MARINETTE, Wis. — Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine marked the beginning of construction on Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) 29, the future USS Beloit, with a ceremony in Marinette. As part of a shipbuilding tradition dating back centuries, a shipyard worker welded into the ship’s keel plate the initials of retired Army Maj. Gen. Marcia M. Anderson, USS Beloit ship sponsor and a Beloit, Wisconsin, native. This plate will be affixed to the ship and travel with Beloit throughout its commissioned life.  

LCS 29 will be the 15th Freedom-variant LCS and will join a class of more than 30 ships. To date, four Freedom-variant LCS have deployed to support U.S. Navy presence and peacekeeping missions. In May, LCS 7 (USS Detroit) partnered with a U.S. Navy destroyer and Coast Guard teams to serve interdiction missions in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility. 

“With two deployments so far this year, Freedom-variant LCS have proven that they are capable and can serve a unique role in the U.S. Navy’s fleet,” said Joe DePietro, vice president and general manager of Small Combatants and Ship Systems. “LCS’ speed, maneuverability and flexibility allows the ship to serve a multitude of missions by quickly integrating equipment and deploying manned and unmanned aerial, surface or sub-surface vehicles.”  

In total, there are more than 500,000 nautical miles under the keel of Freedom-variant LCS. The ship delivers advanced capability in antisubmarine, surface and mine countermeasure missions, and was designed to evolve with the changing security environment. As near-peer competition from large nation states increases, Lockheed Martin is partnering with the Navy to evolve LCS to meet these threats. Targeted upgrades are already underway with naval strike missiles being installed in support of upcoming deployments. Future installs of improved electronic warfare and decoy launching systems are under development. 

LCS 29 is the first Navy ship to be named after Beloit, Wisconsin, and the ship’s sponsor has personal ties to Beloit. During a long career with the U.S. military, Anderson became the first African American woman to obtain the rank of major general in the U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserve. As a citizen-soldier, Anderson was employed for 28 years by the United States Courts, where she served as the clerk of the Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Wisconsin, located in Madison, Wisconsin, until her retirement in late 2019. 

“The construction of the Navy’s newest Littoral Combat Ship and naming it after the city of Beloit, with its rich and storied history of supporting our nation’s national security, is more than fitting,” said Anderson. “When completed, the USS Beloit’s voyages will be part of the tradition of small cities and towns in America sharing our story around the world.”   

Beloit is one of six LCSs in various stages of construction and test at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard.  

“We are proud to celebrate the future USS Beloit today,” said Jan Allman, CEO of Fincantieri Marinette Marine. “The Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard is honored to build this capable warship, named for another city from the wonderful state of Wisconsin. I think this is a true testament to the hard work and patriotism of Midwesterners, and we look forward to working with the city of Beloit as we continue building LCS 29 for our U.S. Navy partner.” 

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The crew of the Coast Guard Heriberto Hernandez (WPC-1114) offloaded approximately 1,375 kilograms of cocaine at Sector San Juan on July 22, following the disruption of a drug smuggling go-fast in the Caribbean Sea, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a release. 

The seized drug shipment is estimated to have a wholesale value of more than $38.5 million. 

The interdiction was the result of multi-agency efforts in support of U.S. Southern Command’s enhanced counter-narcotics operations in the Western Hemisphere and during Operation CASTNET II, in coordination with Joint Task Force East. 

“I’m extremely proud of my crew as well as the performance and reliability of the Coast Guard fast response cutter,” said Lt. Russo, cutter Heriberto Hernandez commanding officer.  “The crew’s proficiency in using all of the cutter’s systems and capabilities throughout our patrol gave us the ability to effectively operate deep inside the Caribbean Sea, which led to this successful outcome and prevented over a ton of cocaine from ever reaching the streets.” 

The disruption and seizure occurred during a patrol the afternoon of July 16, 2020, when the crew of the cutter Heriberto Hernandez came upon a suspect go-fast vessel.  

As the cutter Heriberto Hernandez closed in to interdict the go-fast, the smugglers detected the cutter’s presence and began to jettison multiple bales of suspected contraband while fleeing the area at high speed. The crew of the Heriberto Hernandez conducted a thorough sweep of the area where the jettison occurred, and they were able to recover 55 bales of suspected contraband. The recovered bales tested positive for cocaine. 

