Coast Guard Cutter Douglas Denman Commissioned in Alaska

U.S. Coast Guard Fast Response Cutter Douglas Denman. Coast Guard photo.

The U.S. Coast Guard’s newest 154-foot fast response cutter, Douglas Denman, was officially commissioned Sept. 28 in Ketchikan, Alaska. 

Vice Adm. Andrew J. Tiongson, commander of Coast Guard Pacific Area, and Rear Adm. Nathan A. Moore, commander of Coast Guard 17th District, were on hand to formally accept the cutter, named in honor of a man who helped crew members evacuate the sinking USS Colhoun after it was attacked by an aircraft in 1942.

Denman was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart medals. He served in the Coast Guard for a total of 20 years before retiring in 1961 as a senior chief petty officer.

The Douglas Denman is the 49th fast response cutter and the third of its class in Southeast Alaska, according to the agency.

“The Sentinel-class cutters deliver vital capabilities to the Coast Guard, helping to meet the service’s (needs) in the coastal zone and adjacent waters,” officials said in a statement. 

They added that cutters like the Douglas Denman participated in hundreds of domestic fisheries boardings and stopped a range of illegal activities.

Those include apprehensions of 105 suspected drug smugglers, interdictions of 18,877 kilograms of cocaine worth  $787 million and rescue or interdiction of 1,805 “irregular maritime migrants” in fiscal year 2021.