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Coast Guard doubles down on ‘flagship’ cutters in Hawaii

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Video by Craig T. Kojima / ckojima@staradvertiser.com
The new Coast Guard national security cutter Midgett (757) sailed into Honolulu Harbor Aug. 16 after leaving Pascagoula, Miss., on June 11. Sister ship Kimball (756), which arrived in Honolulu last December, joined Midgett off Oahu.
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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

The Midgett sailed past Diamond Head on Friday, along with sister ship, the Kimball. The cutters are likely to see duty in the Bering Sea, the Eastern Pacific, the Western Pacific and the South Pacific.

The new 418-foot Coast Guard national security cutter Midgett, paced by sister ship Kimball off Oahu, sailed into its new home port in Honolulu Friday, setting the stage for future missions to the four corners of the Pacific.

The Kimball arrived in late December. It’s the first time Hawaii has been a home port for the $670-million, Legend-class cutters that form the core of the Coast Guard fleet.

Both ships will be commissioned Aug. 24 in Honolulu at a ceremony presided over by Adm. Karl Schultz, the Coast Guard’s commandant.

“The U.S. Coast Guard has an enduring role in the Indo-Pacific region, going back over 150 years, and our commitment today is as strong as ever,” Schultz said in a release. “The national security cutters are the flagships of the fleet, and the homeporting of the Kimball and Midgett in Hawaii and their future deployments throughout the Indo-Pacific demonstrate the U.S. Coast Guard’s dedication to safeguarding the nation’s maritime safety, security and economic interests throughout the region.”

The cutters are expected to deploy to the Eastern Pacific where drug cartels use low-profile vessels to transport massive amounts of cocaine, and to the Western Pacific where China has laid claim to much of the South China Sea.

The cutters also are likely to see duty in the Bering Sea and South Pacific.

The Midgett’s transit to Hawaii from Pascagoula, Miss., was highlighted by two interdictions of low- profile go-fast vessels in the Eastern Pacific on July 25 and July 31 that resulted in a combined seizure of over 6,700 pounds of cocaine, estimated to be worth more than $89 million.

“The national security cutter gets you further faster and delivers more capability once on-scene than any other cutter in the history of our service,” Capt. Alan McCabe, Midgett’s commanding officer, said in a news release. “I am incredibly proud of the crew’s efforts making these two seizures possible, and we are eager to conduct future operations throughout the Pacific.”

The ships have advanced command and control and the range, speed and ability to operate in extreme weather, enabling them to deploy globally for a range of missions including supporting U.S. combatant commanders, the Coast Guard said.

They have a top speed of more than 32 mph, a range of 12,000 nautical miles, an endurance of up to 90 days and can carry a crew of up to 150.

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