The cutter Heriberto Hernandez transported the seized contraband to Sector San Juan, where it was received by awaiting federal law enforcement agents in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

Cutter Heriberto Hernandez is a 154-foot fast response cutter homeported in San Juan. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — A U.S. Navy destroyer and maritime patrol aircraft have teamed up in the Black Sea to provide the U.S participation in the 2020 Sea Breeze annual international naval exercise.  

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Porter, a unit of the Forward-Deployed Naval Force based in Rota, Spain, entered the Black Sea on July 19 to participate in the 20^th annual Exercise Sea Breeze, sponsored by the United States and Ukraine. The exercise runs July 20 through July 26.  

The Porter, commanded by Cmdr. Craig M. Trent, is making its eighth ballistic-missile defense patrol and third excursion into the Black Sea. The ship has been joined by a P-8A Poseidon aircraft assigned to Patrol Squadron 47 (VP-47), based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington, and deployed to Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily. VP-47 is commanded by Cmdr. Trever Plageman. 

The Porter and the VP-47 aircraft are participating in exercises with ships from seven other nations: Bulgaria, Georgia, Norway, Romania, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine. Some of the ships are part of NATO Standing Maritime Group 2. 

“Sea Breeze serves to build a rock-solid foundation of partnership in the Black Sea,” Vice Adm. Gene Black, commander, U.S. 6th Fleet, said during the opening day press conference, according to a release. “Our ships, aircraft and personnel train together unified in our goal of maritime security and stability.” 

In a July 22 teleconference with reporters, Trent said the Porter conducted a search-and-rescue exercise on July 21, an air-defense exercise July 22, and is scheduled for an antisubmarine exercise on July 23. He said the ship crews in the exercise were “very capable and professional … and very willing to work with us.”   

Trent said his crew is observing strict health precautions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, preventing normal festive port calls and productive interactions with the crews of the participating foreign ships. He said that a minimal number of Sailors go ashore to assist the Porter to assist the ship in taking on fuel. 

Plageman, also speaking in the teleconference, said that no submarines are serving as targets in the exercise. The ships and aircraft will be using an Expendable Mobile ASW Training Target System to simulate a target submarine. 

Trent said the Russian navy has been present in the vicinity of the exercise but that there have been no confrontations and the Russian units have acted in a “safe and professional” manner. 

JOINT EXPEDITIONARY BASE LITTLE CREEK, Va. ─ Naval Facilities (NAVFAC) Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (EXWC), U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, U.S. Central Command, and the U.S. Transportation Command successfully completed a proof-of-concept vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) demonstration on July 13, 2020, the NAVFAC EXWC said in a July 20 release. 

With NAVFAC EXWC at the helm as the demonstration lead, the joint capability demonstration included U.S. Central Command, U.S. Transportation Command and the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Lab serving as the operational leads for the daylong demonstration, providing operational and development inputs. 

The VTOL demonstration determined whether a VTOL aircraft can land on a forward-deployed barge with fuel stored on deck. The demonstration also supported the Resilient Expeditionary Agile Littoral Logistics, or REALL, objective to provide a low-cost logistics solution for the Department of Defense, as an alternative to placing high-value logistics supply platforms in contested environments. 

The most recent demonstration marks the first of numerous planned technology and operational demonstrations aimed to transition the REALL capability technology to the warfighter. 

“This demonstration is another example of what the great people of NAVFAC EXWC provides for our American warfighters,” said Kail Macias, NAVFAC EXWC technical director. “Speed and agility enable our forces to win the fight. The success of REALL is a tribute to the hard work and collaboration across [the Defense Department].” 

The VTOL demonstration consisted of one MH-60M Blackhawk helicopter — provided by the U.S. Special Operations Aviation Command, Systems Integration Management Office — that landed on the Improved Navy Lighterage System (INLS). The INLS is outfitted to simulate a refueling evolution; INLS systems were provided by Amphibious Construction Battalion Two. 

“The INLS roll-on/roll-off discharge facility is a modular system and is traditionally designed to facilitate movement of rolling stock from ship to shore platforms,” said Lt. Cmdr. Robert Leftwich, Bravo Company commander, Amphibious Construction Battalion 2. “It is a robust and highly capable platform suitable for other uses. Incorporating this legacy system into emergent needs enables more resiliency and responsiveness.” 

