
The crew of Coast Guard cutter Stratton returned to its Alameda, Calif. homeport in November after completing a 110-day fishery operations-related patrol in the Arctic Ocean, Chukchi Sea and Bering Sea.
The Stratton departed Alameda in July and patrolled the Alaskan Inside Passage to Juneau, Alaska, throughout the Gulf of Alaska, the Bering Sea and into the Arctic Ocean. The crew supported U.S. strategic interests in the high latitudes and ensured the safety and compliance of domestic fishery operators.
This was the Stratton’s second 110-day Alaska patrol in 2024, according to the Guard.
During the patrol, the Stratton conducted 20 boardings of commercial fishing vessels and foreign trans-shipment vessels enforcing safety and fishing regulations.
“Alaska’s fisheries are some of the nation’s largest providers of seafood and are a critical component of the U.S. economy,” the Guard said in a statement. “The Coast Guard’s efforts in ensuring safe fishing practices are essential to support this vital industry.”
Stratton’s crew also conducted search and rescue (SAR) operations while deployed to the region. Stratton responded to the fishing vessel Galatea, which was adrift in a storm without propulsion due to a severed engine cooling line.
Stratton crewmembers deployed to the fishing vessel, repaired the casualty, and escorted Galatea to Dutch Harbor, according to the Guard.
Throughout the patrol, Stratton conducted 334 deck landings qualifications with Air Station Kodiak’s MH-60 helicopter air crews operating near the Alaskan towns of Utqiagvik and Kotzebue above the Arctic Circle, to Cold Bay and Dutch Harbor in the Bering Sea, the Guard said.
Stratton’s coordination of these flight operations provided training opportunities for the crews to enhance their SAR capabilities in the remote areas of Alaska, which tripled the number of shipboard-qualified pilots in the Alaska region.
“I am extremely proud of the resilience and professionalism of Stratton’s crew who’ve spent eight of the last ten months at sea in Alaska, conducting missions to safeguard our nation and people throughout two deployments to the region,” Capt. Brian Krautler, Stratton’s commanding officer, said.
“We boarded U.S. and foreign vessels to ensure compliance with legal and safety regulations, we enhanced SAR capabilities through rigorous flight training and conducted important search and rescue cases in our most demanding area of operations,” he added.
Commissioned in 2012, the Stratton is one of 10 commissioned legend-class national security cutters, and one of four homeported in Alameda. National security cutters are 418-feet long, 54-feet wide, and have a 4,600 long-ton displacement. They have a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 nautical miles, and can hold a crew of up to 170.
Stratton, which routinely conducts operations throughout the Pacific. is named after Capt. Dorothy Stratton, who led the service’s all-female reserve force during World War II. Capt. Stratton was the first female commissioned officer in the Coast Guard and commanded more than 10,000 personnel.
Coast Guard Suspends Search for People from Capsized Alaska Fishing Boat
On Dec. 2, after Coast Guard crews searched for nearly 24 hours, covering more than 108 square nautical miles, the Guard suspended its search for five people whose fishing boat reportedly capsized near Couverden Point, Alaska.
The search began on Dec. 1, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska watchstanders received a mayday call at about 12:07 a.m. on VHF channel 16 from the crew aboard the 50-foot fishing vessel Wind Walker reporting they were overturning.
The watchstanders attempted to gather additional information, but received no response.
Coast Guard watchstanders also said they received an emergency position-indicating radio beacon alert that was registered to the vessel originating just south of Point Couverden in Icy Strait.
Sector Southeast Alaska watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and directed the launch of an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka and a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Coast Guard Station Juneau to search the area.
Local weather conditions consisted of heavy snow, winds up to 45-60 mph, and six-foot seas, according to the Guard. Seven cold-water immersion suits and two strobe lights were located in the water in the search area, but no people.
“We stand in sorrow and solidarity with the friends and family of the people we were not able to find,” Chief Warrant Officer James Koon, a search and rescue mission coordinator at Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska, said.
“Our collective hearts are with the friends and families of those who are experiencing the effects from this loss,” he added.
Involved in the search, according to the Guard, were Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska, Coast Guard Air Station Sitka, Coast Guard Station Juneau, Coast Guard Cutter Healy, Coast Guard Cutter Douglas Denman and Alaska Marine Highway System motor vessel Hubbard.