USCGC Cleat (WYTL-65615)

The Acquisitions Directorate (CG-9) reports,

May 1, 2025 —The Coast Guard today released a request for information (RFI) to inform the development of its acquisition strategy to recapitalize its light and medium domestic icebreaking capabilities.  Industry sources are invited to submit information on existing icebreaking-capable vessels or vessel designs that are ready for construction or already in production. The Coast Guard will use these responses to inform future program activities to recapitalize the domestic icebreaking capabilities provided by the 140-foot icebreaking tug and 65-foot small harbor tug.

You can access the RFI here.

There are a couple of things that may be surprising.

• First the description of the two types of interest “DOMICE-M” domestic icebreaker, medium and “DOMICE-L,” domestic icebreaker, light. The 2,500 HP 140s are a long way from medium icebreakers by the Coast Guard’s usual medium icebreaker definition, 20,000 to 45,000 HP.
• Second that that there seems to be an aversion to any increase in size. The “VESSEL PRELIMINARY CAPABILITY PARAMETERS” specifically requests  information only on vessels the same size or smaller than the exiting 140 foot WTGBs and 65 foot WYTLs, and the expected performance is essentially no better than the existing classes and could be worse.

Significantly the 65′ WYTLs are currently being treated more like station boats than commissioned ships. The intention is to continue that might be thought of as a reason to restrict length to 65 feet or less. Still that might be unnecessarily restrictive. It may require fewer people to run a particular 70 foot vessel than a particular 64 foot boat, but manning requirements are not included in the RFI. Reading between the lines it appears they actually want a smaller vessel than the 65 footers.

The constraint on length of the 140 replacement is even harder to understand. The range requirement clearly indicates these vessels will deploy for several days with presumably a mixed gender crew. Like the WTGBs they will probably have davits and a small ship’s boat. In District 9, on the Great Lakes, when not breaking ice, the WTGBs perform some of the functions Webber class WPCs perform in other districts. Speed and icebreaking are almost mutually exclusive, but a bit more waterline length does make a couple of extra knots easier.

USCGC LIBERTY (WPB 1334), Credit to Gillfoto, 23 November 2012

Below is a news release from Coast Guard News.

It is the end of an era as the last of 49 Island class cutters leaves Coast Guard service. These boats continue to do useful work for other navies and coast guards as they are transferred under the Excess Defense Article (EDA) program.

The Surface Acquisitions Logistics Center at the Coast Guard Yard runs the EDA program doing necessary maintenance, sea trials, foreign crew training, and vessel transport and close-out.

110 foot Island class cutters have been transferred to Pakistan, the Republic of Georgia, Costa Rica, Ukraine, the Philippines, Tunisia, and Greece. Additional units are expected to go to Cameroon and Ecuador.

Decommissioned 87 foot WPBs and 210 foot WMECs

87 foot Marine Protector class WPBs have been transferred to Ghana, Lebanon, the Philippines, and Uruguay.

Based on the Coast Guard Historian’s timeline, https://www.history.uscg.mil/research/chronology/
With inspiration from Mike Kelso

May 1

1876: A New Lifesaving Station Opens on Lake Erie – 89 People Are Rescued in the Next 20 Years. A Marblehead resident named Lucien M. Clemons was appointed the station’s first keeper, and his tenure began with the official opening of the facility in 1876. Clemons had demonstrated his courage and lifesaving skills on May 1 of the previous year when he and his brothers Hubbard and A.J. – rowing out into stormy weather on Lake Erie on that day in a 12-foot (3.7-meter) skiff (a flat-bottomed boat) — rescued the two surviving members of the seven-person crew of the shipwrecked 102-foot (31.1-meter) schooner Consuelo. As a result of their heroic efforts in that rescue, the Clemons brothers became the first recipients of life-saving medals first class (the present-day Gold Lifesaving Medals).

1875  Captain Lucien M. Clemens and his brothers Al and Hubbard “displayed the most signal gallantry in saving two men from the wreck of the schooner Consuelo” in an open rowboat.  Five others on board the schooner perished when the schooner capsized in the heavy seas “with the wind blowing a gale from the northeast” before the brothers arrived on scene.  Their daring rescue resulted in the award of the Gold Life-Saving Medals to each, the first time the medals were ever awarded.

Revenue Cutter USCGC McCulloch

1898  USRC McCulloch fought as part of the fleet under the overall command of Commodore George Dewey, USN, at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War.   President John McKinley later recommended that her commanding officer, Revenue Captain Daniel B. Hodgson, be retired at full pay as reward of merit for “efficient and meritorious services.”  A joint resolution of Congress was so approved on May 3, 1900.

