USCGC Boutwell (WHEC-719)
 USCGC Boutwell (WHEC-719) | |
| Career (United States) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | USCGC Boutwell (WHEC-719) |
| Namesake: | George S. Boutwell |
| Builder: | Avondale Shipyards |
| Cost: | US$15 million |
| Laid down: | 1967 |
| Launched: | 17 June 1967 |
| Sponsored by: | Mrs. Douglas Dillon |
| Commissioned: | 1968 |
| Homeport: | San Diego, California |
| Motto: | "Best in the West" |
| Fate: | Active |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Hamilton Class |
| Type: | High Endurance Cutter |
| Displacement: | 3,250 tons |
| Length: | 378 feet |
| Beam: | 43 feet |
| Draught: | 15 feet |
| Propulsion: | CODOG: 2 × FM diesel engines 2 × PW gas turbines |
| Speed: | 29 knots (54 km/h) |
| Range: | 14,000 miles |
| Endurance: | 45 days |
| Boats and landing craft carried: | 2x OTH |
| Complement: | 167 personnel |
| Sensors and processing systems: | Mk-92 FCS
AN/SPS-40 air-search radar AN/SPS-73 surface-search radar |
| Electronic warfare and decoys: | WLR-1H Electronic Support 2x Mk-36 SRBOC |
| Armament: | Otobreda 76 mm, Phalanx CIWS, 2x Mark 38 25mm "Bushmaster" |
| Aircraft carried: | 1x HH-65 Dolphin |
| Aviation facilities: | Retractable Helo Hangar |
USCGC Boutwell (WHEC-719) is a U. S. Coast Guard high endurance cutter based out of San Diego, California. Named for George S. Boutwell, United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Ulysses S. Grant. Boutwell engages in many CG missions, including Search and Rescue, Law Enforcement, Maritime Security, and National Defense.
History
USCGC Boutwell is the fifth of the Coast Guard’s fleet of 378 foot High Endurance Cutters. She was built in 1967 in the Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans, LA. She was launched on 17 June 1967, and her launching sponsor was Mrs. Douglas Dillon. After she was commissioned in 1968, she sailed to her first homeport, Boston. In 1973 Boutwell moved to Seattle, where she remained until she underwent the Fleet Renovation and Modernization Program in 1990. Once the renovation was complete she moved to Coast Guard Island in Alameda, CA. In 2011 she relocated to San Diego, CA to replace the decommissioned USCGC Hamilton.
Boutwell’s successful missions have earned her fame and respect in the Coast Guard Community. Boutwell’s successes include many historic records. In 1980 Boutwell conducted the largest at-sea rescue ever conducted, when she rescued more than 500 people from the burning cruise ship Prisendam, in the Gulf of Alaska. In 1998, Boutwell had the largest high-seas drift net bust in Coast Guard history.
In 2003, Boutwell participated in the Iraqi conflict. Boutwell valiantly defended the oil terminals off the coast of Iraq and Iran. For her many accomplishments and continued excellence, Boutwell received the Admiral John B. Hayes Award for Unit Excellence. In 2005, Boutwell seized over 900 million dollars in cocaine (28,000 lbs). In doing this, Boutwell was exercising the newly developed Go-Fast Response Team. With the help of the new HITRON helicopter, Boutwell could stop and seize drugs from every Go-Fast it pursued.[1]
Boutwell was recognized as the 2013 Forrest O. Rednour Memorial Award Large Afloat Dining Facility[2] and as the second place winner for the 2014 Large Unit Afloat MWR Program of the Year.[3] In October 2014, Boutwell completed a noteworthy[4] counterdrug deployment in support of the U.S. Coast Guard's Western Hemisphere Strategy; this deployment was cited by U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul Zukunft as an example of how better integration of operations and intelligence can impact smuggling in the Western Hemisphere.[5]
Commanding Officers
- Captain Scott Genovese 2002-2004
- Captain Lance Bardo 2004 - 2006
- Rear Admiral Peter J. Brown 2006-2008 [6]
- Captain Kevin J. Cavanaugh 2008 - 2010
- Captain Thomas E. Crabbs 2010 - 2011
- Captain Matthew J. Gimple 2011 - 2012
- Captain Jim Munro 2012 - 2014
- Captain Edward Westfall 2014 - current[7]
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to USCGC Boutwell (WHEC-719). |
References
- ↑ uscg.mil. "Boutwell home page". uscg.mil. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ↑ uscg.mil. "ALCOAST 186/14". uscg.mil. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
- ↑ uscg.mil. "ALCGPSC 161/14". uscg.mil. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
- ↑ uscg.mil. "Coast Guard, Western Hemisphere partners seize $423M in cocaine during multiple drug busts". uscg.mil. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
- ↑ usni.org. "Commandant Zukunft: U.S. Coast Guard Moving More Resources to Western Hemisphere". usni.org. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
- ↑ uscg.mil. "Rear Admiral Peter J. Brown" (PDF). uscg.mil. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ↑ uscg.mil. "Meet The CO". uscg.mil. Retrieved 2014-09-14.
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