The successful VTOL demonstration further advances the National Defense Strategy’s modernization priority on forward force maneuver and posture resilience. 

“As the lead combatant command sponsor and warfighter representative for the REALL project, USCENTCOM’s goal was to demonstrate a littoral logistics sustainment capability for fuel distribution and logistics nodes in support of emerging operational concepts,” Said Thomas Smith, CENTCOM J8-ST chief science advisor for Advanced Concepts.

Looking onward, REALL will be further vetted, with the end goal of providing fuel, water, food and other supplies to vertical takeoff and landing aircraft and seaborne vessels for logistics operations required by the Naval Concept of Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The top U.S. military official in the Indo-Pacific area of responsibility has placed 360-degree defense of Guam from air and missile threats as his top priority. 

Adm. Phillip S. Davidson, commander, U.S. Indo Pacific Command, speaking in a July 21 teleconference with reporters, said that ballistic missiles launched from China or North Korea and cruise missiles launched from aircraft, ships or submarines are a threat to U.S. forces in Guam, a U.S. territory, which is increasing in importance as a base for U.S. forces. 

“My No. 1 priority, and the most important action we can take to readily and most fully implement the National Defense Strategy, as a first step, is a 360-degree persistent integrated air defense capability of what I call Homeland Defense System Guam,” Davidson said. 

Davidson advocates deploying the Baseline 10 Aegis Ashore missile defense system to Guam to supplement the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system already in place on the island.  

The Aegis Ashore system is an adaptation of the Navy’s Aegis Combat System installed on Ticonderoga-class guided-missile destroyers and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers. The SPY-1D radars of the system are teamed with an array of vertical launch cells housing Standard SM-3 missiles. Two Aegis Ashore systems are deployed to Europe, in Romania and Poland.  

“The backbone of the Homeland Defense System Guam would be the Baseline 10 Aegis Ashore system,” Davidson said. “The reason I’m a key advocate for that is, first, it is technology that is available to us now and could be delivered by 2026, when I believe the threat will require us to have a much more robust capability than the combination of THAAD, which is deployed there now, and an Aegis ship in response can provide. 

“You are going to need a complete clock — a 360-degree coverage in order to help defend Guam,” he said. “Further, Aegis Ashore, the C5I [command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence], that comes with it, enables you to bring in other capability like PAC-3 [missile defense system], other shorter-range defenses as well, much like Baseline 10 on a ship enables you to link and engage with other capability sets. That’s going to be required going forward. And it comes quickest. And that’s why Homeland Defense System Guam is at the top of my list.” 

Davidson said the funding would have to be approved by Congress in the 2021 budget for ground to be broken in time for Aegis Ashore to be operational in Guam by 2026.  

Guam was an important base during the Cold War and Vietnam War, with a squadron of ballistic-missile submarines, an EP-3 fleet air reconnaissance squadron and a detachment of P-3 maritime patrol aircraft, as well as an Air Force wing of B-52 long-range bombers. Its importance declined after the Cold War but returned in the 21st century to counter the rise of China’s military power. The Navy has stationed four attack submarines in Guam along with two submarine tenders. At Andersen Air Force Base, the Navy operates a sea combat helicopter squadron and a detachment of MQ-4C Triton long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles. The Navy also is building facilities for Marine Corps units that are scheduled to be moved to Guam from Okinawa in the future.   

Japan, which also deploys the Aegis system on its Kongo-class guided-missile destroyers, also had planned to deploy Aegis Ashore, but recently canceled the deployment because of concerns of damage to local communities near the launch sites. 

U.S. Navy cruisers and destroyers forward-deployed to Japan patrol the Sea of Japan in rotation to provide ballistic-missile defense. Former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John M. Richardson advocated for more Aegis Ashore systems to make the ships available for other tasking.   

ANDOVER, Mass. — Raytheon Missiles & Defense, a Raytheon Technologies business, delivered the first AN/SPY-6(V)1 radar array for installation on the future USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), the U.S. Navy’s first Flight III guided-missile destroyer. The SPY-6 family of radars performs simultaneous air, missile and surface defense on seven types of U.S. Navy ships. 