1900  The Lighthouse Board took charge of all lighthouses in Puerto Rico.

The United States Lightship LV-87/WAL-512 (Ambrose) is a riveted steel lightship built in 1907 and served at the Ambrose Channel lightship station from December 1, 1908, until 1932. This photo was taken by participant/team Tony as part of the Commons:Wikipedia Takes Manhattan project on April 4, 2008.

1921  The first radio fog signals in the United States were placed in commission on Ambrose Lightship, Fire Island Lightship, and Sea Girt Light Station, New Jersey.

Lightship LV-101/WAL-524. Acquired 2 September 1916, Decommissioned 23 March 1964. Light Vessel 101 was assigned to the stations:
Charles, Cape Charles, Virginia (1916–1924); Relief, Relief 5th District (1925–1926);
Overfalls, Overfalls, Delaware (1926–1951); Stonehorse, Stonehorse Shoal, Massachusetts (1951–1963); CrossRip, Cross Rip Shoal, Massachusetts (1963–1964), now a museum ship in Portsmouth, VA. Photo by William J. Grimes

1935  By Department of Commerce authority, a readjustment of the boundary between the 3rd and 4th Lighthouse Districts was made, by which certain aids to navigation in the approaches to Delaware Bay, including Overfalls Lightship, were placed under the jurisdiction of the 4th Lighthouse District.

1936  Congress passed the Whaling Treaty Act, which made it unlawful to take right whales or calves of any whale.  The act was enforced by the Coast Guard.

1942  Two Coast Guard planes located a lifeboat with 13 survivors and landed in open seas and took injured men ashore as others were rescued by lifeboat.

1973  The Coast Guard’s Merchant Marine Detachment-Saigon, Republic of Vietnam, was disestablished.

1992  CGC Venturous served as the patrol commander’s on-scene command platform for most of the International America’s Cup Class World Championship sailing races that took place off San Diego from May 1-11, 1992.  The CGC Sherman took over that duty for May 10-11.  Coast Guard active duty, reserve, and auxiliary personnel also assisted in perimeter patrols along the race course.

The Miss Majestic. When the DUKW was converted for commercial passenger
service, a steel frame was installed around and over the passenger compartment. The
Miss Majestic had a vinyl canopy over the frame to protect passengers from the weather.

1999  A amphibious tourist boat (DUKW) sank in Lake Hamilton, near Hot Springs, Arkansas, killing 13 persons.  The Coast Guard investigated the accident.

A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk aircrew, deployed to forward operating location Kotzebue, Alaska, conducts a pre-flight brief before flying a mission to Point Lay, July 13, 2017. FOL Kotzebue houses two Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters and crews in support of Operation Arctic Shield. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Lt. Brian Dykens.

2013  CGAS Kodiak deployed a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew and support personnel to a forward operating location in Cordova, to safeguard mariners in Prince William Sound and south central Alaska.  The FOL in Cordova was one of four seasonal Coast Guard FOLs in Alaska and was scheduled to remain in operation until September 30, 2013.  The forward deployed crews received logistical support from Air Station Kodiak based HC-130 Hercules airplane crews throughout their deployment.  The previous year, FOL Cordova aircrews saved nine lives and assisted 12 others during the 2012 summer season.

2020  On 1 May 2020 the U.S. Coast Guard announced that RADM Melissa Bert had been vested as the Judge Advocate General & Chief Counsel of the Coast Guard.  RADM Bert is the first woman to hold that office.

Based on the Coast Guard Historian’s timeline, https://www.history.uscg.mil/research/chronology/
With inspiration from Mike Kelso

April 30

Oil painting of George Washington’s inauguration as the first President of the United States which took place on April 30, 1789. circa 1899

1789  President George Washington was inaugurated in New York City as the nation’s first President.  His inauguration marked the beginning of U.S. Constitutional government.

1798  Congress established the Department of the Navy on this date.  Nevertheless, the United States Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which the Continental Congress established on October 13, 1775 by authorizing the procurement, fitting out, manning, and dispatch of two armed vessels to cruise in search of munitions ships supplying the British Army in America.  In 1972, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt authorized the recognition of 13 October 13, 1775 as the Navy’s official birthday.

1818  Congress authorized use of “land and naval forces of the United States to compel any foreign ship to depart United States in all cases in which, by the laws of nations or the treaties of the United States, they ought not to remain within the United States.”  This was the basis of neutrality enforcement.

1832  All commissions of naval officers serving in the Revenue Cutter Service were revoked.  All vacancies were then filled by promotion from within the Service for the first time.

