Intrepid Sea News

The U.S. Coast Guard commissioned its 47th Sentinel-class cutter, USCGC Clarence Sutphin Jr. (WPC 1147), into service on ThursdayBuilt by Bollinger Shipyards and officially delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard on January 6 in Key West, Fla., Clarence Sutphin Jr. is Patrol Forces Southwest Asia's (PATFORSWA) sixth 154-foot Sentinel-class cutter.Vice Adm. Steven Poulin, U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area commander, presided over the commissioning ceremony at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City.

As the IMO 2020 Global Sulfur Cap draws nearer, confusion among shipowners remains. To help inform, experts from Total Lubmarine and Total Marine Fuels Global Solutions (TMFGS) are embarked on a global conference tour, with the next event coming soon to New York City on board the USS Intrepid, which now serves as a museum and a coveted event space.Following a series of successful events in Europe during March, Total Lubmarine and Total Marine Fuels Global Solutions (TMFGS) will be visiting industry professionals in the U.S.

The Partners in Preservation program is encouraging readers to vote through May 21, 2012, to support several key historic maritime places in and around New York. In total there are 40 sites listed on the website competing for $3m in grants through Partners in Preservation, a collaboration between American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, to spotlight the importance of historic preservation. The public is encouraged to vote daily for their favorite of the 40 historic sites at www.PartnersinPreservation.com or www.Facebook.com/PartnersinPreservation.

It's been a year since MarineNews linked the dual tugmeets of the first week of September, one in New York City, the other upstate, at Waterford. Coupled, they make an interesting study, for their differences as much as their similarities. The tugs of New York City come in all sizes, but are typically large. Just as New York is a city of (many) skyscrapers, so it's a city of (many) monster tugboats, as harbor craft go. Waterford, a few miles north of Albany, is the gateway to the Erie Canal - is actually on the canal. While New York State's canals have renewed potential for commercial service, they're known most widely as recreational attractions for people who drive (many) large and pricey boats.

The British Airways Concorde on a barge makes it's way past the Statue of Liberty headed for the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum Nov. 25, 2003. USCG Photo/Mike Hvozda

USS BULKELEY (DDG 84), the newest in a series of advanced Aegis guided missile destroyers built for the U.S. Navy by Northrop Grumman Corporation, will be commissioned on Saturday, Dec. 8, 2001, in New York City at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. This ship is named in honor of Vice Adm. John D. Bulkeley, USN, (1911-1996), a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient who spearheaded the evacuation of General Douglas MacArthur from the island of Corregidor in World War II and later served as president, Board of Inspection and Survey for the U.S. Navy. More than 5,000 invited guests will be in attendance. Following commissioning, the ship will be homeported in Norfolk, Va., as an element of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Cmdr.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz called the USS Bulkeley (DDG 84) "an indispensable force for peace and freedom in the world" during commissioning ceremonies Saturday, December 8, 2001, near the World Trade Center site. The advanced Aegis guided missile destroyer is the 34th ship of the DDG 51 program and the 15th to be built by Northrop Grumman Corporation's Ingalls Operations in Pascagoula, Miss. "USS Bulkeley deploys the most advanced weapon systems afloat today. She also demonstrates the power that only a free nation can generate. It is a privilege for all of us to be here for the commissioning of a ship that is a product of the great partnership between government and industry that is crucial to the defense of our country and peace and freedom in the world…

A former U.S. Coast Guard cutter whose heroic rescues garnered notice in the movie, The Perfect Storm, made its debut on the U.S. General Services Administration auction Web site, GSA Auctions(TM), http://www.gsaauctions.gov, last week, after spending more than six months without a permanent home. Reported to the U.S. General Services Administration as excess by the U.S. Coast Guard in January 1994, the decommissioned Tamaroa was initially housed at New York's Intrepid Sea Air Museum until 1997. It was later housed at the Hudson River Park Conservancy until 2000. The Tamaroa is now at New York City Harbor in New York. The Tamaroa was originally the U.S. Navy commissioned vessel USS Zuni, a 205-ft. salvage tug.

Everybody talks about the John J. Harvey, and quite a few of them are doing something about it. The chipping, scraping, and painting you'd expect a 74-year-old fireboat to require has proceeded since the vessel became privately owned in 1999, but that's only the beginning of the discussion. For within the city the fireboat served for its first sixty years, a peculiar love/hate seems to have developed toward the harbor. That, more than leaks, can influence the future of the most historic of vessels, even as it affects contemporary ones doing their daily chores. The John J. Harvey was built for these waters in 1931, launched into them by the Todd shipyards at Brooklyn and serving them steadily, reliably, even heroically.

The auction of a former U.S. Coast Guard cutter closed recently with a winning bid of more than $60,000 placed through GSA Auctions, the U.S. General Services Administration’s auction Web site. Tamaroa made its debut on the site on March 14. Bidding began immediately and eventually included as many as 12 interested parties. After more than two weeks, the auction closed on March 29 with a high bid of $60,075 placed by Maritime Equipment & Sales, Inc., an Alabama-based company. GSA completed the sale of Tamaroa on April 3, 2001. Originally the USS Zuni, a naval salvage tug during World War II, Tamaroa was later commissioned into the Coast Guard where it served for more than 50 years in search and rescue and law enforcement missions.

At a ceremony held Saturday, September 7, at 9:30 a.m. Transport Dock ships, "New York," to honor the state, the city and the victims of September 11. The Secretary was joined by New York Gov. state of New York. In doing so Secretary England noted that longstanding relationship between the U.S. Navy and people of New York. "USS New York will project American power to the far corners of the earth and support the cause of freedom well into the 21st century," England said. heroism of the people of New York have been an inspiration. and promoting peace, security and stability around the world. and our nation. Empire State," England said. Bloomberg thanked the U.S. naming this ship. Four previous ships have been named New York. the defeat at the Battle of Valcour Island on Oct. 11, 1776.

According to the Baltimore Sun last April 21, 100,000 visitors came to town the day before, just to see the boats. Most had arrived for the Volvo races, an endurance test of sorts. But without so much press, from as far off as Seattle, another 48 came for a ship whose endurance was legend already. For a near half-century with the Coast Guard, the Tamaroa fought famously bad seas - and before that, enemy fire. Her quiet admirers arrived Balto with scrapers in hand, wrenches at the ready, plans in mind. Tamaroa had taken world wars and nature's wrath in stride. But civilian life got her down. Her preceding nine years were spent in near-isolation, open to intruders and the elements, gathering rust. April 20 was the day all that would change. Some of the 48 came to relive, some to renew.