“SPY-6 will change how the Navy conducts surface fleet operations,” said Capt. Jason Hall, program manager for Above-Water Sensors for the U.S. Navy’s Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems. “Our ships will be able to see farther, react quicker and defend against threats in a way we couldn’t before.” 

The 14-foot-by-14-foot modular array was transported by truck from the company’s automated 30,000-square-foot Radar Development Facility in Andover, Massachusetts, to Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. 

“This is the start of what will be a steady stream of SPY-6 array deliveries to the shipyard,” said Kim Ernzen, vice president of Naval Power at Raytheon Missiles & Defense. “Threats to Navy ships are getting smaller and faster. SPY-6 will extend the Navy’s reach against dangers like drones, ballistic missiles, aircraft and unmanned ships.” 

The SPY-6(V) family of radars delivers significantly greater range, increased accuracy, greater resistance to environmental and man-made electronic clutter, advanced electronic protection, and higher reliability than currently deployed radars. 

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Technical Solutions division announced today that it has completed a strategic equity investment in Sea Machines Robotics Inc., a Boston-based autonomous technology company that specializes in advanced software for unmanned surface vessels (USVs). 

“This investment represents our commitment to advanced innovation and competencies across the unmanned systems market,” said Andy Green, HII executive vice president and president of Technical Solutions. “Sea Machines is making significant strides in the USV industry. We want to invest in their growth and continue to form complementary partnerships across this key domain.” 

Sea Machines was founded in 2015 and is an autonomous technology company that specializes in advanced control technology for workboats and other commercial surface vessels. They have installed their innovative autonomy software on vessels worldwide and support customers in the commercial, recreational and government market sectors. Their commercial, off-the-shelf technology can support remote controlled or fully autonomous command of vessels. 

“Our partnership with Sea Machines gives us immediate access to state-of-the art solutions for U.S government work in the USV space,” said Duane Fotheringham, president of Technical Solutions’ Unmanned Systems. “Sea Machines’ products align well with our existing autonomy capabilities, and we look forward to collaborating with their team on USV pursuits.” 

HII continues to expand in the rapidly growing autonomous and unmanned maritime systems industry. Earlier this year they added additional unmanned underwater vehicle capabilities — with REMUS and Seaglider product lines through the March acquisition of Hydroid. While the company has worked on USVs in the past, this investment represents another milestone in their commitment to strengthen their leadership in unmanned systems. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy is developing a new sonobuoy to enhance is ability to track newer and quieter submarines, according to a July 20 Defense Department contract announcement.  

The Office of Naval Research has awarded Undersea Signal Systems Inc. of Columbia City, Indiana, a $28.3 million cost-plus-fixed-fee-contract “to develop a prototype sonobuoy, known as Extended Range Directional Frequency Analysis and Recording (ER-DIFAR), to address new and quiet threat submarine targets.” 

Sonobuoys are deployed by Navy P-8A, P-3C and MH-60R aircraft to acoustically detect and track submarines. They are expendable sensors that float on the surface of the water and extend a hydrophone to depths to collect sound from submarine propulsion systems, auxiliary machinery and other sources of sound from a submarine. 

Passive sonobuoys, such as the SSQ-53 DIFAR (Directional Frequency Analysis and Recording) sonobuoys were a staple of Cold War antisubmarine operations because they were able to detect and point to the sounds from a submarine. As Soviet and later Russian submarines improved in their acoustic quieting, the DIFAR sonobuoy became less effective. The Navy then turned to emphasized active tracking sonobuoys such as the SSQ-125 sonobuoy, which used a sound source to “ping” a submarine, but also revealed to a submarine that it was being tracked.  

A new extended-range DIFAR sonobuoy would increase the ability to passively track quieter submarines.    

The contract for the DIFAR-ER is a three-year base contract with a one-year option. Work is expected to be completed by July 2024. 

POINT MUGU, Calif. — Demonstrating that Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) remains open for business despite the pandemic, Navy leaders and private contractors have broken ground at Naval Base Ventura County’s Point Mugu for what will become the fleet’s only dedicated facility to test, fire and evaluate complete laser weapon systems in a maritime environment, the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division (NSWC PHD) said in a release.  

