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AFTER 27 YEARS OF SERVICE
Patrol boat to be decommissioned in Guam
SANTA RITA, Guam—The U.S. Coast Guard will take the Coast Guard cutter Assateague out of service during a pier-side ceremony aboard Naval Base Guam this Friday.
“Assateague’s operational history showcases the Coast Guard’s ability to carry out a diverse and important range of missions vital to the security and prosperity of our nation in remote parts of the Pacific,” said Capt. Chris Chase, who leads the service’s operations in the area as the commander of Coast Guard Sector Guam.
The 110-foot patrol boat will officially be decommissioned on Oct. 13 after 27 years of service as part of a service-wide recapitalization effort.
Assateague was commissioned June 15, 1990, as the 37th of 49 “Island” class patrol boats built by Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, Louisiana. These ships have been homeported and served all over the world.
Originally stationed in Honolulu, Assateague transitioned to Guam. The crew’s primary missions were search and rescue and law enforcement. Coast Guard cutter Kiska will backfill Assateague in Guam until new 154-foot Sentinel-class fast response cutters arrive in 2020.
“In recent years Assateague conducted search and rescue and law enforcement missions throughout the South Pacific. The crew supported bilateral operations by hosting foreign enforcement officers during fisheries law enforcement patrols throughout the Federated States of Micronesia and Republic of Palau. The cutter played a critical role in responding to the devastation of Typhoon Soudelor in 2015 in Saipan,” said Chase. (USCG)
