USCGC Dallas (WHEC-716)

The USCGC "Dallas" (WHEC-716), is a Coast Guard high endurance cutter commissioned in 1967 at the Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans. She is the sixth ship or boat to bear the name Alexander J. Dallas, the Secretary of the Treasury under President James Madison (1814-1816). She is one of twelve Hamilton class cutters in the Coast Guard.

The "Dallas" serves in the Atlantic Ocean, venturing as far away as the Black Sea and Africa on occasion. The Coast Guard’s Integrated Deepwater System Program calls for the decommissioning all of the Hamilton-class cutters by 2020.

History

The "Dallas" was at first home ported at the former Coast Guard base on Governor’s Island, New York. She was relocated to her current homeport of Charleston, South Carolina on in September 1996.

In her earlier years, the "Dallas" collected meteorological and oceanographic data on "ocean station" as part of the "Gate Project", and she assisted commercial aircraft crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

During seven combat patrols off the coast of Vietnam, "Dallas" list of accomplishments included 161 gunfire support missions involving 7,665 rounds of her 5-inch ammunition. This resulted in 58 sampans destroyed and 29 Viet-Cong supply routes, bases, camps, or rest areas damaged or destroyed. Her convert|5|in|mm|0|sing=on guns made her very valuable to the naval missions in the area.

In 1980, the "Dallas" was the command ship for the historic Mariel Boatlift, during which 125,000 Cuban refugees set sail for the shores of Florida. At the time, it was the largest humanitarian operation ever undertaken by the Coast Guard. In 1983, the "Dallas" earned a Coast Guard Unit Commendation for achievements that included the seizure of seven vessels smuggling over 103,000 lb. of marijuana and the interdiction of 90 illegal Haitian migrants. In 1986, the "Dallas" served as the on-scene command for the search and rescue operation following the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. For her service during this operation, the "Dallas" received the Coast Guard’s Meritorious Unit Commendation.

In the late 1980s, the "Dallas" underwent a fleet rehabilitation and modernization (FRAM) program in the Portland, Maine, yards of the Bath Iron Works. During that period, her living quarters, electronics, sensors, and weapons systems were upgraded to allow continued service beyond the year 2000. The "Dallas" was recommissioned by the "Cross-decked" crew from the "Gallatin" on December 20, 1989.

During the Haitian migrant crisis of 1991-92, the "Dallas" performed as the flagship of a flotilla of twenty-seven Coast Guard cutters that rescued 35,000 migrants from hundreds of overcrowded, unseaworthy vessels. The "Dallas" received a Humanitarian Service Medal and another Coast Guard Unit Commendation for her efforts in establishing an operation task organization that serves as the model for today’s Coast Guard multi-unit operation.

In response to the renewed threats of a mass exodus from Haiti, Operation Able Manner began in January 1993, with large numbers of Coast Guard and U.S. Navy ships and aircraft deploying to the Caribbean. The "Dallas" assumed command of this flotilla on three separate patrols in 1993, earning her yet another Coast Guard Unit Commendation.

The "Dallas" spent the summer of 1994 representing the Coast Guard of France at the 50th D-Day invasion anniversary. During those festivities, the "Dallas" steamed with the reenactment fleet to commemorate the event.

Soon after the D-Day celebration, the "Dallas" was called upon to be the flagship for the Operation Able Vigil in response to another mass exodus from Cuba. Able Vigil was the largest Coast Guard commanded, but multi-service, operation since the 1940s.

During the summer of 1995, the "Dallas" operated with the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. Among her many assignments, "Dallas" worked with the USS|Theodore Roosevelt|CVN-71|6 Battle Group in support of Operation Deny Flight off the coast of Yugoslavia. The "Dallas’s" crew conducted nation-building training and professional exchange in various countries in the Mediterranean, the Adriatic Sea, and the Black Sea. The "Dallas" worked with the navies, coast guards, and maritime agencies of Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Tunisia, Slovenia, Albania, and Italy. This marked the first time that a U.S. Coast Guard cutter operated with the U.S. Sixth Fleet and also entered the Black Sea. "Dallas" earned the Armed Forces Service Medal for her contributions to Operations Deny Flight, Maritime Monitor, and Sharp Guard.

During 1997 and 1998, the "Dallas" served as the flagship for Operations Frontier Shield and Frontier Lance, the largest interagency, international counter-narcotic operations in the Caribbean to date.

In the summer of 1999, the "Dallas" was again assigned to the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean and Black Seas to support allied forces during the conflict in Kosovo. While enroute, the conflict ended, but the "Dallas" was ordered to remain in theater to conduct training and professional exchanges with US Naval units and foreign naval forces. The "Dallas" became the first Coast Guard cutter to enter the ports of Haifa, Israel, and Antalya, Turkey, and she conducted training exercises with the Ukrainian Navy, Turkish Coast Guard, Georgian Navy, and the armed forces of Malta.

During the entire 1990-2000 decade "Dallas" held the Commander of the Atlantic Area’s Operational Readiness Award for sustained excellence in all Coast Guard warfare mission areas.

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 on New York and Virginia, the "Dallas" was deployed as part of Operation Noble Eagle off the coast of the southeastern United States. Her mission was to interrogate and board vessels entering US waterways. This marked a change in the Coast Guard’s operations as an emphasis on homeland security preceded the "Dallas’s" previous missions of drug interdiction and operations with the U.S. Navy overseas.

During the summer of 2002, the "Dallas" took part in a new approach to maritime drug interdiction. Deployed alongside the "USCGC|Gallatin|WHEC-721", the only other 378-foot cutter on the East Coast, the "Dallas" took part in Operation New Frontier. Operation New Frontier utilizes armed helicopters from the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) to stop small high-speed vessel ("go-fasts") before they can reach their destination.

In 2003, the "Dallas" was assigned to the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The "Dallas" initially provided armed escorts through the Straits of Gibraltar and conducted boardings of vessels leaving the Suez Canal, as the Iraqis fled. The "Dallas" made port calls in Rota Spain, Split Croatia, Sicily, and Madeira Portugal.

In August 2008, the "Dallas" was sent to Georgia's shoreline on the Black Sea in support of Operation Assured Delivery in order to bring humanitarian supplies to those affected by the South Ossetia war [http://www.eucom.mil/english/FullStory.asp?art=1810] . With Georgia's main naval base at Poti effectively under Russian control, the "Dallas" instead docked at Batumi [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/27/georgia.russia1] , as did the USS|McFaul and 9 other NATO ships. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/28/russia.georgia]

The "Dallas’s" awards include: three Humanitarian Service Medals, two Joint Meritorious Unit Commendations, three Coast Guard Unit Commendations, two Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendations, a Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation, the Armed Forces Service Medal, numerous Coast Guard Special Operations service ribbons, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation, the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Unit Citation, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

Note: The Coast Guard’s Integrated Deepwater System Program program calls for decommissioning all of the Hamilton-class cutters by 2020.

External links

* [http://www.uscg.mil/lantarea/cgcDallas/default.asp "Dallas" home page]