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United States Coast
Guard Cutter
Mayport, Florida
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SHIP'S HISTORY
The United
States Coast Guard Cutter VALIANT is a multi-mission, medium endurance
cutter home ported in Mayport, Florida. VALIANT operates in the Atlantic
Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico for Commander, Coast Guard Atlantic
Area. Missions include search and rescue, maritime law enforcement, marine
environmental protection, homeland security, and national defense
operations. VALIANT was built in Lorain, Ohio by the American Shipbuilding
Company, and is the seventh of sixteen cutters of her class. VALIANT’s keel
was laid on February 28, 1966 and she was launched on January 14, 1967. She
was first commissioned on November 3, 1967 in Galveston, Texas where she
served for 24 years. In November 1991, VALIANT was decommissioned for a
mid-life overhaul. On January 7, 1994, VALIANT was re-commissioned in her
present homeport of Miami Beach, Florida.
VALIANT normally carries 12 officers and 63 crewmembers. An important aspect
of VALIANT’s design is the attention given to habitability. The ship has its
own galley, sickbay, laundry, sewage treatment system, televisions, radios,
and digital satellite television. Powered by two V16 2550 horsepower ALCO
diesel engines, VALIANT is capable of a maximum sustained speed of 18 knots.
VALIANT is also equipped with two controllable pitch propellers, which also
make her highly maneuverable.
In 2008, VALIANT was involved in the dangerous heavy-weather, nighttime
rescue and repatriation of a group of 242 Haitian migrants. Most recently,
in 2009, the crew coordinated the rescue of 124 Haitian migrants aboard an
overloaded sail freighter located well within Cuban Territorial Seas. All
persons aboard were transferred safely to VALIANT and eventually repatriated
to Cap Haitien, Haiti.
During VALIANT’s October 2009 patrol, the cutter interdicted nearly 5 tons
of cocaine from four separate smuggling vessels. The narcotics were seized
as a result of coordinated efforts between VALIANT’s crew, other Coast Guard
assets, and Customs and Border Patrol aircraft. The contraband seized had a
wholesale value of over 125 million dollars.
Following the earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010, VALIANT responded and
was directed to the north shore to prevent a mass migration. In addition to
patrolling much of Haiti’s coastline, VALIANT anchored in Cap Haitien and
conducted a survey of the port, assisted the Haitian Coast Guard in
repairing their assets, and coordinated with the Haitian government and the
United Nations to open Cap Haitien as a resupply and repatriation port
during the earthquake relief efforts.
During
the May-June 2012 Counter Drug patrol, VALIANT interdicted a 32-foot go-fast
vessel carrying 2,654 pounds of cocaine, worth a total
wholesale value of $32.5 million dollars.
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