Pacific Area Public Affairs

Press Release

Date:  Sept. 1, 2009

Contact: PA3 Melissa Hauck  (510) 437-3375

Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf returns home after first patrol

ALAMEDA, Calif. – The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf returned to its homeport on Coast Guard Island, Tuesday, after completing its first three-month, multi-mission patrol.

During the patrol, the crew conducted counter drug operations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean with the Joint Interagency Task Force South, that is designed to combat illicit drug trafficking.

The crew seized two suspected drug smuggling boats, detained eight suspected smugglers and recovered approximately five metric tons of cocaine.

Bertholf’s crew conducted multiple fisheries boardings, more than 100 helicopter training operations and  shipboard damage control training.

The crew also conducted a structural test fire of its missile decoy launching system in the Southern California Operations Area of the Pacific Missile Range Facility with the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division and the Navy Research Lab.  This was the first time a NULKA round was launched from a Coast Guard cutter.

During the deployment, the 120-member crew participated in Seattle’s Seafair Fleet Week 2009, where they sailed aboard the ship during the parade of ships and offered tours to the public.

Bertholf was christened on Veteran’s Day 2006 and is the first of the eight-ship Legend Class. 

The ship is named after Commodore Ellsworth P. Bertholf, the first commandant of today’s Coast Guard.  Bertholf’s sister ships, the Waesche and the Stratton, are under construction in Pascagoula, Miss. 

Designed to be the flagships of the U.S. Coast Guard’s modern fleet, the 418-foot National Security Cutters are capable of executing the most challenging Coast Guard missions.

PHOTO 1

ALAMEDA, Calif. - Family and friends of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf's crew patiently wait as the cutter pulls into homeport on Coast Guard Island,  Sept. 1, 2009. The 418-foot cutter returned after a three-month, multi-mission patrol conducting counter drug operations and fisheries boardings in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Fireman Margie McCarthy)

VIDEO 1

ALAMEDA, Calif. - U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf pulls into the pier on Coast Guard Island,  Sept. 1, 2009. (U.S. Coast Guard video/Seaman Adam Stanton)

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