Office of Public Affairs
U.S. Coast Guard Thirteenth District

Date: Dec. 25, 2007
Contact: Group Port Angeles Public Affairs
(360) 417-5840

CUTTER RETURNS AFTER MAJOR OVERHAUL
Photos Avaliable

  
PORT ANGELES, Wash. - The Coast Guard Cutter Cuttyhunk and its crew return to their homeport at Coast Guard Group Port Angeles Dec. 25.  The cutter spent several months at the Coast Guard Yards in Baltimore, Md., receiving six million dollars in upgrades to its navigation, engineering and communications equipment as part of the Mission Effectiveness Project. (Official Coast Guard Photo)

PORT ANGELES, Wash.  - The Coast Guard Cutter Cuttyhunk and its crew, commanded by Chief Warrant Officer Christopher Smasne, arrived at their homeport of Port Angeles, Wash., December 25 at 8 a.m. 

The Cuttyhunk's return to the Olympic Peninsula concludes a 7,300 nautical mile transit from the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland.  The cutter left homeport during September of 2006.

The Cuttyhunk departed the service's only shipyard November 20 after a six million dollar overhaul of vital engineering, communication, and navigation equipment.  The upgrades were part of the service's Mission Effectiveness Project (MEP).  The MEP is designed to replace aging systems on board select ships in order to improve reliability, reduce future maintenance costs, and meet required mission hours.  The project is intended to maintain effective missions of the 110-foot Island Class cutters for an additional 15 years.

Primarily built as a law enforcement platform, the Cuttyhunk is considered a mult-mission resource used in search-and-rescue, marine environmental protection, and homeland security missions.  The normal crew consists of one officer, two chief petty officers, and 13 enlisted personnel. 

A re-commissioning ceremony for the Cuttyhunk is scheduled for February 2008.

###
Coast Guard, saving lives since 1790.