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About Coast river business journal. (Astoria, OR) 2006-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 2021)
12 • January 2021 BOAT OF THE MONTH Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast Coast River Business Journal By Emily Lindblom Coast River Business Journal • elindblom@crbizjournal.com Vessel: Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast, WMEC 623 Length: 210 feet and 6 inches Beam: 34 feet Navigational draft: 18 feet Displacement: 1,127 tons Speed, maximum sustained: 18 knots Stopping distance from 18 knots: 220 yards, 44 seconds Shaft horsepower: 5,000 horsepower Fuel capacity: Diesel: 50,913 gallons JP-5 (Aviation Fuel): 4,929 gallons Water: 11,694 gal Main propulsion: Twin Screw, Controllable Pitch Propeller Engines: 2 ALCO 16 Cylinder Turbocharged Diesel EMILY LINDBLOM The Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast at its homeport in Astoria. Propellers: 2 four blade controllable pitch. 7’6” diameter Armament: One mounted 25mm gun and two .50 caliber machine guns Aircraft capability: HH-65A Dolphin helicopter Personnel allowance: Commissioned officers — 11 Commissioned warrant officers — 1 Chief Petty officers — 6 Enlisted — 59 Total on board — 77 COURTESY OF SCOTT REDD COURTESY OF THE U.S. COAST GUARD The Steadfast has been in service since 1968. Here, it motors past Cape Disappointment. The Steadfast has completed over 340 search and rescue cas- es as of December. Coast River Business Journal The Steadfast has served in the U.S. Coast Guard for over five decades. Steadfast was homeported in St. Petersburg, Florida for her first 24 years of service starting in 1968. The Steadfast was decom- missioned in 1992 for major maintenance availability to extend its service another 25 years. In February 1994, Steadfast was recom- missioned and homeported in Astoria. • Throughout its career, the Steadfast has completed over 340 search and rescue cases, interdicted more than 1.6 million pounds of marijuana and 169,000 pounds of cocaine, seized over 90 vessels, and stopped more than 3,500 undocumented migrants from enter- ing the U.S. • Steadfast was the first, and is one of two cutters, awarded the gold marijuana leaf for having seized one million pounds of marijuana. • Caribbean drug smugglers in the 1970’s named the Steadfast “El Tiburon Blanco” (Spanish for “The White Shark”) because it intercepted their drug operations. The crew continues to use the symbol of “El Tiburon Blanco” as one of their logos. • Steadfast is a multi-mission platform and is under the opera- tional command of the Coast Guard Pacific Area Commander. • Steadfast works in Coast Guard districts 11 and 13 as well as Joint Inter-Agency Task Force South (JIATF-S). • The Steadfast patrols along the western seaboard of the U.S., Mexico and North and Central America conducting search and res- cue, maritime law enforcement, living marine resource protection and homeland defense operations. • Over its 52 years, the ship has been awarded the Coast Guard Special Operations Service Ribbons for Campaign Caper Focus and for Operation Martillo, eight Coast Guard Excellence Ribbons, five Coast Guard Unit Commendation Awards, and four Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendations. In July 2019, Steadfast broke the record for the most cocaine seized during a single deployment for cutters of its class and size. REINER RHONDA MS CIV USA Caribbean drug smug- glers in the 1970s named the Steadfast “El Tiburon Blanco,” Spanish for “The White Shark,” for inter- cepting their drug oper- ations. The symbol of “El Tiburon Blanco” continues to be one of the Steadfast’s logos today. The Stead- fast was awarded the gold marijuana leaf, symboliz- ing one million pounds of marijuana seized.
