ALCOAST 120/18 - APR 2018 USCGC SHERMAN (WHEC 720) 49 YEARS OF SERVICE

united states coast guard

R 031507 APR 18
FM COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC//CCG//
TO ALCOAST
UNCLAS//N04500//
ALCOAST 120/18
COMDTNOTE 4500
SUBJ:  USCGC SHERMAN (WHEC 720) 49 YEARS OF SERVICE
1. On 29 Mar 2018, after 49 years of faithful service to our nation, CGC SHERMAN
transitioned to In-Commission Special status.  Throughout her service, CGC SHERMAN
embodied and defended her motto, Honorable and Faithful.  
2. Named in honor of Secretary John Sherman, who served as Secretary of the
Treasury under President Rutherford B. Hayes and Secretary of State under President
William McKinley, SHERMAN was the sixth ship in the Hamilton Class cutter fleet.
CGC SHERMAN launched from Avondale Shipyards in Louisiana and was commissioned on
03 Sep 1968. SHERMAN was first homeported in Boston, MA, and remained there until
1979 when she moved to Alameda, CA. After more than 32 years in Alameda, SHERMAN
changed homeport two more times, first to San Diego, CA, in 2011 and finally to
Honolulu, HI, in 2015.
3. Throughout her distinguished career, SHERMAN served in both domestic and
international theaters, flexing her might in 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, SHERMAN will be remembered as an ambassador for global maritime cooperation,
combatant of drug smugglers and transnational organized crime, protector of living
marine resources, and a welcome sight for mariners in distress.
4. CGC SHERMAN’s proud legacy of honorable service to her country includes a number
of memorable operations. In 1970, SHERMAN was awarded several awards for service
in Operation Market Time during the Vietnam conflict, including the Navy Combat
Action Ribbon. In October 1976, SHERMAN interdicted the 275-ft Panamanian freighter
DON EMILIO that was transporting 82 tons of marijuana - at the time, the largest
drug seizure ever recorded. In 2001, SHERMAN was the first Coast Guard cutter to
circumnavigate the world after enforcing compliance with United Nations sanctions
in the Persian Gulf and goodwill projects in Madagascar, South Africa, and Cape
Verde. In March 2007, SHERMAN interdicted the Panamanian freighter GATUN that was
transporting 21.4 metric tons of cocaine which was a record seizure in the Eastern
Pacific, earning the Golden Eagle award from the President for combined
interdiction success in 2007.
5. SHERMAN sailed proud and strong up to her last days, achieving an enviable
record of zero days lost due to unplanned maintenance in her last two years at sea
which spanned from the Arctic Circle, south of the Equator and west of the
International Date Line. On New Year’s Day 2017, SHERMAN interdicted three
cocaine-laden pangas and completed her final Eastern Pacific deployment with nine
smuggling vessel interdictions, seizing a total of 6,241 kgs of cocaine.
6. To current and past CGC SHERMAN crews, Plankowners, Shellbacks (Golden, Emerald,
Horned, or otherwise), subjects of the Golden Dragon, Blue Noses, and even
Pollywogs: Well Done! Through 49 years of service, CGC SHERMAN and her crews
admirably served the Coast Guard and the Nation. Congratulations and Bravo Zulu.  
7. ADM Paul F. Zukunft, Commandant, sends.
8. Internet release is authorized.