BM1 Edgar Culbertson in the yard at the Coast Guard Lifeboat Station in Duluth, Minnesota, circa 1967

1967  BM1 Edgar A. Culbertson gave his life attempting to rescue three boys in Duluth, Minnesota.  BM1 Culbertson, along with two other members of Station Duluth, volunteered to venture out on the North Pier at Duluth to rescue three boys who had been reported to be out on the pier during a severe storm.  Witnesses had seen a wave wash one of the boys away but two were apparently trapped near the lighthouse at the end of the pier.  Culbertson’s Coast Guard Medal citation noted: “Lashing themselves together, the three men proceeded, with hand lanterns as the only illumination, to the end of the breakwater.  Despite the high waves, winds gusting to 40 knots, driving rain and 36 degree water, the rescue party diligently searched the breakwater and light but found no trace of the boys.  While returning to the beach a 20-foot wave swept Petty Officer CULBERTSON off his feet and hurled him up to and over the breakwater parapet into the sea.  Despite the strenuous efforts of his teammates, Petty Officer CULBERTSON perished in this gallant rescue attempt.”  He was posthumously awarded the Coast Guard Medal.  The other two Coast Guardsmen, BM2 Richard R. Callahan and FN Ronald C. Prei, were also awarded the Coast Guard Medal for their heroism.

The Coast Guard Cutter Edgar Culbertson sails into port in Galveston, Texas, March 23, 2020. The Edgar Culbertson is the service’s 37th fast response cutter. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Paige Hause)

2020  The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Midgett concluded a successful 37-day patrol in support of counter-Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing and regional security operations in Oceania, April 30, 2020. Patrolling over 7,118 square nautical miles (8,191 statute miles), Midgett’s law enforcement team boarded seven commercial foreign-flagged fishing vessels. The boardings verified compliance with WCPFC conservation management measures and specifications for the marking and identification of fishing vessels. They conducted 15 additional sightings and vessel queries. Those reports were provided to the FFA Regional Fisheries Surveillance Center in Honiara, Solomon Islands, demonstrating the Coast Guard’s interoperability with its key regional partners. The crew conducted joint operations with crews aboard an HC-130 Hercules long-range surveillance aircraft from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, who flew several reconnaissance flights to improve maritime domain awareness. Midgett’s crew of 120 departed their homeport of Honolulu in late March, 2020, but returned shortly after to address concerns over possible COVID-19 exposure among the crew. One crew member who did not sail with the cutter for other reasons tested positive for the virus on April 1. Although no one else showed COVID-19 symptoms, the command, in concert with military and state health officials, took immediate and decisive action to quarantine and test those at risk of exposure. No one aboard tested positive, and the ill member ashore made a full recovery. Midgett resumed the patrol on April, 8, 2020.

The crews of the Coast Guard Cutters Midgett (WMSL 757) and Kimball (WMSL 756) transit past Koko Head on Oahu, Hawaii, Aug. 16, 2019. The Kimball and Midgett are both homeported in Honolulu and two of the newest Coast Guard cutters to join the fleet. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew West/Released)

A Coast Guard Cutter Calhoun (WMSL 759) small boat approaches a vessel suspected of drug smuggling in the Atlantic Ocean, April 12, 2025. Calhoun crew members boarded the fishing vessel approximately 1,265 miles west of Las Palmas, Canary Islands and seized approximately 10,000 pounds of cocaine, worth an estimated $74 million. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

Below is a news release from Coast Guard News.

Another photo of the intercepted vessel. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

Sometimes things in a news release just jump out at you as unusual. First there were the photos of the smuggling vessel. It is a Dhow. Looks like something you might see in the Red Sea.

Then there is the location of the intercept, “1,265 miles west of Las Palmas, Canary Islands.” The Canary Islands are off the Coast of Morocco, North Africa.

Assuming the report is in nautical miles and the intercept was due West of Las Palmas, then that put the intercept about 2200 nautical miles due East of Orlando, Florida.

It is most likely the drugs were ultimately bound for Europe. This has to have been an intelligence based intercept.

Based on the Coast Guard Historian’s timeline, https://www.history.uscg.mil/research/chronology/
With inspiration from Mike Kelso

April 29

The 82-foot patrol boats of Squadron One (RONONE) deploying from Subic Bay in the Philippines to the theater of operations in Vietnam. (U.S. Coast Guard)

1965  President Lyndon Johnson approved the commitment of Coast Guard forces to service in Vietnam under the Navy Department’s operational control.  The formation for service in Vietnam of Coast Guard Squadron One (RONONE) was announced.

1975  Coast Guard discontinued operations at Con Son Island LORAN Station.

USCGC STORIS moored alongside LAMUT. The 3″/50 was located in the gun tub on the O-1 deck just aft of the stack. During WWII the 180 foot buoy tenders has a similar installation. 

