-WHEM) successfully interdicted a vessel operating as a floating refueling station in support of illicit at-sea drug trafficking operations in international waters of the Eastern Pacific. Intelligence confirmed the vessel, previously identified and targeted under Department of the Treasury sanctions, was operating in support of the Los Choneros violent narco-terrorist organization.
U.S. Marines and Sailors, launched from USS San Antonio (LPD 17), interdicted, boarded, searched, and cleared the vessel without incident. Individuals removed from the vessel were safely escorted to Ecuador. Once cleared, U.S. forces sank the vessel.
This interdiction cuts off a critical node in the traffickers’ logistics chain and advances the goals of the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition (A3C) and JTF-WHEM to dismantle narco-terrorist networks. The Department of War and the A3C remain unwavering in their mission to defeat narco-terrorists in the Western Hemisphere and defend our homeland.
“Today’s operation is a stark example of the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition’s power to dismantle the sophisticated, clandestine narco-terrorist tactics and capabilities that have enabled the trafficking of dangerous drugs destined for American communities. Working together with our Ecuadorian partners, our coalition dealt a decisive blow to a narco-terrorist operation responsible for moving significant amounts of drugs through the region. Together with our regional partners, we are committed to defeating narco-terrorists in the Western Hemisphere.” — U.S. Southern Command Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan
Below is an Austal news release. This is the third of up to eleven Offshore Patrol Cutters to be built by Austal under the current contract.
Construction began on the first, the future USCGC Pickering (WMSM-919), on 29 August 2024. Keel was laid December 8, 2025. Delivery is expected in 2027.
Austal USA began construction of the future USCGC Icarus (WMSM-920) August 5, 2025.
The first three ships were to be delivered one per year. The remaining ships are to be delivered two per year.
Something has happened here that you may have missed. Ingham was to have been the third Eastern built OPC. The transfer of the name to Austal’s third ship is additional confirmation that Eastern’s #3 and #4 OPC will never be built.
I have seen no new contracts to complete USCGC Argus and Chase since the June 2026 cancellation of Eastern’s contract.
August 27, 2026
Mobile, Ala. – Austal USA has started construction on its third U.S. Coast Guard Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC), the future USCGC Ingham, at the company’s Mobile, Ala. ship manufacturing facility. Ingham is being built under a contract that includes options for up to 11 cutters and has a current potential value of $3.3 billion.
“Each new OPC moving into production demonstrates how far our steel shipbuilding team has come,” Austal USA President Gene Miller said. “Ingham will give the Coast Guard the endurance, flexibility and offshore capability it needs to protect our nation’s maritime interests. We are committed to building a strong, serial production program for this important class of cutters.”
Austal USA uses a modular construction approach designed to increase production efficiency and allow a high percentage of each module to be outfitted before final assembly. The company’s engineering and production teams also developed a detailed 3D model of the cutter early in the design process to support planning, coordination and construction.
The OPC program will recapitalize the Coast Guard’s aging medium endurance cutter fleet and provide a capability bridge between the service’s national security cutters, which operate in the open ocean, and fast response cutters, which operate closer to shore.
The 360-foot OPC will provide the majority of the Coast Guard’s offshore presence, conducting missions including law enforcement, drug and migrant interdiction, and search and rescue. 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 a task group and serving as a mobile command-and-control platform for surge operations such as hurricane response and mass migration incidents. The cutters will also support Arctic objectives by helping regulate and protect emerging commerce and energy exploration in Alaska.
With the start of Ingham, Austal USA has three OPCs under construction: the future USCGC Pickering, USCGC Icarus, and USCGC Ingham. Together, these cutters anchor Austal USA’s growing steel shipbuilding portfolio, which also currently includes construction of four Landing Craft Utility vessels, three Navajo-class Towing, Salvage and Rescue Ships, an Auxiliary Floating Dry Dock Medium, and submarine modules supporting the Virginia- and Columbia-class submarine programs.
