Coast Guard Cutter Alert: Astoria’s 210-Foot Cutter and What a Change of Command Means
Photo: Petty Officer First Class Cynthia Oldham / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
Ships tied up on the Astoria waterfront include two white-hulled Coast Guard cutters, which have been part of the city’s maritime character for decades. One of them is Coast Guard Cutter Alert (WMEC-630), a 210-foot medium endurance cutter.
The ship
Alert is one of the Coast Guard’s Reliance-class cutters, built in the 1960s. These ships were designed for long patrols close to shore and offshore. Each cutter carries a crew of about 75 people and has a flight deck for a helicopter. Alert has been homeported in Astoria for decades. Another Reliance-class cutter, Steadfast (WMEC-623), is also based in Astoria.
The missions
Medium endurance cutters are sent out for weeks to months at a time. Alert’s patrols have included:
- Fisheries enforcement off the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, boarding vessels to check catch and gear rules
- Counter-drug patrols in the eastern Pacific off Mexico and Central America, where cutters have intercepted large drug shipments
- Search and rescue wherever the cutter is operating
- Migrant interdiction, homeland security and other law enforcement missions
When a cutter comes home, it often holds a public return, and families gather on the pier.
What a change of command means
The Coast Guard rotates cutter commanding officers every two to three years. The handover happens at a formal change-of-command ceremony. A senior officer presides, the outgoing commander reads his or her orders, and the incoming officer reads theirs and formally relieves the outgoing commander, saying “I relieve you, sir” or “ma’am.” The ceremonies are often held in public venues, and Astoria cutters have used the Columbia River Maritime Museum for them.
Alert held one such ceremony in 2013, and many more since. Coast Guard District 13 lists current leadership.
The future of the fleet
The Reliance-class cutters are being replaced. The Coast Guard is building the Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutter to take over medium endurance missions, but the replacement program has run behind schedule, so the older ships are still in service. Where the new cutters will be homeported, and how that affects Astoria, is something the North Coast will be watching.
Sources: U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Alert and District 13 public affairs; U.S. Coast Guard Office of Cutter Forces, Reliance-class information; U.S. Coast Guard Acquisition Directorate, Offshore Patrol Cutter program.
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