1992  CGC Storis‘ 3-inch/.50 caliber main battery was removed from the cutter.  It was the last 3-inch/.50 caliber gun in service aboard any U.S. warship.  The 3-inch/.50 was a dual-purpose weapon (surface and anti-aircraft) that had been in U.S. service since the 1930s.  It was shipped to Curtis Bay where is was made inoperable and then loaned to a VFW club.

2014  The Boston-based CGC Escanaba returned to its homeport after a 36-day patrol in the North Atlantic.  While out on patrol, the medium-endurance cutter focused on fisheries missions in support of Operation Atlantic Venture.  Escanaba’s crew conducted 26 law enforcement boardings during the patrol.  Crew members measured fishing gear, inspected daily catch limits and ensured that vessels’ safety gear was in good, working order.  The cutter crew also conducted 46 training evolutions with the crew of an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod.

The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba (WMEC 907) conducts small boat personnel transfers with the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Isaac Mayo (WPC 1112), in the South Florida Straits, Feb. 26, 2024. Escanaba’s crew contributed to the interdiction and repatriation of over 100 migrants from Haiti and Cuba while patrolling the Coast Guard Seventh District’s area of responsibility. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Seaman Laura Holguin-Rojas)

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Harriet Lane conducts a February 2024 patrol for Operation Blue Pacific, which included combating illegal fishing with local partners. SENIOR CHIEF PETTY OFFICER CHARLY TAUTFEST/U.S. COAST GUARD

The Indo-Pacific Defense Forum reports,

The United States Coast Guard has increased its international engagements throughout the Pacific in recent years. Through initiatives such as the Pacific Area Campaign Plan, the Coast Guard plays a pivotal role in advancing the White House’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and the National Maritime Domain Awareness Plan. Such efforts align with the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, the long-term vision for the region developed by the 18-member Pacific Islands Forum.

Harnessing regional expertise and understanding the advantages of coordinated responses to environmental threats and illegal fishing, the Coast Guard established two key centers of expertise in Honolulu, Hawaii, in October 2023. The Indo-Pacific Marine Environmental Response Regional Activities Center (MER-RAC) and the Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fisheries Center of Expertise (IUUF COE) bring together Coast Guard specialists and international partners to share best practices, facilitate expert exchanges and develop collaborative strategies for addressing transnational issues.

Based on the Coast Guard Historian’s timeline, https://www.history.uscg.mil/research/chronology/
With inspiration from Mike Kelso

April 28

1908  The Revenue Cutter Service became the primary federal agency in charge of patrolling regattas.

USRC Seneca, 1908

1918  CGC Seneca saved 81 survivors from the torpedoed British naval sloop Cowslip while on convoy route to Gibraltar.  Cowslip had been attacked by three German U-boats.

Harry Gabriel Hamlet, USCG, Commandant of the Coast Guard (1932), commanded USS Marietta ,October 1918 – 12 July 1919

1919  While in command of USS Marietta in the Bay of Biscay, Captain Harry G. Hamlet rescued a crew of 47 persons from USS James which was sinking at sea, April 23, 1919.  For his actions that day he was awarded a Gold Lifesaving Medal.  His award citation noted: “This rescue was made extremely difficult and hazardous owing to high seas, which threatened to send the two vessels crashing together. In effecting the rescue, Captain Hamlet displayed admirable seamanship.”  Captain Hamlet would later serve as Commandant of the Coast Guard from 1932-1936. (If this story sounds familiar, it is because the same incident was erroneously reported in the “This Day in Coast Guard History, April 22 / 23.”)

Marietta (PG-15) In European waters. Photo courtesy of Paul H. Silverstone from U.S. Small Combatants: An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman

The U.S. Navy amphibious transport dock ship USS Cleveland (LPD-7) underway off the coast of Port Hueneme, California (USA), on 3 February 2000, in support of search and recovery operations for Alaska Airlines Flight 261.

1993  Coast Guard PACAREA LEDETs, operating from the USS Valley Forge and USS Cleveland, boarded the St. Vincent-flagged 225-foot freighter Sea Chariot about 300 miles southwest of Panama.  The boarding team discovered bales of cocaine in some of the containers on board and then seized the vessel.  The vessel was escorted through the Panama Canal to Station Miami Beach where a search of the vessel’s containers turned up 11,233 pounds of cocaine.

USS Rodney M. Davis (FFG-60), at sea, 1990s.

2001  A LEDET assigned to USS Rodney M. Davis, with later assistance from CGC Active made the largest cocaine seizure in maritime history to date when they boarded and seized the Belizean F/V Svesda Maru 1,500 miles south of San Diego.  The fishing vessel was carrying 26,931 pounds of cocaine.