USCGC Bertholf (WMSL-750) | |
History | |
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United States | |
Namesake | Commodore Ellsworth P. Bertholf, USCG |
Ordered | January 2001 |
Builder | Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Pascagoula, Mississippi |
Cost | $641 million [1] |
Laid down | March 29, 2005 |
Launched | September 29, 2006 |
Christened | November 11, 2006 |
Commissioned | August 4, 2008 |
Homeport | Integrated Support Command Alameda |
Identification |
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Motto | "Legends Begin Here" |
Status | In active service |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Displacement | 4500 LT |
Length | 418 feet (127 meters) |
Beam | 54 feet (16 meters) |
Draft | 22.5 feet (6.9 meters) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 28+ knots |
Range | 12,000 nm |
Complement | 113 (14 officers + 99 enlisted) and can carry up to 167 depending on mission [3] |
Sensors and processing systems |
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Electronic warfare & decoys | |
Armament |
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Armor | Ballistic protection for main gun |
Aircraft carried | 2 x MH-65C Dolphin MCH, or 4 x VUAV or 1 x MH-65C Dolphin MCH and 2 x VUAV |
Aviation facilities | 50-by-80-foot (15 m × 24 m) flight deck, hangar for all aircraft |
USCGC Bertholf (WMSL-750) is the first Legend-class maritime security cutter of the United States Coast Guard. She is named for Commodore Ellsworth P. Bertholf, fourth commandant of both the Revenue Cutter Service and Coast Guard.
In 2005, construction began at Northrop Grumman's Ship Systems Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She was launched on September 29, 2006, [4] christened November 11, 2006, [5] and commissioned on August 4, 2008. The cutter's home port is Alameda, California. Bertholf was the first to fire the Bofors 57 mm gun aboard a U.S. vessel on 11 February 2008. [6]
On March 3, 2016, Bertholf responded to a sighting off the Pacific Coast of Panama of a semi-submersible narco-submarine, reported by a P-3 Orion. [7] The semi-submersible surrendered to a boarding party launched from Bertholf, and four suspects were captured along with 6 tons of cocaine. [8] The boarding party then sank the semi-submersible. [9] During the 2012 RIMPAC exercises Bertholf detected and tracked missile threats and also provided naval gunfire support for troops ashore during the training exercise, demonstrating the capability of moving with other naval forces and being able to perform other defense operations. [10]
On 25 March 2019, USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54), in concert with Bertholf transited the contested Taiwan Strait. [11] On 15 April of same year, the ship visited Hong Kong, the first Coast Guard vessel to do so in seventeen years. [12]
Bertholf is the lead ship of the Legend-class cutter design and the first large ship to be built under the Coast Guard's multi-year Deepwater acquisitions project. The NSCs replaced the fleet's aging 1960s-era 378-foot Hamilton-class cutters.
The Island-class patrol boat is a class of cutters of the United States Coast Guard. 49 cutters of the class were built, of which 3 remain in commission. Their hull numbers are WPB-1301 through WPB-1349.
The Long Range Interceptor (LRI) is an 11-meter high speed launch vessel designed to be deployed from United States Coast Guard cutters via a rear launching ramp. The Long Range Interceptor is an aluminum boat, powered by Ultrajet brand water-jets, for intercepting and boarding suspect vessels. It mounts a radar, special shock-proof seats, and can travel at 35 knots (65 km/h). They can be armed with machine guns or grenade launchers, and can be equipped with ballistic panels for crew protection when required.
The Sentinel-class cutter, also known as the Fast Response Cutter or FRC due to its program name, is part of the United States Coast Guard's Deepwater program. At 154 feet (46.8 m), it is similar to, but larger than, the 123-foot (37 m) lengthened 1980s-era Island-class patrol boats that it replaces. Up to 71 vessels are to be built by the Louisiana-based firm Bollinger Shipyards, using a design from the Netherlands-based Damen Group, with the Sentinel design based on the company's Damen Stan 4708 patrol vessel. The Department of Homeland Security's budget proposal to Congress, for the Coast Guard, for 2021, stated that, in addition to 58 vessels to serve the Continental US, they requested an additional six vessels for its portion of Patrol Forces Southwest Asia.
Law Enforcement Detachments or LEDETs are specialized, deployable maritime law enforcement teams of the United States Coast Guard. First established in 1982, their primary mission is to deploy aboard U.S. and allied naval vessels to conduct counter-drug operations and support maritime law enforcement, interdiction, or security operations. LEDETs are the operational elements of the Coast Guard’s two Tactical Law Enforcement Teams (TACLETs) which are part of the Coast Guard’s Deployable Specialized Forces (DSF). As of April 2010 there are seventeen LEDETs.
