![]() USCGC Confidence (WMEC-619) | |
History | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Builder | United States Coast Guard Yard, Curtis Bay, Maryland |
Launched | 1966 |
Homeport | Port Canaveral, Florida |
Identification |
|
Motto |
|
Status | Active |
General characteristics | |
Displacement | 759 tons |
Length | 210 ft 6 in (64.16 m) |
Beam | 34 ft (10 m) |
Draft | 10 ft 6 in (3.20 m) max |
Propulsion | 2 x V16 2550 horsepower ALCO diesel engines |
Speed | max 18 knots; 2,700 mile range |
Range | cruise 14 knots; 6,100 mile range |
Complement | 12 officers, 63 enlisted |
Sensors and processing systems | 2 x AN/SPS-64 |
Armament | |
Aircraft carried | HH-65 Dolphin |
USCGC Confidence (WMEC-619) is a United States Coast Guard medium endurance cutter.
Construction of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Confidence began at the United States Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland, in 1965 and was completed in 1966. Fifth of 16 vessels in the class, Confidence was designed for search and rescue, law enforcement, and alien migrant interdiction operations (AMIO). She originally was assigned to the Seventeenth Coast Guard District for operations in the waters of Alaska, with her home port at Kodiak, Alaska, and began operating there in 1966. In 1968, she came to the aid of the three-man crew of the fishing vessel Chirikof, who had abandoned ship into a skiff without oars when Chirikof sank off Kodiak Island on 29 February and then drifted until sighted by the cargo ship Chena on 1 March; they were too weak from hypothermia to climb Chena's Jacob's ladder, so Confidence arrived on the scene and rescued them from the skiff. [1] On 14 September 1981, Confidence rescued the six-man crew of the crab-fishing vessel City of Seattle after City of Seattle burned and sank in the Shelikof Strait five nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) south of Cape Uganik ( 57°58′N153°30′W / 57.967°N 153.500°W ) on the coast of Uganik Island in Alaska′s Kodiak Archipelago. [1]
In the spring of 1983, following 17 years in Alaskan waters, Confidence was reassigned to the Thirteenth Coast Guard District and was home-ported in Port Angeles, Washington. During her time in the Pacific Northwest, Confidence's crew seized 17 foreign and U.S. vessels for violations of U.S. law. In January 1986, Confidence and her crew seized the Panamanian freighter Eagle 1 and her cargo of 506 pounds (230 kg) of cocaine. This was the largest maritime seizure of cocaine on the United States West Coast at the time. [2]
Confidence was decommissioned and sent to the United States Coast Guard Yard in February 1987 for a major overhaul, referred to as a Midlife Maintenance Availability. Modifications included the installation of a new electronics package to increase the ship's effectiveness, new engines and smokestacks to increase efficiency, and habitability was improved. In October 1988, Confidence was commissioned back into service and sent to her new home port at Port Canaveral, Florida. The ship was normally assigned to patrol the waters off the southern coast of the United States, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean. Her primary missions were Counter Drug operations, Alien Migrant Interdiction Operations (AMIO), Homeland Security Operations, fisheries law enforcement, and Search and Rescue (SAR). [2]
Starting in the fall of 1991, Confidence was heavily involved in AMIO, including the interdiction of Haitian, Cuban, and Dominican Republic migrants attempting to illegally enter the U.S. One highlight of these operations was Confidence's participation in Operation Able Vigil in 1993, and rescued 1,123 Cuban migrants in less than four weeks. The busiest day resulted in the interdiction of 346 migrants from 46 separate rafts and boats in just 16 hours. In Spring 1992, Confidence participated in Operation Able Manner, interdicting 428 Haitian migrants. Later that year, the ship was the primary platform for Operation Restore Dignity off the coast of Haiti, recovering 78 Haitians who perished when their ferry sank. [2]
In 2001, Confidence was outfitted with an Over the Horizon rigid hull inflatable boat, designed to transport law enforcement teams at high speeds for long distances independent of the cutter. [2]
From January 2003 until June 2005, Confidence interdicted over 1,100 Cuban, Haitian, and Dominican migrants with several noteworthy cases. In November 2004, Confidence rescued 82 migrants from a 28-foot (8.5 m) Haitian sailing vessel taking on water off the coast of the Bahamas. In January 2005, Confidence crewmembers rescued 127 migrants in 8-foot (2.4 m) seas from a 40-foot (12 m), grossly overloaded Dominican yola. In June 2005 during a ten-day period, Confidence safely intercepted 162 Haitians from a 40-foot (12 m) vessel on the Great Bahama Bank, seven Cubans from a makeshift vessel sinking in the Old Bahama Channel and 111 Haitians in a 30-foot (9.1 m) vessel in 9-foot (2.7 m) seas north of Great Inagua, Bahamas. [2]
During January 2007, Confidence returned to the Coast Guard Yard for her second major overhaul, the Mission Effectiveness Project. Mechanical systems were serviced and a new davit system was installed for her Over the Horizon rigid hull inflatable boat. [3]
On 2 May, 2024 Confidence was removed from active duty and placed in commission, special status at a ceremony at Cape Canaveral. How long Confidence will be absent from active duty was unknown at that time. After sailing her to the Coast Guard Yard where she was launched 58 years ago, her crew departed Confidence for another Coast Guard cutter to help address the Coast Guard's shortage of enlisted personnel. [3]
During her service, Confidence has been awarded the United States Secretary of Transportation’s Gold Medal for Outstanding Achievement, six Coast Guard Unit Commendations, five Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendations, three National Defense Service Medals, four Humanitarian Service Medals, and four Special Operations Ribbons. Following the ship’s 2007 Tailored Annual Cutter Training, Confidence earned her 10th consecutive Coast Guard Battle "E" Ribbon for Operational Excellence. [2]
USCGC Acushnet (WMEC-167) was a cutter of the United States Coast Guard, homeported in Ketchikan, Alaska. She was originally USS Shackle (ARS-9), a Diver-class rescue and salvage ship commissioned by the United States Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for coming to the aid of stricken vessels and received three battle stars during World War II, before a long career with the Coast Guard. Acushnet patrolled the waters of the North Pacific and was one of the last World War II era ships on active duty in the US fleet upon her retirement in 2011.
