Coast Guard Cutter Dauntless, protecting America, patrolling the Caribbean
Posted by PA2 Stephen Lehmann, Monday, July 9, 2012
Coast Guard Cutter Dauntless returns home
The crew of the U. S. Coast Guard Cutter Dauntless, a 210-foot Medium Endurance Cutter homeported in Galveston, Texas, returned home after a 56-day counter narcotics patrol in the Caribbean, June 19.
The 75-person crew of the Dauntless deployed to the western Caribbean and received a request from Coast Guard 7th District to assist with alien migration interdiction operations in the Florida Straits.
“From May 11th to the 17th, the crew of the Dauntless interdicted two unseaworthy vessels, both were carrying more than 20 Cuban migrants,” said Ensign Eric Hudson, public affairs officer for the Dauntless. “The crew then transferred, cared for and assisted in the repatriation of another 120 migrants.”
Two medical evacuations were conducted during their deployment to the Florida Straits, one with the help of Station Key West and the other with the help of Air Station Clearwater.
Upon their departure from the straits, the crew of the Dauntless was tasked with patrolling off the coast of Haiti in an area known as the Windward Passage.
Cutter Dauntless underway
“For the next two weeks the crew monitored sea lanes off the north claw of Haiti on the lookout for overloaded vessels filled with Haitian migrants,” said Hudson.
From Haiti, the crew of the Dauntless headed south to support Joint Interagency Task Force South and the Coast Guard 7th District’s pursuit of drug-smugglers in the Caribbean.
“Throughout this part of the patrol the hard working crew of the Dauntless was able to successfully disrupt the maritime trans-shipment of 5,000 pounds of marijuana,” said Hudson.
For more than 220 years, the U.S. Coast Guard has safeguarded America’s maritime interests – at home and around the world – saving those in peril, defending our maritime border, and protecting the marine transportation system, natural resources and the maritime environment.
Tags: 7th Coast Guard District, CGC Dauntless, medium endurance cutter
