Coast Guard Yard

The US Naval Institute Proceedings reports,

“Civilian mariners and employees who work at the Navy’s public shipyards and maintenance entities are exempt from an ongoing hiring freeze across the Department of Defense, the Navy’s top officer told the Senate on Wednesday.”

Will that be true for the Coast Guard Yard as well?

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

March 11

U.S.R.C. Gresham, flagship of the patrol fleet, America’s Cup races, 1901, Library of Congress. Yes, this is the same Gresham referred to below. She was decommissioned 7 April 1944, then almost 47 years old. 

1934  USCGC Gresham’s small boat crew defeated a team from the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Danae (5,603 tons full load) in a surfboat race over a two-mile course laid out in Mobile Bay.  Gresham and the City of Mobile had been hosting the British warship since March 8, 1934.

USCGC Itasca as HMS Gorlsston

1941  Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act.  Under the auspices of Lend-Lease all 10 of the Coast Guard’s famous Lake-class cutters were transferred to the Royal Navy.  Three were lost in action against Axis forces.  These 250-foot cutters had been designed by the Coast Guard Constructor RADM Frederick A. Hunnewell and featured a slightly raked stem and a cruiser stern.  Their innovative turbine-electric drive power plant was developed by Coast Guard CAPT Quincy B. Newman.  These were the first ships to have alternating current, synchronous motor for propulsion – the whole ship ran off the main turbine.  The auxiliary generators were tied into the main generator electrically, after sufficient speed was attained.  At that point, no steam was required to drive the turbines on the auxiliary generators.  The propulsion plant achieved remarkable efficiency.

USCGC Long Island. Photo from DAKOTA CREEK INDUSTRIES, INC. | P.O. Box 218 | Anacortes, WA 98221

2010  USCGC Long Island returned to its homeport of Valdez, Alaska, after providing patrol support to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  Long Island conducted patrols, boardings, and professional exchanges with Navy cruisers, destroyers, multi-agency aircraft and other Coast Guard units such as high endurance cutters, patrol boats, Maritime Safety and Security Teams, and the Maritime Security Response Team. The crew transited more than 2,500 miles roundtrip for the mission including underway maintenance and port calls to Washington state, Canada and Southeast Alaska.  They conducted periodic law enforcement boardings to ensure vessels were in compliance of all U.S. laws and regulations to assist their Canadian counterparts.  The Coast Guard was the lead for all U.S. maritime military naval forces supporting the 2010 Winter Olympics and had the dual responsibility of supporting Canadian Maritime operations while contributing to the larger Canadian government communications effort in promoting public confidence and security.  Vancouver, British Columbia, hosted the 2010 Olympics from February 12-28, 2010.

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

March 10

1909  The British barkentine Ladysmith, during a thick fog, stranded three miles WSW of the Fisher’s Island Life-Saving Station.  The keeper was notified by telephone and the life-savers, in surfboat, proceeded to the scene.  They safely rescued the Ladysmith’s master, his wife, and 9 seamen.

A U.S. Coast Guard Grumman HU-16E Albatross (serial 7250, ex USAF 51-7250) from USCG Air Station Cape Cod, Massachusetts (USA) in flight. Coast Guard photo.

1983  The Coast Guard retired the last operational HU-16E Albatross, ending the “era of seaplanes” for the service.

The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star cuts through Antarctic ice in the Ross Sea near a large group of seals as the ship’s crew creates a navigation channel for supply ships, January 16, 2017. The resupply channel is an essential part of the yearly delivery of essential supplies to the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station.US Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer David Mosley

2015  CGC Polar Star returned to Seattle after a 101-day Antarctic deployment.  Polar Star departed Seattle for Operation Deep Freeze 2015, the military resupply and logistical support mission for the U.S. Antarctic Program’s McMurdo Station. Polar Star escorted the cargo vessel Ocean Giant and fuel tanker Maersk Peary to McMurdo Station through ice ranging in thickness from 5 to 10 feet. Upon completion of Deep Freeze, Polar Star’s crew rescued 26 fishermen aboard the 207-foot F/V Antarctic Chieftain.  The mariners were trapped in a heavy pack ice near Cape Burks, Antarctica, for almost two weeks.  The crew diverted to provide assistance to the fishermen.  After navigating across 753 miles with 89 miles of treacherous ice conditions, Polar Star’s crew located the Antarctic Chieftain and towed the fishing vessel through 49 miles of pack ice before transferring the Antarctic Chieftain to the New Zealand fishing vessel Janas.

DAKAR, Senegal – U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Nicholas Forni, executive officer aboard USCGC Spencer (WMEC 905) and Lt. Jacob Balchikonis, operations officer aboard Spencer, meet with Lt. Col. Sam Kunst, U.S. Marine Corps Attaché to Dakar, Senegal, Jan. 17, 2023. Spencer is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. Naval Forces Africa area of responsibility, employed by the U.S. Sixth Fleet, to carry out joint training, exercises, and maritime security operations alongside AFRICOM partners in support of U.S. interests abroad, regional partnerships, and to strengthen international maritime governance. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

