USCGC Drummond (WPB-1323)

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USCGC Drummond (WPB-1323)
Career (United States)
Name: USCGC Drummond
Namesake: Drummond Island, Michigan
Builder: Bollinger Shipyard, Lockport, Louisiana
Commissioned: October 19, 1988
Homeport: Miami Beach, Florida
Identification: NRUF
Motto: Keep On, Keepin' On
Fate: Active
General characteristics
Class & type: Island-class patrol boat
Displacement: 164 tons
Length: 110 ft (34 m)
Beam: 21 ft (6.4 m)
Draft: 6.5 ft (2.0 m)
Propulsion: Twin Paxman-Valeta 16-CM RP-200M
Speed: 30+ knots
Range: 9,900 miles
Endurance: 6 days
Boats & landing
craft carried:		 1 - RHI (90 HP outboard engine)
Complement: 18 personnel (2 officers, 16 enlisted)
Armament: 25 mm Mk 38 machine gun
2 x .50 caliber Machine Gun
Various Small Arms

USCGC Drummond (WPB-1323) is an Island-class patrol boat of the United States Coast Guard. She is named for Drummond Island, Michigan. Drummond was commissioned October 19, 1988 at Bollinger Shipyard in Lockport, Louisiana, and is currently homeported in Miami Beach, Florida. With a top speed in excess of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) and a cruising speed of 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph), the ship is capable of enduring unsupported operations for six days and accommodates two officers and sixteen enlisted personnel.

History

USCGC Drummond anchored off Cay Sal Island, Bahamas
Since commissioning, Drummond has served in the U.S. Coast Guard’s busiest district and has been decorated for her involvement in a variety of operations. In 1992 and 1994, Drummond was awarded the U.S. Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation while working with other U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy units that combined for the safe interdiction of over 20,502 Haitian migrants at sea.

Originally homeported in Port Canaveral, Florida, Drummond's home port was changed to Key West in the summer of 2002. Typical patrols in Key West's area of operations involved search and rescue, alien migrant interdiction operations, fisheries law enforcement, counter narcotics operations, and homeland security. More recently, she shifted homeports to Miami Beach in support of the Coast Guard's new effort to maximize the operational hours of the patrol boats in the Seventh District by utilizing a dual-crew manning concept.

Current

USCGC Drummond's small boat returning with illegal Cuban migrants from Loggerhead Key, Dry Tortugas
In April 2004, Drummond again returned to Haiti in support of Operation ABLE SENTRY and Operation SECURE TOMORROW as that country’s political and economic situation continued to generate an exodus of migrants. In 2005, Drummond was again awarded the Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation for her efforts in stemming the illegal flow of Cuban migrants in the Florida Straits. Drummond also was credited for saving more than $500,000 in property during this period in search-and-rescue cases, including a daring rescue of a dismasted sailboat during Tropical Storm Arlene.

Since 2004, Drummond is credited with interdicting over 550 illegal Cuban migrants in the Florida Straits, on eight go-fast vessels and 26 homebuilt boats and rafts. Drummond has also recovered nearly 120 illegal migrants from various Bahamian islands, working closely with the Royal Bahamas Defence Force. In the past two years, Drummond has cared for 1600 illegal migrants on her decks while conducting 32 politically sensitive repatriations to Cabanas, Cuba.

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