Cutter Bertholf News

The United States sent Navy and Coast Guard ships through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, the U.S. military said, as part of an increase in the frequency of movement through the strategic waterway despite opposition from China.The voyage risks raising tensions with China further but will likely be viewed by self-ruled Taiwan as a sign of support from Washington amid growing friction between Taipei and Beijing.The two ships were identified as the Navy destroyer Curtis Wilbur and the Coast Guard cutter Bertholf, a U.S.

The Commandant of the United States Coast Guard delivered his first State of the Coast Guard address Thursday at Coast Guard Base Los Angeles-Long Beach in San Pedro.Speaking from the largest port in the nation, Adm. Karl Schultz highlighted Coast Guard security and marine safety operations, which facilitate $4.6 trillion in annual economic activity.Schultz also recognized the service and sacrifice of Coast Guard men and women deployed around the world ensuring global peace and prosperity, including servicemembers supporting U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and U.S. Central Command.

The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane returned to homeport from a 94-day patrol in drug trafficking zones of the Eastern Pacific, after seizing approximately 17,203 pounds of cocaine from suspected smugglers, April 8, 2016. The drugs were seized from nine suspected drug smuggling vessels. The contraband is valued at more than $260 million. Harriet Lane’s crew worked in conjunction with detachments from the Coast Guard’s Pacific Tactical Law Enforcement Team (PACTACLET) from San Diego…

The Coast Guard offloaded approximately 36,000 pounds of cocaine Tuesday, which was seized during a counter-drug patrol in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The contraband offloaded by the Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf's (WMSL-750) crew represents 17 interdictions of suspected smuggling vessels off the coasts of Central and South America by five Coast Guard cutters between early February and early March. “This offload by the Bertholf represents the great work being conducted in the Eastern Pacific combating the transnational organized crime groups, behind the drug trade which spread instability, fear and harm to people, communities and entire nations,” said Rear Adm.

On Thursday, October 6th, 2016, Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc. President & CEO Morton S. Bouchard III was honored at the Coast Guard Foundation 36th Annual Salute to the United States Coast Guard National Awards Dinner, in New York City. Mr. Bouchard has been a supporter of the United States Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Foundation since 1985. Through his dedication over the past 30+ years he has helped grow various programs including, education and the Fallen Heroes Scholarship program…

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division authenticated the keel for the company’s seventh U.S. Coast Guard National Security Cutter, Kimball (WMSL 756), today. “Kimball, like her sister ships, is being built to the highest-quality standards with outstanding cost and schedule performance, and the NSC team is energized to make this one the best yet,” said Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias. “The National Security Cutter is the most technologically advanced ship in the Coast Guard fleet.

Building programs continue, spanning the full range of missions, despite budget concerns. Amidst all the talk of Beltway budget cutbacks and sequestration, the U.S. Coast Guard is quietly investing approximately $30 billion in major acquisition projects to modernize its physical assets. The process of recapitalizing these older and difficult-to-maintain assets has never been an easy task, and the Coast Guard has seen its share of bumps along the way. For example, the initially messy Deepwater debacle initially kicked off what has evolved into today’s more successful recapitalization process, now run by the Coast Guard’s Acquisition Directorate, which stood up in July 2007.

The Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf is scheduled to return home to Alameda, Calif., Sept. 5, 2013, at 1 p.m., following a 160-day deployment to the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

The Coast Guard has completed the second of three planned shipboard demonstrations of unmanned aircraft system (UAS) capabilities aboard Coast Guard Cutter 'Bertholf' . The Coast Guard is using knowledge gained from these demonstrations to inform a future cutter-based UAS acquisition project. During the two-week deployment, the UAS demonstration team operated a ScanEagle UAS for more than 90 hours of flight time and aided in the interdiction of nearly 600 kilograms of cocaine – the first Coast Guard interdiction conducted with the support of an embarked UAS asset.

The U.S. Coast Guard awarded a fixed‐price incentive firm target contract valued at approximately $487.1 million to Huntington Ingalls Industries for the production of the sixth National Security Cutter (NSC). NSC 6 will be built at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. Two NSCs are currently in production. The Coast Guard awarded the production contract for NSC 4 in November 2010 and production of that vessel is approximately 39% complete to date. The Coast Guard awarded production for NSC 5 in September 2011. NSC 5 is approximately 16% complete to date.

While it seems that half the world is monitoring the oil and gas exploration activities of Royal Dutch Shell (Shell Oil) on the United States outer continental shelf (OCS) in waters of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas off the north coast of Alaska, another historic event is occurring in those same waters: Arctic Shield 2012. The US Coast Guard is assembling its largest ever effort in the Arctic during the period July through October 2012. The Coast Guard has been gradually expanding its presence in the Arctic over the past four years.

The Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf, an Alameda-based National Security Cutter, is tendering help to a damaged yacht located approximately 270 miles west of San Francisco to help three crewmembers injured as a result of heavy seas. The Clipper Round the World Race competitor, Geraldton Western Australia, with 13 crew on board, is part of a ten-vessel around-the-world yacht race that started in Southampton, U.K. and will finish July 22 after nearly a year at sea. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station San Diego has flown to the cutter to prepare for  rescue operations after an initial attempt to assist the injured sailors was thwarted by weather.

