USCGC Boutwell (WHEC-719)

Last updated
USCGC Boutwell WHEC-719.jpg
USCGC Boutwell (WHEC-719)
History
Flag of the United States Coast Guard.svgUnited States
NameBoutwell
Namesake George S. Boutwell
Builder Avondale Shipyards
Cost US$15 million
Laid down1967
Launched17 June 1967
Sponsored byMrs. Douglas Dillon
Commissioned1968
DecommissionedMarch 16, 2016
Homeport San Diego, California
Identification
Motto"Best in the West"
FateDecommissioned March 16, 2016 transferred to the Philippine Navy
General characteristics
Class and type Hamilton-class cutter
Displacement3,250 tons
Length378 ft (115.21 m)
Beam43 ft (13.11 m)
Draft15 ft (4.57 m)
Propulsion
Speed29 knots (54 km/h)
Range14,000 miles
Endurance45 days
Boats & landing
craft carried		2 x OTH
Complement167 personnel
Sensors and
processing systems
Electronic warfare
& decoys
  • WLR-1H Electronic Support
  • 2 x Mk-36 SRBOC
Armament
Aircraft carried1 x HH-65 Dolphin helicopter
Aviation facilitiesRetractable hangar

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.

Contents

Boutwell was decommissioned on March 16, 2016 at Naval Base San Diego, California. [1] [2] She was then sold to the Philippines as Excess Defense Article (EDA) and rechristened the BRP Andrés Bonifacio (FF-17), becoming [3] [4] the third Hamilton-class cutter to be transferred to the Philippine Navy.

History

USCGC Boutwell was the fifth of the Coast Guard's fleet of 378-foot (115 m) high endurance cutters. She was built in 1967 in the Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was launched on 17 June 1967, and her launching sponsor was Mrs. Douglas Dillon. After she was commissioned in 1968, she proceeded to her first home port, Boston, Massachusetts. In 1973 she moved to Seattle, Washington, where she remained until she entered the Fleet Renovation and Modernization Program in 1990. Once her renovation was complete she moved to Coast Guard Island in Alameda, California. In 2011 she relocated to San Diego, California, to replace the decommissioned high endurance cutter USCGC Hamilton.

In 1980 Boutwell conducted the largest at-sea rescue ever achieved, when she rescued more than 500 people from the burning cruise ship Prinsendam in the Gulf of Alaska. When the 43-foot (13.1 m) halibut fishing vessel Comet sank in the Bering Sea approximately 25 nautical miles (46 km; 29 mi) northeast of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, after her engine room flooded, Boutwell rescued her crew of four after they had been in the water for only four minutes. [5] In 1998, Boutwell made the largest high-seas drift net arrest in Coast Guard history.

Boutwell participated in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. She defended the oil terminals off the coasts of Iraq and Iran. For her many accomplishments and continued excellence, Boutwell received the Admiral John B. Hayes Award for Unit Excellence. In 2005, she seized 28,000 pounds (13,000 kg) of cocaine over US$900 million using the newly developed Go-Fast Response Team. With the help of a helicopter from the new Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON), Boutwell demonstrated a capability to stop and seize drugs from every go-fast boat she pursued. [6]

Boutwell was recognized as the 2013 Forrest O. Rednour Memorial Award Large Afloat Dining Facility [7] and as the second-place winner for the 2014 Large Unit Afloat MWR [Morale, Welfare, and Recreation] Program of the Year. [8] In October 2014, Boutwell completed a noteworthy [9] counterdrug deployment in support of the U.S. Coast Guard's Western Hemisphere Strategy; this deployment was cited by Commandant of the Coast Guard Admiral Paul Zukunft as an example of how better integration of operations and intelligence can have an impact on smuggling in the Western Hemisphere. [10]

After U.S. President Barack Obama announced during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in November 2015 that concluded the 2015 APEC summit in Manila that the United States would make a U.S. Coast Guard high endurance cutter and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography research vessel Melville available to the Philippines, Boutwell was decommissioned on 16 March 2016 at Naval Base San Diego, California, and sold to the Philippines as an excess defense article (EDA). [3] [4] Boutwell was the third Hamilton-class cutter to be transferred to the Philippine Navy. [1] [2]

Related Research Articles

SLNS <i>Vijayabahu</i> (P627) United States Coast Guard cutter

SLNS Vijayabahu (P627) is an Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessel of the Sri Lanka Navy. The ship is named after King Vijayabahu I, the warrior king of the medieval Sri Lanka who founded the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa.

