Coast Guard National Security Cutter To Patrol With Navy's Sixth Fleet

摘要

The Coast Guard Legend-class National Security Cutter Hamilton last Thursday left Puerto Rico escorting service’s first two Fast Response Cutters (FRCs) that are headed to Manama, Bahrain in support of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet. The two 154-foot Sentinel-class FRCs, the Charles Moulthrope and Robert Goldman, will begin replacing six 110-foot Island-class patrol boats operating under the command of the Fifth Fleet supporting U.S. Patrol Forces Southwest Asia (PATFORSWA), which was established in 2002 during Operation Iraqi Freedom. PATFORSWA is the Coast Guard’s largest unit outside the U.S. Eventually, the Coast Guard will send six FRCs to support PATFORSWA. “We expect to showcase the capabilities of the Fast Response Cutter, and the U.S. Coast Guard to advance the share maritime strategy for security with the U.S. Navy and naval partners in the region, while concurrently engaging with them on the more traditional U.S. Coast Guard missions of search and rescue, maritime law enforcement, and illegal fisheries enforcement,” Lt. Cmdr. Samuel Blase, commander officer of the Goldman, said in a statement. After the 418-foot Hamilton completes its escort mission through the Mediterranean Sea and Suez Canal and on to Bahrain, it will return to the Navy’s Italy-based Sixth Fleet area of operations to patrol in support of the Navy and partners in Europe and Africa. The Hamilton’s forthcoming operations with the Sixth Fleet will mark the first time a National Security Cutter has operated with the Sixth Fleet.