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.
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 Dallas (WHEC-716) was a United States Coast Guard high endurance cutter commissioned in 1967 at the Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was the sixth ship or boat to bear the name of Alexander J. Dallas, the Secretary of the Treasury under President James Madison (1814–1816). She is one of twelve Hamilton-class cutters built for the Coast Guard.
USCGC Spar (WLB-206) is a United States Coast Guard Juniper-class seagoing buoy tender home-ported in Duluth, Minnesota. The ship maintains aids to navigation in the Twin Ports and Great Lakes.
The United States Coast Guard is the coastal defense, search and rescue, and maritime law enforcement branch of the United States Armed Forces and is one of the country's eight uniformed services. It carries out three basic roles, which are further subdivided into eleven statutory missions. The three roles are:
USCGC Escanaba (WMEC-907) is a United States Coast Guard medium endurance cutter based in Portsmouth, Virginia. Her keel was laid on April 1, 1983, at Robert Derecktor Shipyard Incorporated, Middletown, Rhode Island. She was launched February 6, 1985 and is named for her predecessor, USCGC Escanaba (WPG-77) which sank during World War Two, and was named for the Escanaba River and Escanaba, Michigan. Escanaba (WMEC-907) was formally commissioned August 29, 1987 in Grand Haven, Michigan, the home port of her predecessor.
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.
SLNS Samudura (P621) is a Sri Lanka Navy Offshore Patrol Vessel. Originally commissioned by the United States Coast Guard in 1968 as the medium endurance cutter USCGC Courageous, she was donated to Sri Lanka in 2004 and commissioned on 19 February 2005.
USCGC Venturous (WMEC-625) is a United States Coast Guard medium endurance cutter. The vessel was constructed by the American Shipbuilding Company in Lorain, Ohio in 1967 and commissioned in 1968. The ship has served on both the west and eastern coasts of the United States. The vessel is used for search and rescue, fishery law enforcement, border enforcement and smuggling interdiction along the coasts and in the Caribbean Sea.
USCGC Durable (WMEC-628) was a United States Coast Guard medium endurance cutter. The Durable was the first cutter in Coast Guard history to hold this name. Like all ships in the Reliance-Class of 210-foot (64 m) medium endurance cutters, Durable was named for an aspirational trait meaning to be capable of withstanding wear or decay.
USCGC Dependable (WMEC–626) is a United States Coast Guard medium endurance cutter. Dependable was commissioned November 22, 1968. On April 9, 2024 Dependable was removed from active duty and placed in commission, special status. Her most recent homeport was Virginia Beach, Virginia.
USNS Vindicator (T-AGOS-3) was a United States Navy Stalwart-class modified tactical auxiliary general ocean surveillance ship that was in service from 1984 to 1993. Vindicator then served in the United States Coast Guard from 1994 to 2001 as the medium endurance cutter USCGC Vindicator (WMEC-3). From 2004 to 2020, she was in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fleet as the oceanographic research ship NOAAS Hiʻialakai.
The Ukrainian patrol vessel Starobilsk (P191) is an Island-class patrol boat of the Naval Forces of Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian patrol vessel Sloviansk (P190) was an Island-class patrol boat of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Originally named USCGC Cushing when in service with the United States Coast Guard, the vessel was acquired by Ukraine in 2018 and arrived in Ukraine on 21 October 2019. Sloviansk was sunk in combat on 3 March 2022 by a Russian air-to-surface missile.
USCGC Citrus (WAGL-300/WLB-300/WMEC-300) was a Cactus (A)-class seagoing buoy tender built in 1942 in Duluth, Minnesota, and now operated by the navy of the Dominican Republic.
USCGC Knight Island (WPB-1348) receives her namesake from the Knight Island in the Prince William Sounds of Alaska. Knight Island was commissioned on April 22, 1992, at Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, Louisiana. Knight Island and the other 48 Island class cutter’s construction are based on the internationally known Vosper-Thornycroft design. Her hull is a semi-displacement type monohull made of high strength steel, while the main deck and superstructure are aluminum. Knight Island employs an active fin stabilization system to improve her sea keeping abilities. With a top speed in excess of 30 knots and a cruising speed of 26 knots, the ship is capable of enduring unsupported operations for six days and accommodates two officers and sixteen enlisted personnel.
USCGC Robert Yered (WPC-1104) is a Sentinel-class cutter based in Miami, Florida. She was launched on November 23, 2012, and was commissioned on February 15, 2012. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Congressional Representative for the district containing the vessel's base, met the ship when she arrived in Miami on January 27, 2013.
USCGC Charles Sexton (WPC-1108) is the eighth Sentinel-class cutter, and the second to be based in Key West, Florida. She was delivered to the United States Coast Guard for a final evaluation and shakedown on December 10, 2013, and the vessel was commissioned on March 8, 2014.
USCGC William Trump (WPC-1111) is a Sentinel-class cutter of the United States Coast Guard. When she was delivered to the Coast Guard, on November 25, 2014, she was the eleventh vessel of her class, and the fifth vessel based in the Coast Guard's station in Key West, Florida.