NNS <i>Thunder</i> (F90)

USCGC Chase (WHEC-718) was a Hamilton-class High Endurance Cutter of the United States Coast Guard. She was laid down on October 26, 1966, at Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans, launched on May 20, 1967, and commissioned on March 11, 1968. Chase is the fourth of twelve Hamilton class, 378-foot (115 m) cutters, and the third cutter named in honor of Salmon Portland Chase. She was decommissioned on March 29, 2011, and transferred to the Nigerian Navy as an excess defense article under the Foreign Assistance Act as NNS Thunder (F90).

USCGC <i>Morgenthau</i>

The USCGC Morgenthau (WHEC-722), was the eighth of twelve 378-foot dual-powered turbine/diesel Hamilton-class high endurance cutters (WHECs) built by Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Coast Guard commissioned the Morgenthau on March 10, 1969. After 48 years of continuous service the U.S. Coast Guard decommissioned the Morgenthau on April 18, 2017, and the ship was sold to Vietnam. On 27 May 2017 the Vietnam Coast Guard commissioned the former cutter as patrol ship CSB 8020.

<i>Hamilton</i>-class cutter United States Coast Guard cutter class

The Hamilton-class cutter was the largest class of vessel in the United States Coast Guard until replaced by the Legend-class cutter, aside from the Polar-class icebreaker. The hull classification symbol is prefixed WHEC. The cutters are called the Hamilton class after their lead ship, or the "Secretary class" because most of the vessels in the class were named for former Secretaries of the Treasury, with the exception of the "Hero-class cutters" Jarvis, Munro and Midgett.

USCGC <i>Duane</i> United States Coast Guard cutter

USCGC Duane (WPG-33/WAGC-6/WHEC-33) was a cutter in the United States Coast Guard. Her keel was laid on May 1, 1935 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was launched on June 3, 1936 as a search and rescue and law enforcement vessel.

USCGC <i>Hamilton</i> (WHEC-715) Hamilton-class cutter of the US Coast Guard

USCGC Hamilton (WHEC-715) was a United States Coast Guard high endurance cutter and the lead ship of its class. It was based at Boston, Massachusetts from commissioning until 1991, then out of San Pedro, California before it was moved to its last home port in San Diego, California. It was launched on December 18, 1965 at Avondale Shipyards near New Orleans, Louisiana and named for Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, the first United States Secretary of the Treasury and founder of the United States Revenue Cutter Service. It was commissioned on March 18, 1967.

USCGC <i>Mellon</i>

USCGC Mellon (WHEC-717) was the third United States Coast Guard Hamilton-class high endurance cutter constructed. The 2,748-ton cutter’s ocean crossing range was 10,000 miles at 20 knots.

USCGC <i>Rush</i> (WHEC-723)

USCGC Rush (WHEC-723) was a United States Coast Guard high endurance Hamilton-class cutter. The ship was named after Secretary of the Treasury Richard Rush. Rush was launched on November 16, 1968, commissioned on July 3, 1969, and was decommissioned on February 3, 2015 after 45 years of Coast Guard service.

USS <i>Biscayne</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Biscayne (AVP-11), later AGC-18, was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender in commission as a seaplane tender from 1941 to 1943 and as an amphibious force flagship from 1943 to 1946. She saw service during World War II. Transferred to the United States Coast Guard after the war, she was in commission as the Coast Guard cutter USCGC Dexter (WAGC-385), later WAVP-385 and WHEC-385, from 1946 to 1952 and from 1958 to 1968.

USS <i>Bering Strait</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Bering Strait (AVP-34) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1944 to 1946. She tended seaplanes during World War II in the Pacific in combat areas and earned three battle stars by war's end.

USS <i>Coos Bay</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Coos Bay (AVP-25) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1946 that saw service during the latter half of World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard from 1949 to 1966 as the cutter USCGC Coos Bay (WAVP-376), later WHEC-376.

