USCGC MORGENTHAU (WHEC 722) 48 Years of Service U.S. Coast Guard no topic

united states coast guard

UNCLAS//N04500//
ALCOAST 100/17
COMDTNOTE 4500
SUBJ: USCGC MORGENTHAU (WHEC 722) 48 YEARS OF SERVICE

1. On 31 Mar 2017, after 48 years of faithful service to our nation, CGC MORGENTHAU transitioned into commission special status. Throughout her service, CGC MORGENTHAU embodied and defended her motto, the Pride of the Pacific.

2. Named in honor of Secretary Henry Morgenthau Jr., who served as Secretary of the Treasury under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, WHEC 722 was the eighth ship in the Hamilton Class cutter fleet. CGC MORGENTHAU launched from Avondale Shipyards in Louisiana and was commissioned on 10 Mar 1969 at New Orleans, LA. CGC MORGENTHAU was first homeported at Governors Island, New York, and remained there until 1977 when she changed homeport to Alameda, CA. After more than thirty-five years of enforcing arctic fisheries, counter-narcotics and search and rescue, MORGENTHAU changed homeport for a final time to Honolulu, HI, in 2012.

3. Throughout her distinguished career, MORGENTHAU served in both domestic and international theaters, flexing her might in the dynamic and austere environments from the Caribbean Sea, South China Sea, and Persian Gulf, to the North Atlantic, Eastern Pacific, and Bering Sea. As her time in the Coast Guard fleet comes to a close, MORGENTHAU will be remembered as an ambassador for global maritime cooperation, a combatant of narco-terrorism, protector of living marine resources (LMR), and safe haven for those in distress.

4. CGC MORGENTHAU leaves a long proud legacy of honorable service to her country. In 1970, CGC MORGENTHAU transited to Vietnam and participated in the Navy's effort to stop troops and supplies from flowing by sea from North Vietnam to South Vietnam called Operation Market Time. In April 1971, MORGENTHAU tracked and shadowed a North Vietnamese trawler that attempted to resupply the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong, engaged in a two-hour battle against the trawler and finally destroyed the ship. MORGENTHAU was awarded numerous awards for that action to include the Navy Combat Action Ribbon. In 1977, MORGENTHAU became the first cutter to have women permanently assigned aboard. In 1996, MORGENTHAU was the first Coast Guard Cutter to deploy to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Vigilant Sentinel. While in the Persian Gulf, MORGENTHAU enforced compliance with United Nations sanctions. In 2001, MORGENTHAU seized $32 million worth of cocaine during a patrol off the coast of Mexico. Additionally in 2001, MORGENTHAU detected a Russian vessel fishing in U.S. waters and pursued the vessel up to the Russian territorial sea which resulted in a joint law enforcement action by both countries which enhanced law enforcement actions between both nations.

5. During CGC MORGENTHAU's last years of service, MORGENTHAU continued support to LMR patrols in the Bering Sea, counter-narcotics operations in the Eastern Pacific and built partnerships and interoperability with Canada and Mexico as part of Operation Green Flash. MORGENTHAU was also nominated for the 2014 Lucas Plaque for its outstanding achievement and contribution to the CG Naval Engineering Program.

6. To current and past CGC MORGENTHAU crews, plank owners, shellbacks (Golden, Emerald, Horned, or otherwise), subjects of the Golden Dragon, Blue Noses, and even Pollywogs: well done. Throughout 48 years of service, CGC MORGENTHAU and her crews admirably served the Coast Guard and the Nation. Congratulations and Bravo Zulu.

7. ADM Paul Zukunft, Commandant, sends.

8. Internet release is authorized.


SAR Carnival Splendor
MORGENTHAU was the first cutter on scene in response to the distress call of the cruise ship Carnival Splendor, disabled by fire over 50 miles off the coast of Southern California, in November 2010. The cutter coordinated support and relief for over 5,000 passengers and crew, providing food and water via helicopter vertical replenishment along with the USS Ronald Reagan.

Go-Fast Interdiction, 2007
MORGENTHAU Go-Fast Interdiction, 2007.

1969 Commissioning
Commissioning Ceremony, 1969. Coast Guard Cutter MORGENTHAU (WHEC 722).

USCG MORGENTHAU (WHEC 722), home page
Ship's Crest

MORGENTHAU crest


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