USS Tempest (PC-2)

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USS Tempest (PC-2).jpg
USS Tempest (PC-2)
History
Flag of the United States.svgUnited States
NameTempest
Namesake a type of violent, windy storm
Ordered3 August 1990
Builder Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana
Laid down30 September 1991
Launched4 April 1992
Sponsored bySara Livingston
Commissioned21 August 1993
Identification
Motto"Perseverance and Courage"
FateTransferred to the United States Coast Guard, 1 October 2004
Badge USS Tempest PC-2 Crest.png
Flag of the United States Coast Guard.svgUnited States
NameTempest
Acquired1 October 2004
Identification Hull symbol: WPC-2
FateTransferred to the US Navy, 22 August 2008
Flag of the United States.svgUnited States
NameTempest
Acquired22 August 2008
Decommissioned7 March 2022 [1]
Homeport Manama, Bahrain
StatusDecommissioned
General characteristics [2]
Class and type Cyclone-class patrol ship
Displacement
  • 328.5 long tons (333.8  t) (light load)
  • 331 long tons (336 t) (full load)
Length
  • 170 ft (52 m)
  • 179 ft (55 m) (refit)
Beam25 ft (7.6 m)
Draft7.5 ft (2.3 m)
Installed power13,400  shp (10,000  kW)
Propulsion
Speed35 kn (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Complement
  • 4 officers
  • 24 enlisted
  • 8 special forces
Sensors and
processing systems
Sperry Vision 2100M integrated navigation/combat system
Electronic warfare
& decoys
1 × MK 52 chaff launcher
Armament

USS Tempest (PC-2) is the second of the Cyclone-class of United States Navy coastal patrol ships, named for various weather phenomena. She was transferred to the US Coast Guard as USCGC Tempest (WPC-2), on 1 October 2004, and placed in 'Commission Special' status until December 2005, when she was formally commissioned as a Coast Guard cutter. She was returned to the US Navy on 22 August 2008.

Contents

Construction

Tempest, the third US vessel to carry the name, was laid down on 30 September 1991, at Lockport, Louisiana, by Bollinger Machine Shop and Shipyard; launched on 4 April 1992; sponsored by Sara Livingston, wife of US Marine Corps Major General James E. Livingston, and commissioned on 21 August 1993, at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virginia. [3]

Service history

Following the Haitian Army's overthrow of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in September 1991, a succession of governments led to sectarian violence, and in May 1994, the military installed Supreme Court Justice Emile Jonassaint as Haiti's provisional president. The United Nations (UN) authorized force to restore order and the US initiated Operations Support Democracy and Uphold/Restore Democracy: Uphold Democracy for a peaceful entry into Haiti, and Restore Democracy in the event of resistance. [3]

Tempest steamed from Little Creek in company with Cyclone on 24 May 1994, and patrolled the Haitian coast for over three months during Operation Support Democracy as the Haitians agreed to allow the Americans to land peacefully, operating at times with Navy SEAL Teams 4 and 8 and Special Boat Unit 20. On 6 July, amphibious assault ship Inchon sailed from Norfolk, Virginia, in response to the crisis. Another amphibious assault ship, Wasp relieved Inchon in Haitian waters on 17 August. The crisis escalated the following month, however, prompting an enlarged response by a multinational force that included the aircraft carriers America and Dwight D. Eisenhower. About 1,800 soldiers of the US Army's XVIII Airborne Corps embarked on board Dwight D. Eisenhower. The US transferred peacekeeping functions to international forces on 31 March 1995. [3]

Coast Guard Pacific Area and the US Pacific Fleet jointly announced on 5 November 2001, the assignment of two Cyclone-class ships, Monsoon and Zephyr, in support of the nation's homeland security along the U.S. West Coast as a part of Operation Noble Eagle, where they operated under the tactical control of the Coast Guard Pacific Area command. Operational control of the ships, normally assigned to Special Operations Command through Commander, Naval Special Warfare Command, shifted to the Pacific Fleet. Three other Cyclone-class ships, Shamal, Tempest, and Tornado were to be assigned to the US Atlantic Fleet for maritime homeland security operations, and home ported at Pascagoula, Mississippi. [3]

The Coast Guard acquired five of the Navy's Cyclone-class patrol ship beginning on 1 October 2004. The Coast Guard initiated the action because of its aging fleet, increased operational hours following the terrorist attack on 9/11, delays in delivery of the converted 123-foot patrol boats, and the continued deployment of 110-foot cutters to the Persian Gulf, all of which created a gap in patrol boat availability. The transfer immediately lessened shortfalls in patrol boat hours. The Navy and Coast Guard signed an agreement in August 2004, that allowed five ships to be under the operational command of the Coast Guard. Two of the five ships were scheduled to be returned to the Navy in 2008; the remainder in 2011. [3]

