If you have paid any attention to the news over the last several years, you have some sense of the real-world concerns that China and its naval forces have brought to bear in the western Pacific region. This article is about how the United States is responding to that growing set of concerns.
Recently, the newest of the 154-foot Sentinel-class Cutters, the USCGC Frederick Hatch, arrived at the Apra, Guam, Coast Guard homeport to join her two sister ships that arrived before her, the USCGC Myrtle Hazard and the USCGC Oliver Henry. These three advanced Coast Guard Cutters are there “as a response to coercive and antagonistic behaviors from China” in the area, according to the commandant of the Coast Guard, Karl Schultz. The three new ships will be commissioned together in a ceremony at their Apra, Guam, homeport on July 29, 2021, and will begin their multi-dimensional mission there in conjunction with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Myrtle Hazard
These new Sentinel-class Cutters are replacing older 110-foot Coast Guard Patrol Boats. They come with advanced communications technology and surveillance systems and are armed with four .50-caliber machine guns and a remote-controlled 25-mm cannon.
They are going to be missioned with the usual drug interdiction, defense operations, maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, and environmental protection duties for the U.S. Territory of Guam, but they are there also in partnership with the Navy and the Marine Corps to address the ever more aggressive efforts of China to subvert the territorial integrity of island countries in the region and their active, aggressive actions in claiming actual territory from other countries in the area. The cutters will be expected to help police China’s illegal fishing and other more militant moves in the area.
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Frederick Hatch
Last December, the US Coast Guard, Navy, and the Marine Corps issued a joint “Advantage at Sea” tri-service naval strategy responding to China’s “revisionist approach that aims at the heart of U.S. maritime power” in the region.
The USCGC Fredrick Hatch arrived in Apra, Guam, after an approximately 11,400-nautical-mile journey beginning at Key West, Florida. On their way to Guam, they made port at the Guantanamo Naval Base, Cuba, went through the Panama Canal, then made port calls in Mexico, Los Angeles, and Hawaii, before reaching its new homeport in Guam.
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Oliver Henry
These Sentinel-class Cutters carry a crew of 24. Like the USCGC Frederick Hatch, most of its crew were underway for the first time. The sailing was used as a training mission for the ship and the crew under real-world conditions. Their commander, Lt. Rooke, said all went well and the crew learned a great deal over the course of the transit. For example, on the way, they earned a marijuana decal for interdicting a drug smuggling craft.
The Veterans Site wishes great success to the USCGC Frederick Hatch and its crew on this new mission and in their new homeport. They were met on their arrival by about 100 dependants and family members who will be stationed there in Guam with their Coast Guard spouses. Semper Paratus!