U.S. Chargé d’affaires and Solomon Islands Prime Minister Wale sign a bilateral maritime law enforcement agreement on the flight deck of Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane (WMEC 903) in Solomon Islands, July 28. 2026. During their patrol, the cutter’s crew worked alongside Pacific Island Countries to combat illegal fishing activities and enhance maritime domain awareness. (U.S. Coast Guard photo, courtesy CGC Harriet Lane)
They sailed in “Iron Bottom Sound.” If you are a naval history buff, you know what that means, the first US offensive in the Pacific, site of five major naval battles.
They visited the Douglas Munro Memorial at Point Cruz.
We could definitely use more than one MEC in the Western Pacific.
A U.S. Coast Guard 26-foot Over the Horizon Small Boat crew assigned to Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane (WMEC 903), prepares to conduct bilateral maritime law enforcement operations June 24, 2026. The crew conducted 26 customs inspections of foreign-flagged sailing vessels while collaborating with Fijian partners. (U.S. Coast Guard photo, courtesy CGC Harriet Lane)
Aug. 27, 2026
Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane returns home following 75-day patrol
Coast Guard Oceania District External Affairs – (808) 265-7748
HONOLULU – The crew of U.S. Coast Guard cutter Harriet Lane (WMEC 903) returned to Pearl Harbor Aug. 12, 2026, following a 75-day patrol in support of Coast Guard’s Oceania District’s Operation Blue Pacific.
Harriet Lane and its 100 crewmembers departed Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in June to conduct combined operations and territorial integrity missions within Oceania. Patrolling more than 16,000 nautical miles throughout the Pacific to include the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Australia, the cutter worked alongside regional partners in the Pacific to deter transnational criminal activities, facilitate the flow of commerce, and protect critical ocean resources.
During this patrol, Capt. Justin Matejka, commanding officer of Harriet Lane, hosted the Prime Minister of Solomon Islands aboard the cutter, alongside P. Daniel O’Hara, American Chargé d’Affaires, and Vice Adm. Joseph R. Buzzella, commander, Pacific Area, for a historic bilateral maritime law enforcement agreement signing between the two nations. This document allows for cooperative law enforcement operations between the Solomon Islands and the U.S. Coast Guard to further protect the island nation’s sovereignty, help enforce their fisheries regulations, and ensure that vessels in the Solomon Islands exclusive economic zone are operating safely and securely. Having been the first cutter to moor in Honiara (Guadalcanal–Chuck) since 2018, the crew visited the Douglas Munro Memorial at Point Cruz, paying honor and respect to the Coast Guard’s only Medal of Honor recipient.
“Sailing through the historic waters of Guadalcanal while signing a milestone bilateral agreement made this an extraordinary patrol,” said Matejka. “Places like Iron Bottom Sound hold sacred meaning for the Coast Guard, and visiting the Douglas Munro Memorial shortly after signing the bilateral law enforcement agreement with the Solomon Islands was deeply meaningful. We are grateful to stand with our regional partners as we combat illegal fishing and illicit activities to ensure a free, open, and secure Pacific.”
The Harriet Lane crew exercised further partnerships with Fiji and Papua New Guinea through bilateral maritime law enforcement operations, community relations, and domestic federal maritime law
enforcement operations. In total, the Harriet Lane crew assisted Fiji and Papua New Guinea’s enforcement officers conduct 42 boardings of fishing vessels.
Commissioned in 1984, Harriet Lane is a 270-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Honolulu to support Coast Guard missions in the Pacific region. The service’s medium endurance cutter fleet supports a variety of Coast Guard missions including search and rescue, law enforcement, maritime defense, and protection of the marine environment.
I have long felt the Coast Guard should be a partner in a Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) program along with the Navy. AMVER is really a sort of MDA, but includes only those that want to be included. It could be an input to a more complete system.
I was surprised to find that DOT already maintains, SeaVision, an unclassified MDA system in partnership with US Fleet Forces Command, Naval Information Warfare System Pacific, and Battlespace Awareness and Information Operations (PMW120) (the SeaVision Team). The Coast Guard is notably absent though I have to believe the Coast Guard is providing information.
Reportedly SeaVision has over 5,000 active users from 120 partner nations.
Below are screen grabs of its claimed features and data.
Chuck Hill's CG Blog 