2023  CGC Spencer returned to their home port in Portsmouth on 10 March 2023 following an 88-day deployment to Africa. During the patrol, Spencer’s crew worked to combat illicit transnational activities, including illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, by conducting multinational law enforcement operations in the Atlantic Ocean, the US Coast Guard (USCG) said. Spencer’s crew also participated in the Obangame Express 2023 maritime exercise with participants from the US Navy, US Coast Guard and 17 West African partners. Conducted by US Naval Forces Africa, Obangame Express focusses on countering illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and other sea-based illicit activity. Spencer’s crew hosted multiple African country representatives, held diplomatic engagements and participated in community relations events during port visits in Cabo Verde, The Gambia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Nigeria and Côte D’Ivoire. Spencer’s port visit to Lomé, Togo marked the first US ship visit to Togo since 2012. While at sea, Spencer also interdicted a Brazilian sailing vessel carrying 3,040 kilograms of suspected cocaine worth over $109 million. Spencer’s crew was augmented with several temporarily assigned members, including Tactical Law Enforcement and Maritime Safety and Security Team personnel, medical officers from the US Public Health Service and Coast Guard, US Coast Guard Auxiliary Chinese language translators, electronics technicians and a yeoman.

2023 CGC Kimball (WMSL 756) and crew returned to their Honolulu homeport, Friday, following a 42-day, 10,000 nautical mile Western Pacific patrol. Kimball was the first U.S. military ship in recent history to visit the port city of Kagoshima, Japan, where the crew partnered with service members from Japan Coast Guard’s 10th District to plan and conduct combined operations and search-and-rescue exercises. Kimball’s crew met with Japan Coast Guard senior leadership and hosted Japan Coast Guard servicemembers, U.S. Consulate Fukuoka staff, community leaders and local media aboard the cutter during the port visit in support of Operation SAPPHIRE. Operation SAPPHIRE is a joint agreement between the U.S. and Japan Coast Guards signed in 2022 for enhancing cooperation between the two sea services. SAPPHIRE is an acronym for the ‘Solid Alliance for Peace and Prosperity with Humanity and Integrity on the Rule of law-based Engagement.’ “By collaborating with Japan Coast Guard members and conducting evolutions that enhanced communication and inter-operability during the patrol, the crew continued to strengthen a solid foundation for the positive and productive relationship with the maritime service of a like-minded nation,” said CAPT Tom D’Arcy, Kimball’s commanding officer. Kimball’s crew demonstrated proficiency in the ship’s aviation program by working with an air operations inspection team to conduct a biennial Shipboard-Aviation Standardization Inspection (AVSTAN). By achieving their AVSTAN certification, Kimball can continue deploying with aviation detachments during future patrols. Kimball also supported U.S. Coast Guard efforts to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific. Kimball’s crew delivered a MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Barber’s Point to Santa Rita, Guam, to enable forward operations that extend the service’s air coverage in the region. During the patrol, the cutter’s engineering department was presented with the RADM R. S. Lucas Plaque Award for their outstanding contributions to the Coast Guard’s naval engineering program. Members from Kimball’s engineering department were cited for excellence and ingenuity during recent patrols and for completing three extensive industrial periods encompassing significant maintenance, contractual repair projects, and casualty repairs valued at over $4.4 million. “I am extremely proud of our crew’s accomplishments,” said D’Arcy. “Kimball continues to remain on the front lines of the Coast Guard’s strategic plan. Our engagements in Japan strengthened our existing relationships with international partners who uphold good maritime governance. Kimball’s patrol re-affirmed the U.S. Coast Guard’s commitment to facilitating a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

Partial Image of SOUTHCOM web site.

Last month I took several commands’ public relations organizations to task for poor performance, “Selling Seapower/Failing PR.”

This is what I said about SOUTHCOM, “I would have thought, would have a lot of Coast Guard related content. Their web site has had four posts about the set up of the retention center at Gitmo 4 to 6 February, but before that they were a lot more quiet. Two posts in January; two posts in December; four in November; two in October; eight in September which included UNITAS, but there was never even a wrap-up at the conclusion of UNITAS. I had to go back to June 6,2024 to find a Coast Guard related story, and there were very few Navy related stories.”

They seem to be doing much better now. There were 15 stories in February and already three stories, including one including the Coast Guard very prominently, in March. The Coast Guard related story was lifted whole cloth from a 7th District news release, but I have no problem with that. There it will be seen by a different readership.

The Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20), the Coast Guard’s only “medium icebreaker,” returns to Seattle following a two-month Arctic patrol, Aug. 16, 2024. The Healy is the United States’ largest Polar icebreaker and was commissioned in 2000. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Taylor Tracy)

The US Naval Institute reports,

The final Fiscal Year 2025 spending bill could include a provision for a new Arctic Security Cutter that would operate in parallel with the ongoing Polar Security Cutter icebreaker program, according to two sources familiar with a draft version of the proposal.
The draft for the FY 2025 spending bill calls for up to three hulls in the reconciliation proposal that House and Senate Republicans are negotiating, the sources told USNI News.

At last it appears the procurement process for the class of medium icebreakers we know we need has begun.

Why “up to three” when we know we need at least four? Presumably any icebreakers in out  years would be options, unless they are considering a block buy, which is unlikely for a new class that may be as difficult as this one.

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

1883  A dramatic rescue was performed by the crew of Assateague Life-Saving Station in Virginia using a surfboat through a howling storm to save the ten persons stranded on the sinking barkentine Wolverine.