One of the U.S. Coast Guard’s remaining 110-foot Island-class patrol vessels, the cutter Cuttyhunk, was decommissioned May 5 in a ceremony at Air Station Port Angeles in Washington.
Cuttyhunk, one of 37 remaining such Island-class patrol boats in service, was the 22nd of 49 of the vessels built. A fleet of 154-foot Sentinel-class cutters will replace the Island-class vessels, according to the USCG.
The Cuttyhunk was commissioned in 1988 to support various USCG operations, including search and rescue, drug and fisheries enforcement and maritime homeland security. During its 34-year tenure, the vessel’s crew has accomplished more than 1,000 operations ranging from responding to searches and rescues in the Pacific Northwest to helping in various submarine escorts.
Commanding Officer and Chief Warrant Officer Daniel Garver said it was an honor and privilege to serve alongside the Cuttyhunk’s final crew.
“During my time onboard, there have been many engineering challenges on our aging 110-foot ship, and I have witnessed the resiliency of our crew as they spent time away from families in selfless service to our country,” Garver said. “I am grateful for the crew’s dedication, which echoes the hard work put forth by our predecessors during the cutter’s 34 years of service.”
Cuttyhunk’s crew members are set to travel to Ketchikan, Alaska, where they plan to take several weeks to prepare to bring Coast Guard Cutter Anacapa to Port Angeles, where it is to serve the Pacific Northwest.
The ship was named after Cuttyhunk Island, the site of the first English settlement in New England.