USS Tempest, July 2003 USS Tempest PC-2.jpg
USS Tempest, July 2003

The Memorandum of Understanding directed the Navy to retain ownership as well as the responsibility for all life cycle management/maintenance, depot management, and casualty corrective service through 2008. The Coast Guard assumed the "responsibility for crew assignment, cutter funding, retrofitting, operation and management." Tempest was decommissioned and transferred to the Coast Guard, which reclassified her as WPC-2, on September 30, 2004. The Coast Guard operated her until 22 August 2008, when she was returned to the Navy. [3]

In 2013, Tempest shifted homeport to Naval Support Activity Bahrain. While deployed to the Persian Gulf, on 24 August 2016, Squall fired three warning shots from a .50 in (12.7 mm) cal. machine gun at an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy fast attack craft that approached within 200 yd (180 m) of Tempest. The fast attack craft had ignored radio calls to veer off as well as warning flares. [4]

On 7 March 2022, the ship was decommissioned during a ceremony at Naval Support Activity Bahrain. [1]

Related Research Articles

The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol to identify their ships by type and by individual ship within a type. The system is analogous to the pennant number system that the Royal Navy and other European and Commonwealth navies use.

USCGC <i>Acushnet</i> (WMEC-167) United States Coast Guard cutter

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.

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>Dallas</i> (WHEC-716)

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.

USS <i>Zephyr</i>

USS Zephyr (PC-8) is a Cyclone-class patrol coastal ship in the United States Navy.

This article covers the organization of the United States Coast Guard.

USS <i>Firebolt</i> Cyclone-class coastal patrol boat

USS Firebolt (PC-10) is the 10th member of the Cyclone class of coastal patrol boats of the United States Navy. She is a 174 ft (53 m) vessel with a crew of approximately 30 sailors, normally homeported at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Norfolk, Virginia. Her armament includes two Mk38 chain guns, two Mk19 automatic grenade launchers, and two .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns, as well as six Stinger missiles. She was laid down by Bollinger Shipyards on 17 September 1993, launched on 10 June 1994, commissioned into the Navy on 10 June 1995, and she was decommissioned on 23 February 2022.

USS <i>Cyclone</i>

USS Cyclone (PC-1) was the first of the Navy's Cyclone-class coastal patrol ships. As the lead ship of her class, Cyclone served as the test bed for this series of 14 vessels.

<i>Cyclone</i>-class patrol ship US Navy small coastal defense vessel

The Cyclone-class patrol ships are a class of coastal patrol boats, formerly in service with the United States Navy. Most of these ships, named for weather phenomenae, were launched between 1992 and 1994. The primary mission of these ships is coastal patrol and interdiction surveillance, an important aspect of littoral operations outlined in the Navy's strategy, "Forward...From the Sea." These ships also provided full mission support for U.S. Navy SEALs and other special operations forces. Several ships of the class were transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) for a time and then later returned.

USS <i>Hurricane</i> US Navy patrol ship

USS Hurricane (PC-3) is the third of the Cyclone-class of United States Navy coastal patrol ships, named for various weather phenomena.

USS <i>Monsoon</i>

USS Monsoon (PC-4) is the fourth Cyclone-class patrol ship. Monsoon was laid down by Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana on 15 February 1992 and launched 10 October 1992. She was commissioned 22 January 1994 by the United States Navy. She was decommissioned 1 October 2004 and loaned to the United States Coast Guard as USCGC Monsoon (WPC-4). She was returned to the U.S. Navy on 22 August 2008, and decommissioned again on 28 March 2023.

USS <i>Tornado</i>

USS Tornado (PC-14) is the fourteenth and last Cyclone-class patrol ships, notable for being the only ship in the class designed with shaping features for signature management. She was laid down by Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana 25 August 1998 and launched 7 June 1999. She was commissioned by the United States Navy 24 June 2000, decommissioned 1 October 2004 and transferred to the United States Coast Guard as USCGC Tornado (WPC-14).

USS <i>Seize</i>

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USS <i>Calypso</i> (AG-35)

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

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<i>Active</i>-class patrol boat

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">USCGC Maui</span>

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References

  1. 1 2 "USS Tempest". Naval Vessel Register.
  2. Navsource.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Evans 2015.
  4. CBS.

Bibliography

Commons-logo.svg Media related to USS Tempest (PC-2) at Wikimedia Commons