The nearly 18,500-square-foot Directed Energy Systems Integration Laboratory (DESIL) will open in roughly a year along the Point Mugu Sea Range, enabling NSWC PHD to help accelerate delivery of laser lethality to the warfighter at sea, according to the release.

“Thank you to our partners who were able to join us today for this momentous occasion,” said Capt. Ray Acevedo, NSWC PHD’s commanding officer, at the small groundbreaking ceremony. “This lab is a great win for the Navy, and it further affirms that even during a crisis, the Navy and NAVSEA have been, and continue to be, open for business, executing our mission.” 

“The combination of capabilities will be unlike that of any other facility, and will provide customers with a versatile venue for technology maturation and weapon system integration and test. This is a game-changer for the Navy, and will ensure this new technology is well-supported as it becomes a mainstay on naval combatants.” — Robert Harriman, DESIL systems engineer with NSWC PHD

Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, Naval Air Systems Command operates the 36,000-square-mile sea range, one of the reasons why NBVC was chosen for DESIL, said Thomas Dowd, director of the command’s Range Department, during the ceremony. 

“The value of the Point Mugu Sea Range is that you can put a facility of this nature right on the coastline, and it can operate in the sea range and take advantage of that testing capability,” Dowd said. “The decision to build it here is a recognition of the value of the partnership we have between location, geography, maritime environment and engineering talent at the two centers.” 

Once operating, the facility recreates as realistically as possible how high-energy laser (HEL) weapons behave on a Navy ship platform — customers/users will test how HEL beams perform in sea conditions such as moisture, humidity, salt, fog, differing air densities and temperature changes will affect laser performance; how ships’ systems will power and cool the energy-intense weapons; and will test them by shooting at targets on the sea range and in the air over the sea range. Directed energy (DE) team members will support HEL weapons once installed on ships. DESIL will also serve as a laboratory for integrating, testing and evaluating developers’ new DE and HEL weapon prototypes. 

Also attending the groundbreaking were Jeff Harper, owner and president of Harper Construction Co. Inc. of San Diego, which will build DESIL through a military construction contract, and Cmdr. Andrew Olson with Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), DESIL design manager.  

NAVFAC prepared DESIL’s request for proposal based on NSWC PHD’s requirements, awarded the design/build contract to Harper and will monitor the construction. The lab’s estimated cost is roughly $23 million. 

Navy In-Service Engineering Agents (ISEA) for ship-based combat and laser systems, will operate DESIL, enabling the lasers to support the fleet as crucial components of the Navy’s maritime superiority strategy. 

“[At DESIL,] the ISEA engineers will recreate issues and investigate [engineering] issues for deployed DE-installed ships and use the lab as a test range asset,” said Marcos Gonzalez, NSWC PHD project lead for DESIL. “It [DESIL] could [also] bring in industry-developed versions of lasers, and developers could perform firing exercises on the test range. We [also] want to make it open to others in the DE world, such as university researchers, because of its unique location, adjacent to the sea range.” 

During the ceremony, NSWC PHD Technical Director Paul Mann discussed DE’s “enormous capability” for all warfighters across all military branches, and that DESIL’s ability to enable weapon systems integration is essential to the Navy’s delivery of that capability. 

“Systems integration is going to allow government, military and industry professionals to come to this facility at Point Mugu and do extraordinary things for our United States and its citizens,” Mann said. “The amazing success that’s going to be hatched and inspired and born at this facility is something we haven’t yet totally imagined. When we are at our most lethal, we deter at our best, so this is an investment in the protection of our United States’ citizens.” 

DESIL has also been designed to handle increasingly more powerful lasers. 

The lab will include space to collaborate with Department of Defense, private industry and academia DE experts; a conference room; offices; and an area for high-velocity learning to potentially train Sailors. 

“The combination of capabilities will be unlike that of any other facility, and will provide customers with a versatile venue for technology maturation and weapon system integration and test,” said Robert Harriman, DESIL systems engineer with NSWC PHD. “This is a game-changer for the Navy, and will ensure this new technology is well-supported as it becomes a mainstay on naval combatants.” 

SEATTLE — The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Mellon (WHEC 717) returned to their homeport July 7 after completing the final patrol for the 52-year-old ship, the Coast Guard Pacific Area said in a July 20 release. 

The 150-person crew left Seattle April 17 to conduct missions throughout the Aleutian Islands and Bering Sea. 

