The US Coast Guard decommissioned the Island-class patrol boat USCGC Naushon during a ceremony in Homer, Alaska, on Friday, March 21.
Commissioned on October 3, 1986, Naushon was the eleventh Island-class patrol boat to join the coast guard fleet. The vessel has been stationed in Homer since 2016 and has since responded to over 50 search and rescue (SAR) cases and completed nearly 900 law enforcement sorties.
Naushon is a 110-foot (34-metre) patrol boat, a multi-mission platform that conducted operations to support SAR response, marine environmental protection, and national defence.
The coast guard is replacing the aging Island-class patrol boats with Sentinel-class fast response cutters (FRCs), which feature enhanced capability to meet service needs. There are currently four FRCs homeported in Alaska, with two more scheduled for delivery in the near future.
A number of decommissioned Island-class patrol boats have been transferred to other operators including the Ukrainian Navy, the Hellenic Navy, and environmental extremist organisation Sea Shepherd.
Potential operators of the Island-class boats meanwhile include the Philippine Navy, which is slated to receive two examples in the near future.