USCGC ''Bertholf'' (WMSL-750) is the first maritime security cutter of the
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...
. She is named for
Commodore
Commodore may refer to:
Ranks
* Commodore (rank), a naval rank
** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom
** Commodore (United States)
** Commodore (Canada)
** Commodore (Finland)
** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore''
* Air commodore, a ...
commandant
Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...
of both the
Revenue Cutter Service
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and Coast Guard.
In 2005, construction began at
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...
Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula ( ) is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula Combined Statistical Area. The population was 22 ...
. She was launched on September 29, 2006, christened November 11, 2006, and commissioned on August 4, 2008. The cutter's home port is
Alameda, California
Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for "Avenue (landscape), tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, located in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is primarily located on Alameda (island), Alam ...
. ''Bertholf'' was the first to fire the
Bofors 57 mm gun The Bofors 57 mm gun is a nickname or designation given to several types of guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors:
*, a 57 mm anti tank gun for the Swedish army during WW2.
* Bofors 57 mm Automatic Gun L/50, a 57 ...
aboard a U.S. vessel on 11 February 2008.
Operational history
On March 3, 2016, ''Bertholf'' responded to a sighting off the Pacific Coast of Panama of a semi-submersible narco-submarine, reported by a
P-3 Orion
The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner.RIMPAC exercises ''Bertholf'' detected and tracked missile threats and also provided
naval gunfire support
Naval gunfire support (NGFS) (also known as shore bombardment) is the use of naval artillery to provide fire support for amphibious assault and other troops operating within their range. NGFS is one of a number of disciplines encompassed by th ...
for troops ashore during the training exercise, demonstrating the capability of moving with other naval forces and being able to perform other defense operations.
On 25 March 2019, USS ''Curtis Wilbur'' (DDG-54), in concert with ''Bertholf'' transited the contested
Taiwan Strait
The Taiwan Strait is a -wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and continental Asia. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide.
The Taiwan Strait is itself a s ...
. On 15 April of same year, the ship visited
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
, the first Coast Guard vessel to do so in seventeen years.
Legend-class cutter
''Bertholf'' is the lead ship of the design and the first large ship to be built under the Coast Guard's multi-year Deepwater acquisitions project. The NSCs are to replace the fleet's aging 1960s-era 378-foot s.
Features
*Automated weapon systems
*Medium-caliber deck gun (57 mm) capable of stopping rogue merchant vessels far from shore
*Helicopter launch and recovery pad with rail-based aircraft retrieval system and two aircraft hangars
*
Stern launching ramp
Some modern patrol vessels are equipped with a stern launching ramp, for deploying smaller rescue or pursuit boats without requiring the parent ship to first come to a halt.
Typically the smaller craft are powered by water-jets, and can driv ...
for small boat launch and recovery
*
Bow thruster
Manoeuvering thruster (bow thruster or stern thruster) is a transversal propulsion device built into, or mounted to, either the bow or stern, of a ship or boat to make it more manoeuvrable. Bow thrusters make docking easier, since they allow th ...
*State-of-the-art C4ISR improving interoperability between Coast Guard and Department of Defense assets
*Detection and defense capabilities against chemical, biological, or radiological attack
*Advanced sensors for intelligence collection and sharing
*Real-time tracking and seamless common operational picture/maritime domain awareness via integration with
Rescue 21
Rescue 21 is an advanced maritime computing, command, control, and communications (C4) system designed to manage communications for the United States Coast Guard.
Overview
Rescue 21 is designed to be more robust, reliable, and capable than the ...
*Advanced state-of-the-art Ships Integrated Control System (machinery control, steering, navigation) for reduced manpower requirements and improved automation
*Cassidian (EADS) TRS-3D/16-ES air search radar for area surveillance
*The cutter can have an anti-terrorism/force protection suite that will include underwater sonar that will allow the cutter to scan ports, approaches, facilities and high-value assets for underwater mines and mine-like devices and detect swimmers.
Gallery
File:USCGC Bertholf 57mm.JPG, Test firing of the MK110 57mm gun aboard USCGC Bertholf.
File:U.S. Coast Guard flight deck crew members aboard maritime security cutter USCGC Bertholf (WMSL 750) tie down an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter arriving from Coast Guard Air Station Los Angeles to the deck to secure it 120822-G-VS714-324.jpg, Flight deck crew members aboard ''Bertholf'' tie down an
MH-65 Dolphin
The Eurocopter MH-65 Dolphin is a twin-engined helicopter operated by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) for medevac-capable search and rescue (SAR) and armed Airborne Use of Force missions. It is a variant of the French-built Eurocopter AS3 ...
helicopter.
File:USCG long range interceptor aboard Bertholf.jpg,
USCG long range interceptor
The Long Range Interceptor (LRI) is an 11-meter (35 feet) high speed launch vessel designed to be deployed from United States Coast Guard cutters via a rear launching ramp.
The Long Range Interceptor is an aluminum boat, powered by Ultrajet brand ...
using the stern launching ramp of the USCGC Bertholf.