During the patrol the crew conducted 38 law enforcement boardings, four search and rescue cases, and enforced federal regulations governing Alaska’s $13.9 billion commercial fishing industry. 

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mellon crew instituted protective measures to ensure crew safety and the safety of the commercial fishing fleet and Alaskan public. 

The Mellon is one the last remaining 378-foot high-endurance cutters built for extended offshore patrols. Its capabilities span from helicopter operations to pursuit boat operations and served as a key asset for the Department of Homeland Security and humanitarian missions at sea. 

The Mellon was the third of the 378-foot high-endurance class to be completed and the first cutter to be named after Andrew W. Mellon, the 49th secretary of the treasury, who served between 1921 and 1932. The cutter’s keel was laid July 25, 1966, and the ship was launched Feb. 11, 1967.  It was commissioned 11 months after its launching on Jan. 9, 1968. The construction cost for the vessel totaled approximately $14.5 million. 

Its namesake, Andrew W. Mellon, was born in 1855 in Pittsburg and was a successful businessman and banker prior to his appointment as secretary of the treasury by President Warren G. Harding in 1921. Mellon actively worked for tax reform in order to reduce public debt and tax burden. The “Mellon Plan” became law as the Revenue Act of 1924 and successfully reduced public debt and taxes until 1930 when the depression caused debt to rise again. In addition to serving in the cabinet of President Harding, Mellon was secretary of the treasury under Presidents Coolidge and Hoover and served one year as the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain. 

The Mellon was originally homeported in Honolulu and spent 12 years patrolling the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to Alaska. It was then transferred to Seattle in 1981. 

The Mellon returned to Hawaii after service in Vietnam. Many rescue efforts took place during its Hawaii patrol. In 1974, crew members of the Italian supertanker Giovanna Lolli-Ghetti survived an explosion, fire and subsequent sinking of the vessel off the coast of Hawaii. The Mellon responded and played a key role in rescuing the crew members. 

The rescue was successful in two ways – first, it involved close cooperation between crews and vessels from Norway, Russia and the United States, and second, the rescue was a positive event that involved cooperation between Cold War nations. 

The Mellon and its crew also experienced tragedy and damage while stationed in Hawaii. 

The vessel was docked in the Dillingham Shipyard for repairs and maintenance on Sept. 7, 1971, when an explosion occurred aboard, which resulted in the death of a civilian who was installing insulation. Extensive damage to the vessel included buckling of the deck, hull and frame. More damage occurred in April 1972, while unmooring in Kodiak Harbor. The vessel touched bottom and sustained damage to the sonar dome and the bow thruster unit. 

Awards that the Mellon and its crew members received include the Meritorious Unit Commendation for operations conducted between June 28, 1975, and Feb. 2, 1976. 

The award was given to the Mellon crew for their response to four search-and-rescue cases, investigating and disproving allegations of violations of the Unimak Island Crab Sanctuary. Crew members of the vessel also reported the illegal discharge of oil into the sea by two Russian trawlers to authorities. Gunnery operations on the Mellon earned the unit the Commandant’s Gunnery Award in October 1999. 

The Mellon crew spent 1980 participating with the Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell (WHEC-719) in search-and-rescue operations. 

Two notable rescue efforts were accomplished in 1982. The first rescue was conducted with the Boutwell crew, other military units and a merchant ship. The Mellon rescued passengers from the burning luxury liner Prindsendam off the Alaskan coast. The combined effort rescued a total of 510 passengers and crew members from lifeboats after they abandoned ship. The second rescue effort saved four crash survivors from a Coast Guard C-130 aircraft on Attu Island. 

The Mellon operated in areas 150 miles from the Soviet Union to areas off the coast of California after it was recommissioned. It patrolled areas in the North Pacific from the Gulf of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands into the Bering Sea. It spent three months of the year engaged in extensive training and exercises with the U.S. Navy off the coast of Southern California. 

In January of 1990, the Mellon was the first of five Coast Guard cutters to become fitted with an anti-ship missile. The cutter also received an antisubmarine warfare suite that included the AN/SQS-38 sonar and Mark 46 torpedoes. The suite and anti-ship missile served as proof of capability for all Coast Guard cutters; however, they were later removed due to budget constraints.