USCGC ''Steadfast'' (WMEC-623) is a

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, mu ...

medium endurance cutter The Medium Endurance Cutter or WMEC is a type of United States Coast Guard Cutter mainly consisting of the Famous- and ''Reliance''-class cutters. These larger cutters are under control of Area Commands (Atlantic Area or Pacific Area). These cutt ...

and has served the United States for over 50 years. Commissioned in 1968, ''Steadfast'' was home ported in

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

for her first 24 years of service. In 1992, she was decommissioned for Major Maintenance Availability (MMA) to extend her service another 25 years. Following MMA in February 1994, ''Steadfast'' was re-commissioned and home ported in Astoria, Oregon. Since commissioning in 1968, ''Steadfast'' has completed over 330 Search and Rescue cases, interdicted over 1.6 million pounds of marijuana and 27,700 pounds of cocaine, seized over 65 vessels, and stopped over 3500 undocumented migrants on the high seas from entering the United States. ''Steadfast'' was the first, and is one of only two cutters awarded the gold marijuana leaf, symbolizing one million pounds of marijuana seized. Legend holds ''Steadfast'' was named "El Tiburón Blanco" (Spanish for "The White Shark") by Colombian drug smugglers in the 1970s for being such a nemesis to their illegal drug operations. ''Steadfast''s crew uses the symbol of "El Tiburón Blanco" as one of their logos to epitomize ''Steadfast''s aggressive law enforcement posture. On 21 September 1978, Douglas DC-3 N407D of Argosy Airlines crashed into the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

whilst on a ferry flight from

Fort Lauderdale International Airport A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

José Martí International Airport José Martí International Airport , sometimes known by its former name Rancho Boyeros Airport, is an international airport located southwest of the centre of Havana, Cuba, and is a hub for Cubana de Aviación and Aerogaviota, and former Latin ...

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. All four people on board were killed. The aircraft disappeared off radar screens at 12:43

local time Local time is the time observed in a specific locality. There is no canonical definition. Originally it was mean solar time, but since the introduction of time zones it is generally the time as determined by the time zone in effect, with daylight s ...

(17:43 UTC). A search was initiated, which ''Steadfast'' coordinated, but was called off on 24 September without any trace of N407D being found.

References

External links

''Steadfast'' home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steadfast Ships of the United States Coast Guard Reliance-class cutters 1966 ships Ships built in Lorain, Ohio