The history of the United States Coast Guard goes back to the United States Revenue Cutter Service, which was founded on 4 August 1790 as part of the Department of the Treasury. The Revenue Cutter Service and the United States Life-Saving Service were merged to become the Coast Guard per 14 U.S.C. § 1 which states: "The Coast Guard as established January 28, 1915, shall be a military service and a branch of the armed forces of the United States at all times." In 1939 the United States Lighthouse Service was merged into the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard itself was moved to the Department of Transportation in 1967, and on 1 March 2003 it became part of the Department of Homeland Security. However, under 14 U.S.C. § 3 as amended by section 211 of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006, upon the declaration of war and when Congress so directs in the declaration, or when the President directs, the Coast Guard operates as a service in the Department of the Navy.
USCGC Boutwell (WHEC-719) was a United States Coast Guard high endurance cutter based out of San Diego, California. Named for George S. Boutwell, United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Ulysses S. Grant. Boutwell engaged in many Coast Guard missions, including search and rescue, law enforcement, maritime security, and national defense.
USCGC Valiant (WMEC-621) is a United States Coast Guard multi-mission medium endurance cutter in service since 1967. Valiant is home ported in Jacksonville, Florida and operates in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico for the Commander, Coast Guard Atlantic Area. Missions include search and rescue, maritime law enforcement, marine environmental protection, and national defense operations.
USCGC Waesche (WMSL-751) is the second Legend-class cutter of the United States Coast Guard.
The Legend-class cutter, also known as the National Security Cutter (NSC) and Maritime Security Cutter, Large, is the largest active patrol cutter class of the United States Coast Guard, with the size of a frigate. Entering into service in 2008, the Legend class is the largest of several new cutter designs developed as part of the Integrated Deepwater System Program.
USCGC Stratton (WMSL-752) is the third Legend-class cutter of the United States Coast Guard. It is the first "white hull" cutter named after a woman since the 1980s. Stratton is named for Coast Guard Captain Dorothy C. Stratton (1899–2006). Stratton served as director of the SPARS, the Coast Guard Women's Reserve during World War II.
USCGC Sycamore (WLB-209) is a United States Coast Guard seagoing buoy tender, the second of her name and the ninth of the Juniper-class. She is now home-ported in Newport, Rhode Island, following a one year long Midlife Maintenance Availability (MMA) in Baltimore, Maryland. She was originally home-ported in Cordova, Alaska. Sycamore primarily tends to aids-to-navigation (ATON) in Martha's Vineyard, the Long Island Sound, Hudson River, and New York City Harbor and entrances; however, she is also responsible for maintenance support of National Data Buoy Center's offshore weather buoys. In addition to her primary ATON role, Sycamore also performs other duties, such as, marine environmental protection, maritime law enforcement, domestic icebreaking, search and rescue, and homeland security missions.
The Integrated Deepwater System Program was the 25-year program to replace all or much of the United States Coast Guard's equipment, including aircraft, ships, and logistics and command and control systems. The $24 billion program, which began with a price tag of $17 billion, lost authorization in Fiscal Year 2012 and is officially defunct.
USCGC Hamilton (WMSL-753) is the fourth Legend-class cutter, also known as the National Security Cutter (NSC), of the United States Coast Guard. She is the fifth cutter named after Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, who was the first United States Secretary of the Treasury and in that position requested the formation of the United States Coast Guard. The cutter's sponsor is Linda Kapral Papp, the wife of Coast Guard Commandant Robert J. Papp Jr.
USCGC James (WMSL-754) is the fifth Legend-class cutter of the United States Coast Guard.
USCGC Munro (WMSL-755) is the sixth Legend-class cutter of the United States Coast Guard. Munro is the second cutter named for Signalman First Class Douglas A. Munro (1919–1942), the only Coast Guardsman to be awarded the Medal of Honor. The US Navy destroyer escort USS Douglas A. Munro (DE-422) was also named for Munro.
USCGC Kimball (WMSL-756) is the seventh Legend-class cutter of the United States Coast Guard. Kimball is named for Sumner Increase Kimball, who was the organizer of the United States Life-Saving Service and the General Superintendent of the Life-Saving Service from 1878–1915.
USCGC Midgett (WMSL-757) is the eighth Legend-class cutter of the United States Coast Guard and is stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii. The cutter was constructed by Huntington Ingalls Industries' Ingalls Shipbuilding Division in Pascagoula Mississippi and delivered to the Coast Guard in April 2019. It is named in honor of all members of the Midgett family who have served in the U.S. Coast Guard, United States Life-Saving Service, and/or other predecessor life-saving services. Seven members of the Midgett family have been awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal including John Allen Midgett Jr. and Rasmus Midgett.
USCGC Stone (WMSL-758) is the ninth Legend-class cutter of the United States Coast Guard and is expected to be stationed in Charleston, South Carolina.
USCGC Calhoun (WMSL-759) is the tenth Legend-class cutter of the United States Coast Guard. She is the first ship to be named after 1st Master Chief Petty Officer Charles L. Calhoun.
USCGC Friedman (WMSL-760) is the eleventh Legend-class cutter of the United States Coast Guard. She is the first ship to be named after Elizebeth Smith Friedman, the famous American cryptologist.