ALCOAST 439/20 - DEC 2020 USCGC MELLON (WHEC 717) 52 YEARS OF SERVICE

R 071307 DEC 20
FM COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC//CCG//
TO ALCOAST
UNCLAS//N04500//
ALCOAST 439/20
COMDTNOTE 4500
SUBJ:  USCGC MELLON (WHEC 717) 52 YEARS OF SERVICE
1. On 15 Jul 2020, after 52 years of faithful service to our nation, CGC MELLON
transitioned to In-Commission Special status. This status begins the decommissioning
process. Throughout the cutter’s service, CGC MELLON crews embodied and honored
the cutter’s motto – “Primus Inter Pares,” meaning “First Among Equals.”
2. CGC MELLON was named in honor of Andrew William Mellon, who served as the 49th
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury from 1921 to 1932. During his tenure as Treasury
Secretary, Mellon was known for reducing taxes, prosecuting those who broke
prohibition laws, and promoting national economic well-being. Commissioned on
09 Jan 1968 as the third cutter in the Hamilton Class, CGC MELLON was originally
homeported in Honolulu, HI but moved to its final homeport of Seattle, WA in 1981.
3. Over the course of the cutter’s distinguished career, CGC MELLON served in a
multitude of domestic and international theaters, from the Bering Sea to the Hawaiian
Islands, and from Vladivostok, Russia to Vietnam and Southeast Asia. CGC MELLON will
be remembered as a lifeline to mariners in distress, an international emissary, a
champion for living marine resources and a protector of the Pacific.
4. CGC MELLON’s proud legacy of honorable service to the Nation began in the late
1960s patrolling Ocean Station November, providing weather data to trans-Pacific
flights, supporting oceanographic research missions, and performing search-and-rescue
operations. As part of Task Force 115 during the conflict in Vietnam, CGC MELLON
twice received the Meritorious Unit Commendation for the crew’s efforts in surveilling
over 1,200 miles of coastline and 64,000 vessels. In 1980, CGC MELLON joined the U.S.
Air Force and CGC BOUTWELL in responding to the burning luxury liner PRINSENDAM off
the coast of Alaska, ensuring the successful rescue of all 520 passengers and crew.
CGC MELLON received the CG Unit Commendation Medal in 1990 for executing multiple
military readiness missions, highlighted by the first and only successful firing
of a HARPOON missile by a Coast Guard cutter. While homeported in Hawaii, CGC MELLON
earned the Hawaiian nickname “Mellon No Ka Oi,” or “Mellon best of all.” The cutter
lived up to this moniker through decades of service to mariners, providing firefighting
and de-watering assistance, tows, and medical attention to those in need. During CGC
MELLON’s final year of service, the crew spent more than 230 days patrolling the Bering
Sea and Northern Pacific, conducting 100 safety and fisheries boarding’s of U.S., Japanese,
Russian, Chinese, and Korean flagged fishing vessels, and assisting in five search-
and-rescue cases.
5. To current and past CGC MELLON crews, Plankowners, Shellbacks (Golden, Emerald,
Horned, or otherwise), subjects of the Golden Dragon, Blue Noses, and even Pollywogs:
Well Done! Through 52 years of service, CGC MELLON crews admirably served the Coast
Guard and the Nation. Congratulations and Bravo Zulu!
6. ADM Karl L. Schultz, Commandant, sends.
7. Internet release is authorized.