USCGC Reef Shark

USCGC Reef Shark is the 69th Marine Protector-class coastal patrol boat to be built. Her home port is Juneau, Alaska, where she is moored in Auke Bay.

USCGC Reef Shark
History
United States
NameReef Shark
BuilderBollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana
Commissioned23 March 2009
HomeportJuneau, Alaska
Identification
Statusin active service
Badge
General characteristics
Class and typeMarine Protector-class coastal patrol boat
Displacement91 long tons (92 t)
Length87 ft 0 in (26.5 m)
Beam19 ft 5 in (5.9 m)
Draft5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)
Propulsion2 x MTU diesels
Speed25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Range900 nmi (1,700 km; 1,000 mi)
Endurance3 days
Complement10
Armament2 × .50-caliber M2 Browning machine guns

Construction and characteristics

Reef Shark is 87 feet (27 m) long, with a beam of 19.4 feet (5.9 m), and a displacement of 91 tons at full load.[1] Her stern encloses a ramp which allows her to launch her cutter boat in more difficult sea conditions and with fewer people than conventional deck crane systems. Her ship's boat is a Zodiac Hurricane 558 10J rigid inflatable which is 17.7 feet (5.4 m) long. The RIB is propelled by a Diesel engine, which allows her to be refueled from Reef Shark's tanks.[2]

Reef Shark is powered by two eight-cylinder MTU diesel engines, each of which delivers 1,429 horsepower (1,066 kW). These, in turn, drive two five-bladed fixed-pitch propellers. Her maximum speed is better than 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph). Her unrefueled range is 900 miles and her at-sea endurance is three days.[1][3]

She can carry a crew of eleven, and her staterooms accommodate any gender mix of sailors.

Reef Shark was commissioned at a ceremony at San Juan, Puerto Rico on 23 March 2009.[4] Delegate to Congress, Donna M. Christensen, sponsored the vessel and gave the keynote speech at the ceremony.[5]

Reef Shark on her commissioning day, 23 March 2009

Service history

Reef Shark was initially assigned to Coast Guard Base San Juan, Puerto Rico. One of Reef Shark's primary missions in San Juan was drug interdiction in the Caribbean. In April 2009, on one of her first missions after her commissioning, she intercepted a sailboat off the Virgin Islands which had 550 pounds (250 kg) of cocaine on board in a hidden compartment.[6] On 12 October 2012 she participated in the seizure of 1,400 lb (640 kg) of cocaine off Puerto Rico.[7] In March 2014 she seized 533 lb (242 kg) of cocaine worth $5.7 million.[8] She also took part in numerous search and rescue missions in the waters around Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.[9] The ship was also responsible for repatriating migrants seeking to reach the United States by sea.[10]

Reef Shark patrolling Boston Harbor in 2018

She was reassigned to Boston. On 21 February 2018, Reef Shark took the tug Captain Mackintire under tow near Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The 74-year old vessel had collided with the tug that had been towing it and was in sinking condition. By early the nest morning the crew cut the tow line and Captain Mackintire sank.[11]

In March 2021, based once again in San Juan, Reef Shark participated in the seizure of $6.6 million of cocaine on a small boat transiting Mona Passage.[12]

Reef Shark also aided in the management of sea-going migrants in the Caribbean. In June 2020, she took 13 migrants off a makeshift boat near Puerto Rico.[13]

On 8 April 2022 Reef Shark's home port was officially changed from San Juan to Juneau.[14] She replaced USCGC Liberty there. She transited the Panama Canal on her way to Alaska on 5 May 2022[15] and reached her new moorage in Auke Bay on 4 June 2022.[16]

533 pounds of cocaine seized by Reef Shark off Vieques in March 2014

References
  1. "The cutters, boats, and aircraft of the U.S. Coast Guard". Coast Guard Outlook: 110. 2020.
  2. Keeter, Hunter C. (October 2008). "Acquisition Success Story: the Marine Protector-class Patrol Boat Project". Delivering the Goods. pp. 1–2.
  3. Flynn, James T. (2014). U. S. Coast Guard: Small Cutters and Patrol Boats 1915 - 2012 (PDF).
  4. Overview of Coast Guard Acquisition Policies and Programs: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, First Session, March 24, 2009. U.S. Government Printing Office. 2009. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-16-084276-4.
  5. "New U.S. Coast Guard Cutter REEF SHARK Commissioned in San Juan - Former Delegate Donna Christensen Official Press Release | LegiStorm". www.legistorm.com. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  6. "News from DEA, Domestic Field Divisions, Caribbean News Releases, 04/16/10". www.dea.gov. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  7. "High-seas drug bust nets $16 million in cocaine". Orlando Sentinel. 14 October 2012. pp. B3.
  8. Staff Writer (2014-03-19). "Coast Guard seizes $5.7 million cocaine shipment, apprehend 2 smugglers east of Vieques, Puerto Rico". Coast Guard News. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  9. Staff Writer (2009-04-19). "Coast Guard Cutter Reef Shark rescues 3 men in waters off Fortuna Bay, Saint Thomas". Coast Guard News. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  10. Staff Writer (2016-04-20). "Coast Guard repatriates 21 Dominicans returns 7 Haitian migrants to the Dominican Republic". Coast Guard News. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  11. Murphy, Edward (24 February 2018). "Tugboat sings after crash". Morning Sentinel. pp. B7.
  12. Staff Writer (2021-03-16). "Coast Guard transfers 3 smugglers and over $6.6 million in seized cocaine". Coast Guard News. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  13. Staff Writer (2020-06-12). "Coast Guard repatriates 50 of 51 migrants to the Dominican Republic". Coast Guard News. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  14. The Coast Guard Cutter Reef Shark celebrated a new chapter in its history Monday, as the cutter departed San Juan, Puerto Rico for a permanent change of... | By U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Juan | Facebook, retrieved 2022-09-22
  15. "USCG cutter 'Reef Shark' transits Panama Canal headed for Juneau". KINY. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  16. "Capital City Fire Rescue". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
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