The U.S. Coast Guard awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries a contract action valued at approximately $482 million for the production of the fifth National Security Cutter.Construction of the ship to be named James, is scheduled to begin this spring at the Huntington Ingalls Industries’ shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. following prefabrication.“The contract award for production and delivery of the fifth NSC is an important step forward in the Coast Guard’s efforts to recapitalize its aging surface fleet,” said Rear Adm. Bruce Baffer, the Coast Guard Acquisition Directorate’s program executive officer. “The NSC is desperately needed to replace the service’s 40-year-old high endurance cutters and to be able to perform today’s challenging homeland security missions.” Captain Joshua James…

In this photo, the crew aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf prepares to navigate through the Gastineau Channel prior to mooring in Juneau April 10, 2011. The Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf is beginning the cutter’s second patrol and first patrol in Alaskan waters. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Walter Shinn.

The U.S. Coast Guard released its top 11 video compilation for 2009. The public is encouraged to vote online at the Coast Guard's YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/USCGImagery, for their favorite video in the Coast Guard’s best video of 2009 contest. The Coast Guard Compass, http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/, will be highlighting one video per day starting Dec. 21 through Jan. •    The rescue of a paraglider pilot who crashed on the shoreline of Cape Lookout near Tillamook, Ore., by an aircrew from Air Station Astoria, Ore. •    The capture of suspected pirates from a response to a vessel distress signal from Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment Team 409 while operating under Combined Task Force 151. •    A medical evacuation of a crewmember from a U.S.

The Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf, the service's newest cutter, participated in 2009 Seattle Seafair Parade of Ships, Wednesday, July 29, 2009. The Bertholf, U.S. Navy and Canadian Navy will remain in Seattle for the public to view through Monday, August 3, 2009. (U.S. Coast Guard photo/Petty Officer 3rd Class Tara Molle)

The U.S. Coast Guard took final acceptance of the Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf, the first of the Legend class National Security Cutter fleet, at the cutter's homeport of Alameda, Calif., Friday, May 8. Bertholf's final acceptance is part of the Coast Guard's deliberative acquisition process and represents the moment when the Coast Guard acknowledges that the cutter is ready to transition from an acquisition project to the operations and sustainment phases of the cutter's service life.

The Coast Guard's first Legend-class National Security Cutter, Bertholf, returned to its homeport here Sunday marking the completion of the cutter's first operational patrol. Bertholf's crew conducted a shakedown of the ship's systems and carried out flight operations, small-boat operations and weapons testing. A primary goal of the patrol was to complete flight tests – known as dynamic interface testing – to determine the limits of wind and sea conditions in which a helicopter can land safely upon Bertholf's flight deck.

The U.S. Coast Guard, Integrated Coast Guard Systems, and Lockheed Martin completed the final phase of the $20m Command, Control, Computers, Communications Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) simulator at Training Center Petaluma in Petaluma, Calif. The completion of this state-of-the-art training suite represents a milestone in the Coast Guard's $24b, 25-year modernization and recapitalization plan known as Deepwater. As a result of commonality between Coast Guard and Navy C4ISR equipment, the training simulator provides both Coast Guard and Navy crews a safe, high fidelity environment to develop the skills and expertise needed to sail the military's newest, most capable ships into the 21st Century.

The Coast Guard will hold a ceremony on May 8, 2008 at 1:00 pm in , to acknowledge preliminary acceptance (delivery) and "In-Commission Special" status of its first National Security Cutter, BERTHOLF (WMSL 750). Not to be confused with a Commissioning, Thursday's event is meant to recognize the importance of reaching this milestone and to formally transfer the cutter to a Coast Guard crew. "In Commission Special" status begins when the Coast Guard crew takes possession of the vessel. It then enters a post-delivery period of approximately 22-24 months, during which crew training, operational evaluation and certification, and regularly scheduled maintenance availabilities will occur to ensure it meets all performance and operational requirements.

Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Chairwoman and Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, and Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, sent a letter to Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen expressing concern over the Coast Guard’s preliminary acceptance of the National Security Cutter BERTHOLF before many of the ship’s problems have been adequately fixed (text of the letter below).Last month, the U.S. Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) conducted a thorough assessment of the ship, and recommended that the Coast Guard delay acceptance until eight serious, “starred” deficiencies were addressed.

GE Marine announces that its LM2500 marine aeroderivative gas turbine now powers the United States Coast Guard’s first National Security Cutter, Bertholf. The cutter recently completed extensive sea trials and was delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard on May 8 by shipbuilder Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding (NGSB).The cutter’s propulsion system consists of one LM2500 gas turbine in a COmbined Diesel And Gas turbine (CODAG) arrangement with two MTU 20V1163 diesel engines. The propulsion system was provided by MTU Detroit Diesel Corporation.

More than 1,500 Sailors and Marines aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) and the guided missile destroyer USS Pinckney (DDG 91) arrived in Oct. 12 for the city's annual Fleet Week celebration. Fleet Week San Francisco, held since 1981, is an opportunity for the public to meet their Navy and Marine Corps team. It also allows the Navy and Marine Corps to showcase their personnel, equipment, technology and capabilities while highlighting the history they have with .