USCGC ''Alert'' (WMEC-127) was 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 and was the fourth cutter to carry the name. She was launched on 30 November 1926, commissioned 27 January 1927, and finally decommissioned 10 January 1969. The ship was brought to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

in 2006 and moored at

Hayden Island Hayden Island is an island in the Columbia River between Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The wide main channel of the Columbia (and the Washington–Oregon state line) passes north of the island. To the south, sheltered by the islan ...

with plans to turn it into a museum ship. Walt James, the founder of the nonprofit Columbia Watershed Environmental Advocates had planned to restore it but died before that could occur and the group was waived of responsibility for it, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. While moored at Hayden Island, the ''Alert'' was part of a growing homeless encampment, named the "Pirates of the Columbia", due to criminal activity along the waterfront. The ship was heavily damaged by graffiti and stripped of parts. In December 2020, the encampment was broken up and the dock to the ''Alert'' removed. On the night of 31 October 2021, the ''Alert'' sank at her mooring off of Hayden Island. No cause was determined. Metro Council, a regional government agency that serves three counties in northwest Oregon, spent $2 million to have the ships removed, and the Coast Guard added more than $1 million for the cleanup. The ''Alert'' was slated to be removed in October 2022.

Bibliography

External links

USS Alert historyCoast Guard vessel class PDF with mentions and pictures of USCGC Alert

References

Alert (WMEC-127) Active-class patrol boats 1926 ships Ships built in Camden, New Jersey World War II patrol vessels of the United States Maritime incidents in 2021 Brown, Boveri & Cie {{US-mil-ship-stub