USCGC Boutwell

USCGC Boutwell (WHEC-719)
History
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
Decommissioned: March 16, 2016
Homeport: San Diego, California
Motto: "Best in the West"
Fate: Decommissioned as of March 16, 2016 awaiting transfer to the Philippine Navy
General characteristics
Class and type: Hamilton Class
Type: High Endurance Cutter
Displacement: 3,250 tons
Length: 378 ft (115.21 m)
Beam: 43 ft (13.11 m)
Draught: 15 ft (4.57 m)
Propulsion:
Speed: 29 knots (54 km/h)
Range: 14,000 miles
Endurance: 45 days
Boats & 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
& 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) was a United States 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.

The Boutwell was formally decommissioned in March 16, 2016 at Naval Base San Diego, California.[1][2] She was then sold to the Philippines as Excess Defense Article (EDA) and rechristened the BRP Andres Bonifacio (FF-17), becoming [3] [4] the third Hamilton-class cutter to be transferred to the Philippine Navy.

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.[5]

Boutwell was recognized as the 2013 Forrest O. Rednour Memorial Award Large Afloat Dining Facility[6] and as the second-place winner for the 2014 Large Unit Afloat MWR Program of the Year.[7] In October 2014, Boutwell completed a noteworthy[8] 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.[9]

Boutwell is being decommissioned in early 2016 and will be sold to the Philippines as Excess Defense Article (EDA) after[3] U.S. President Barack Obama announced that a High Endurance Cutter and the R/V Melville will be made available to the Philippines during the APEC 2015 summit in Manila[4] The Boutwell will be the third Hamilton-class cutter to be transferred to the Philippine Navy. Boutwell's decommissioning ceremony with the US Coast Guard is scheduled in March 16, 2016 at Naval Base San Diego, California.[1][2]

Commanding Officers

Years Commanding Officer
1968 - 1970 Robert A. Schulz, CAPT
1970 - 1972 Roy K. Angell, CAPT
1972 - 1973 Frederick J. Lessing, CAPT
1973 - 1974 Robert J. Hanson, CAPT
1974 - 1976 John C. Guthrie, Jr., CAPT
1976 - 1978 Richard T. Brower, CAPT
1978 - 1980 John P. Flaherty, CAPT
1980 - 1982 Leroy G. Krumm, CAPT
1982 - 1983 Peter A. Joseph, CAPT
1983 - 1985 John C. Trainor, CAPT
1985 - 1987 Leo N. Schowengerdt, CAPT
1987 - 1989 Cecil W. Allison, CAPT
1990 - 1991 Stanley Winslow, CAPT
1991 - 1993 Donald R. Grosse, CAPT
1993 - 1994 James J. Shaw, CAPT
1994 - 1996 Terry W. Newell, CAPT
1996 - 1998 Kenneth A. Ward, CAPT
1998 - 2000 Herbert H. "Chip" Sharpe, CAPT
2000 - 2002 Beverly G. Kelley, CAPT
2002 - 2004 Scott D. Genovese, CAPT
2004 - 2006 Lance L. Bardo, CAPT
2006 - 2008 Peter J. Brown, RDML
2008 - 2010 Kevin J. Cavanaugh, CAPT
2010 - 2011 Thomas E. Crabbs, CAPT
2011 - 2012 Matthew J. Gimple, CAPT
2012 - 2014 Jim L. Munro, CAPT
2014 - 2016 Edward A. Westfall, CAPT
Wikimedia Commons has media related to USCGC Boutwell (WHEC-719).

References

  1. 1 2 Aben, Elena (13 March 2016). "USCG cedes cutter to PHL Navy". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  2. 1 2 "USCG: CGC Boutwell - Meet the CO".
  3. 1 2 Jordan, Bryant (10 October 2015). "After Decades of Service, USCGC Boutwell Makes Final Fleet Week Cruise". Military.com. San Francisco: Military Advantage. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  4. 1 2 Mangosing, Frances (17 February 2015). "Obama says PH Navy will receive two ships from US". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  5. uscg.mil. "Boutwell home page". uscg.mil. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
  6. uscg.mil. "ALCOAST 186/14". uscg.mil. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
  7. uscg.mil. "ALCGPSC 161/14". uscg.mil. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
  8. uscg.mil. "Coast Guard, Western Hemisphere partners seize $423M in cocaine during multiple drug busts". uscg.mil. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
  9. usni.org. "Commandant Zukunft: U.S. Coast Guard Moving More Resources to Western Hemisphere". usni.org. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
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