Imagery Available: Coast Guard Cutter Sherman returns home from Bering Sea, final deployment

U.S. Coast Guard sent this bulletin at 01/23/2018 08:07 PM EST

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News Release  

U.S. Coast Guard 14th District Hawaii and the Pacific
January 23, 2018
Contact: 14th District Public Affairs
Office: (808) 535-3230
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Imagery Available: Coast Guard Cutter Sherman returns home from Bering Sea, final deployment

The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sherman (WHEC 720), a 378-foot high endurance cutter homeported in Honolulu, are shown prior to returning home after a 76-day patrol to the Bering Sea, Jan. 22, 2018. This homecoming was the last time Sherman will return from deployment as the crew prepares to decommission the ship in March, after nearly 50 years of meritorious service. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Tara Molle/Released)

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sherman (WHEC 720), a 378-foot high endurance cutter homeported in Honolulu, escorts the tug Resolve Pioneer to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, Dec. 15, 2017. Sherman is one of the Coast Guard’s four remaining 378-foot high endurance cutters still in operation. (U.S. Coast Guard photo/Released)   The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sherman (WHEC 720), a 378-foot high endurance cutter homeported in Honolulu, patrols near the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, Dec. 1, 2017. Sherman is one of the Coast Guard’s four remaining 378-foot high endurance cutters still in operation. (U.S. Coast Guard photo/Released)   Crewmembers from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sherman (WHEC 720), a 378-foot high endurance cutter homeported in Honolulu, hand off supplies to crew aboard the tug Resolve Pioneer during an escort to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, Dec. 14, 2017. Sherman is one of the Coast Guard’s four remaining 378-foot high endurance cutters still in operation. (U.S. Coast Guard photo/Released)

Chief Petty Officer Andrew French, a boatswains mate aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sherman (WHEC 720), a 378-foot high endurance cutter homeported in Honolulu, kisses his wife after returning home after a 76-day patrol to the Bering Sea, Jan. 23, 2018. This homecoming was the last time Sherman will return from deployment as the crew prepares to decommission the ship in March, after nearly 50 years of meritorious service. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Tara Molle/Released)   Petty Officer 3rd Class Leon Wilson, an electronics technician aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sherman (WHEC 720), a 378-foot high endurance cutter homeported in Honolulu, reads a welcome home sign from his wife after returning home after a 76-day patrol to the Bering Sea, Jan. 23, 2018. This homecoming was the last time Sherman will return from deployment as the crew prepares to decommission the ship in March, after nearly 50 years of meritorious service. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Tara Molle/Released)   Seaman Craig Story, a crewmember aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sherman (WHEC 720), a 378-foot high endurance cutter homeported in Honolulu, greets his 8-month old son Francis after returning home after a 76-day patrol to the Bering Sea, Jan. 23, 2018. This homecoming was the last time Sherman will return from deployment as the crew prepares to decommission the ship in March, after nearly 50 years of meritorious service. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Tara Molle/Released)   Senior Chief Petty Officer Derek Shay, a machinery technician aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sherman (WHEC 720), a 378-foot high endurance cutter homeported in Honolulu, greets his family after returning home after a 76-day patrol to the Bering Sea, Jan. 23, 2018. This homecoming was the last time Sherman will return from deployment as the crew prepares to decommission the ship in March, after nearly 50 years of meritorious service. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Tara Molle/Released)

Editors Note: Click on images to download high resolution version.

HONOLULU — The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Sherman (WHEC 720) returned home Tuesday after a 76-day patrol in the Bering Sea.

This homecoming was the last time Sherman will return from deployment as the crew prepares to decommission the ship in March, after nearly 50 years of meritorious service.

During the three-month patrol, the crew supported the safe transit of a disabled vessel over 800 miles to Dutch Harbor, enforced fisheries regulations in the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska. They also provided a command and control platform capable of embarking a helicopter, thus providing search and rescue coverage to those operating in the Bering Sea.

Sherman has a storied history including being the last remaining active U.S. warship in the Coast Guard or Navy to have sunk an enemy vessel. It is also one of only two cutters to hold the Vietnam Service Award and the only cutter to hold the Combat Action Ribbon for action in the Vietnam War.

In 2001, it became one of the few cutters to circumnavigate the world, after conducting U.N. sanctions enforcement duty in the Persian Gulf and goodwill projects in Madagascar, South Africa and Cape Verde.

Adding to Sherman’s history, in March of 2007, a boarding team dispatched from the cutter discovered 17 metric tons of cocaine on the Panamanian-flagged freighter, Gatun. This seizure remains the largest drug bust in U.S. history with an estimated street value of $600 million. As the record holder, Sherman proudly wears the Golden Snowflake.

The crew rounded out the cutter’s storied career in the Bering Sea; conducting 16 fisheries boardings, issuing four fisheries violations and one safety violation, ensuring the integrity of the $6 billion fishing industry. As the primary search and rescue asset in the region at the time, Sherman also ensured the safe transit of the crew of the Resolve Pioneer, a Dutch Harbor-based ocean-going tug, following a severe casualty at the far end of the Aleutian chain, restricting their speed and maneuverability.

“As Sherman and her crew return home from this final patrol, it is humbling to look back on the history and the accomplishments of this crew and the previous,” said Capt. Steve Wittrock, commanding officer of Sherman. “This final patrol has been significant in that the Bering Sea mission is one of the most demanding and historically important in the Coast Guard and I am very proud of the way that the crew has performed throughout the last two challenging months.”

Sherman is one of the Coast Guard’s four remaining 378-foot high endurance cutters still in operation. The 1960s era fleet of cutters is presently being replaced by the national security cutters, which will soon serve as the Coast Guard's primary, long-range asset. Honolulu will serve as a homeport to two of the national security cutters, replacing Sherman and the already decommissioned Morgenthau.

-USCG-