Congratulations to the winners of the 2022 Hopley Yeaton Awards!

Named for legendary seafarer Capt. Hopley Yeaton, the first officer commissioned into the service, these annual awards recognize the individuals and crews who best exemplify what it means to be a Coast Guard cutterman.

The Douglas Munro Chapter of the Surface Navy Association announced this year’s recipients, who were selected from a highly competitive pool of nominees that a panel of 56 active duty and retired cuttermen reviewed.  By category, the winners include:

Excellence Awards  

PACIFIC OCEAN (July 30, 2022) U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Humberto Alba, a naval aircrewman tactical-helicopter, attached to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 37, deployed on U.S. Coast Guard Legend-class cutter USCGC Midgett (WMSL 757), looks down at a USCGC crewmember after taking off during flight operations during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Taylor Bacon)

• Large Cutter – Coast Guard Cutter Midgett. Honorable Mention: Coast Guard Cutters Hamilton and Kimball.

USCGC Dauntless being launched on 21 October 1967.

• Medium Cutter – Coast Guard Cutter Dauntless. Honorable Mention: Coast Guard Cutters Alder and Diligence.

GULF OF AQABA (Feb. 13, 2022) The U.S. Coast Guard Sentinel-class cutter USCGC Glen Harris (WPC 1144) sails near a U.S sail drone explorer during the International Maritime Exercise/Cutlass Express (IMX) 2022, Feb. 13, 2022. IMX/CE 2022 is the largest multinational training event in the Middle East, involving more than 60 nations and international organizations committed to enhancing partnerships and interoperability to strengthen maritime security and stability. (U.S. Army photo by Cpl. DeAndre Dawkins)

• Small Cutter –  Coast Guard Cutter Glen Harris. Honorable Mention: Coast Guard Cutters Emlen Tunnell.

Superior Cutterman Awards 

Katmai Bay (WTGB 101) is tied to the pier at Group Sault Saint Marie, Michigan, Sept. 2001. USCG photo by PA1 Harry C. Craft III

• Officer:  Lt. Michael Overstreet – Coast Guard Cutter Katmai Bay. Honorable Mention: Lt. Jonathan Upton – Coast Guard Cutter Resolute and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Sean Campbell – Coast Guard Cutter Kimball.
• Enlisted: Chief Petty Officer Collin Strange, an operations specialist – Coast Guard Cutter Charles Moulthrope. Honorable Mention: Petty Officer 1st Class Christian Jankuhn, a machinery technician – Coast Guard Cutter Raymond Evans and Chief Petty Officer Roberto LLamas, a boatswain’s mate – Coast Guard Cutter Dauntless.

During Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022, the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercises, Coast Guard Cutter Midgett became the first cutter to command two combined task forces. The crew completed 33 sea events there and responded to a fire aboard a Peruvian naval vessel, saving the ship, and rescuing/arranging treatment for two severely burned crew members. While deployed with the Navy’s 7thFleet, the Midgett also successfully operated in and around some of the world’s most politically sensitive areas, including the Malacca Straits and the South China Sea.

Operating at reduced staff levels, the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Dauntless interdicted 18 unseaworthy migrant vessels, held, processed, and repatriated 975 Cuban and Haitian migrants in two months, and heroically rescued 27 migrants from Monito Island in treacherous surf conditions.

Coast Guard Cutter Glen Harris completed the first ever South Atlantic crossing (from Florida to Bahrain) by a fast response cutter (FRC) and the first three drug interdictions in the Middle East by a Coast Guard vessel. Its crew also saved the lives of 107 migrants on a submerged raft off the coast near Morrocco, conducted military exercises with allies in the region, and defended assets traveling through the Strait of Hormuz.

Battling freezing temperatures and gale force winds Lt. Michael Overstreet led the diverted Katmai Bay on a challenging search and rescue mission. His team got the stricken passenger vessel Huron in a side tow and safely back to the pier, while averting a major environmental disaster from jagged underwater rocks. Under his leadership, the crew successfully evacuated a patient needing immediate medical care in harrowing conditions after two boiler explosions severely limited the Katmai Bay’s heating system.

Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton leads the way for cutters Robert Goldman and Charles Moulthrope as they depart Puerto Rico April 1. National security cutter Hamilton is escorting the two fast response cutters (FRCs) across the Atlantic to Rota, Spain. From there, the FRCs will continue to their homeport of Manama, Bahrain. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Sydney Phoenix.

Acting as operations officer aboard the Charles Moulthrope for five months, Chief Petty Officer Collin Strange led planning for two large-scale international naval exercises, bolstering U.S. partnerships with the U.K., Oman, Pakistan, and the U.A.E. He also organized defense escorts through the Straits of Hormuz to protect strategic assets and counter malign Iranian activity, and led a team that collected video and evidence documenting unsafe maneuvers by Iran’s Navy in a near collision with coalition assets. In the Arabian Sea, he personally saved a ship-rider from choking, and demonstrated professionalism and technical prowess as a liaison aboard an Iraqi naval vessel during exercises with the Coast Guard, Navy, and Kuwaiti navy.

The awards will be presented at the SNA Conference awards luncheon on Jan. 11, 2023. For further details, see the ALCOAST 507/22 or email Lt. Luke Trautwein or Lt. Stephen Taylor.

Recent news: 

• 2 cutterman win 2022 Eight Bells contest to celebrate afloat service
• Opportunities for women afloat expand as 2023 transfer season approaches
• Hopley Yeaton Award winners, 2021 Coast Guard Engineer of the Year

​Resources: 

• Winner of Hopley Yeaton 2022 cutter excellence and superior cutterman awards ALCOAST 507/22

One author spoke of combating a shipboard blaze. Another reflected on standing watch.

Yet both winners of 2022 Eight Bells writer awards succeeded in capturing the teamwork and camaraderie that makes it special to be a cutterman.

Chief Petty Officer Melissa Mathis won the Eight Bells poem competition for “Coast Guard Cutter Waesche’s Dance with Fire”. Mathis, based in Alameda, California, was in the combat information center (CIC) when a fire broke out on board Waesche in September 2020. Her poem describes the feelings and experiences of crew members as they worked to control the damage and put out the blaze.

Chief Warrant Officer John O’Brien won the Eight Bells essay competition for “Four to Greats!”. O’Brien works as the main propulsion assistant aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf, also based out of Alameda. His essay took readers with him to stand underway watch in the engine room, conveying the excitement of a new day at sea.

Eight Bells – A Sea Service Celebration, has been held annually since 2017 to recognize and remember the hard work done by all who serve on cutters. This includes cuttermen, cuttermen-to-be, and those who work ashore to support cutters.

The ringing of eight bells signals the end of a watch. It is one of the traditions and routines that have bonded the afloat community together for 232 years.

This year’s celebration took place on Oct. 18. Members submitted 15 poems and essays from across the Coast Guard. A panel that included members from the Office of Cutter Forces, the Douglas Munro chapter of the Surface Navy Association board, and other esteemed cuttermen, judged the entries. The winning entries are posted on the CG-751 Portal page. (CAC required).

Resources: 

• Winner of the 2022 Eight Bells – A Sea Service Celebration ALCOAST 434/22
• Eight Bells – A Seas Service Celebration on 18 October 2022 ALCOAST 348/22

In the News:  

Ding Ding, We Have a Winner – Eight Bells: A Celebration of Sea Service