Media Advisory: Coast Guard to commission 44th Fast Response Cutter

Media Advisory

U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area Contact: Coast Guard Atlantic Area Public Affairs Office: (757) 398-6521 After Hours: (757) 641-0763 Atlantic Area online newsroom

Coast Guard to commission 44th Fast Response Cutter

Editors' Note: To view more or download high-resolution imagery, click on the photo above.

WHO: Adm. Linda Fagan, vice commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, and team

WHAT: Commissioning of USCGC Glen Harris (WPC 1144)

WHEN: 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 6, 2021

WHERE: U.S. Coast Guard Sector Field Office Fort Macon 
2301 E. Fort Macon Road, Atlantic Beach, N.C. 28512

Media interested in attending must RSVP no later than 10 a.m. Tuesday with the Coast Guard Atlantic Area Public Affairs office at (757) 452-8336. Only credentialed media will be granted access.

Security: Be prepared to show government-issued photo identification, such as a driver's license or passport, and media credentials at the security checkpoint. Again, the media is asked to arrive no later than 9:15 a.m. for check-in.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The U.S. Coast Guard will commission the USCGC Glen Harris (WPC 1144), Patrol Forces Southwest Asia's third Sentinel-class cutter, into service at Coast Guard Sector Field Office Fort Macon, Friday at 10 a.m. EST.

Due to COVID mitigation, in-person attendance is limited.

Adm. Linda Fagan, vice commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, will preside over the ceremony. Ms. Stacey Howley is the ship's sponsor.  

The cutter's namesake is Chief Petty Officer Glen Livingston Harris, a native of North Carolina. He acted as a landing craft coxswain during the landing of Tulagi, which took place Aug. 7-9, 1942, during World War II. Along with three other U.S. Coast Guard coxswains, Harris landed the first U.S. Marines on Tulagi and, over the next three days of conflict, made repeated trips under heavy enemy fire to deliver ammunition and other supplies to U.S. forces. In September of the same year, he landed against forces at Taivu Point, Guadalcanal Island, thereby materially contributing to the enemy’s eventual defeat. Harris was awarded the Silver Star Medal for gallantry by Adm. Chester Nimitz.

The Glen Harris was officially delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard on April 22 in Key West, Florida. It is the 44th Sentinel-class fast response cutter.

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