US Coast Guard commissions cutter Pablo Valent

Photo: US Coast Guard/Petty Officer 1st Class Ayla Hudson

The US Coast Guard commissioned its 48th Sentinel-class fast response cutter in a ceremony in St Petersburg, Florida, on Wednesday, May 11.

USCGC Pablo Valent honours a decorated member of the US Life-Saving Service, a predecessor agency of the US Coast Guard.

In September 1919, Boatswain’s Mate Valent helped rescue the crew of the hurricane-damaged schooner Cape Horn off the coast of Texas. For his heroic efforts, he received the Silver Lifesaving Medal and the prestigious Grand Cross of the American Cross of Honor Society, making him one of the first Hispanic Americans to receive these honours.

Built by Bollinger Shipyards in Louisiana, Pablo Valent and its Sentinel-class sisters are designed for multiple missions including search and rescue, national defence, port and waterway security, drug and migrant interdiction, and fisheries patrols.


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