USS <i>Cook Inlet</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Cook Inlet (AVP-36) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1944 to 1946. She tended seaplanes during World War II in the Pacific and earned one battle star for her service. After the war, she was transferred to the United States Coast Guard, and was in commission as the Coast Guard cutter USCGC Cook Inlet (WAVP-384), later WHEC-384, from 1949 to 1971. She saw service in the Vietnam War during her Coast Guard career, receiving two campaign stars for her operations during the conflict. Transferred to South Vietnam in 1971, she operated as the Republic of Vietnam Navy frigate RVNS Trần Quốc Toản (HQ-06) until South Vietnam's collapse in April 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War. She fled to the Philippines and in 1976 was transferred to the Philippine Navy, which never commissioned her, instead using her as a source of spare parts for her sister ships, the Andrés Bonifacio-class frigates, before discarding her in 1982.

USS <i>Unimak</i> Barnegat-class small seaplane tender

USS Unimak (AVP-31) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1946 that saw service in World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Unimak (WAVP-379), later WHEC-379, WTR-379, and again WHEC-379, from 1949 to 1975 and from 1977 to 1988.

USCGC <i>Wachusett</i> (WHEC-44)

USCGC Wachusett (WHEC-44) was an Owasco-class high endurance cutter built for World War II service with the United States Coast Guard. She was commissioned too late for service in that war and consequently did not see wartime service until the Vietnam War.

USCGC <i>Winona</i> United States Coast Guard cutter

USCGC Winona (WHEC-65) was an Owasco class high endurance cutter built for World War II service with the United States Coast Guard. The war ended before the ship was completed and consequently she did not see wartime service until the Vietnam War.

USCGC <i>Minnetonka</i>

USCGC Minnetonka (WHEC-67) was an Owasco class high endurance cutter built for World War II service with the United States Coast Guard. The war ended before the ship was completed and consequently Minnetonka did not see wartime service until the Vietnam war.

USCGC <i>Pontchartrain</i> (WHEC-70) US Coast Guard vessel

USCGC Pontchartrain (WHEC-70) was an Owasco class high endurance cutter built for World War II service with the United States Coast Guard. The ship was commissioned just days before the end of the war and thus did not see combat action until the Korean war.

USS <i>Chincoteague</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Chincoteague (AVP-24) was a United States Navy seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1946 that saw service in the Pacific during World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Chincoteague (WAVP-375), later WHEC-375, from 1949 to 1972. She was transferred to South Vietnam in 1972 and was commissioned into service with the Republic of Vietnam Navy as the frigate RVNS Lý Thường Kiệt (HQ-16), seeing combat in the Battle of the Paracel Islands in 1974. When South Vietnam collapsed at the conclusion of the Vietnam War in 1975, she fled to the Philippines, where she was commissioned into the Philippine Navy, serving as the frigate RPSAndrés Bonifacio (PF-7) from 1976 to 1985.

BRP Diego Silang (PF-9) was an Andrés Bonifacio-class frigate of the Philippine Navy in commission from 1976 to 1990. She and her three sister ships were the largest Philippine Navy ships of their time.

The BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF-8) was an Andrés Bonifacio-class frigate of the Philippine Navy in commission from 1977 to 1990. She was one of six ex-United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tenders/ex-United States Coast Guard Casco-class high endurance cutters received from the United States after the Vietnam War, two of which were acquired to supply spare parts for the other four. She and her three commissioned sister ships were the largest Philippine Navy combat ships of their time.

References

  1. 1 2 Aben, Elena (13 March 2016). "USCG cedes cutter to PHL Navy". Manila Bulletin. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  2. 1 2 "USCG: CGC Boutwell - Meet the CO". Archived from the original on 2016-04-19. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  3. 1 2 Jordan, Bryant (10 October 2015). "After Decades of Service, USCGC Boutwell Makes Final Fleet Week Cruise". Military.com. San Francisco: Military Advantage. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  4. 1 2 Mangosing, Frances (17 February 2015). "Obama says PH Navy will receive two ships from US". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  5. ↑ "alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (C)". Archived from the original on 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2019-05-10.
  6. ↑ uscg.mil. "Boutwell home page". uscg.mil. Archived from the original on 2014-04-26. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
  7. ↑ uscg.mil. "ALCOAST 186/14". uscg.mil. Archived from the original on 2014-06-07. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
  8. ↑ uscg.mil. "ALCGPSC 161/14". uscg.mil. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
  9. ↑ uscg.mil. "Coast Guard, Western Hemisphere partners seize $423M in cocaine during multiple drug busts". uscg.mil. Archived from the original on 2015-01-04. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
  10. ↑ usni.org (2015-01-16). "Commandant Zukunft: U.S. Coast Guard Moving More Resources to Western Hemisphere". usni.org. Archived from the original on 2015-02-08. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.