 USCGC Bertholf (WMSL-750) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Namesake | Commodore Ellsworth P. Bertholf, USCG |
| Ordered | January 2001 |
| Builder | Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Pascagoula, Mississippi |
| Cost | $641 million[1] |
| Laid down | March 29, 2005 |
| Launched | September 29, 2006 |
| Christened | November 11, 2006 |
| Commissioned | August 4, 2008 |
| Homeport | Integrated Support Command Alameda |
| Identification |
|
| Motto | "Legends Begin Here" |
| Status | In active service |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 4500 LT |
| Length | 418 feet (127 meters) |
| Beam | 54 feet (16 meters) |
| Draft | 22.5 feet (6.9 meters) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 28+ knots |
| Range | 12,000 nm |
| Complement | 113 (14 officers + 99 enlisted) and can carry up to 167 depending on mission[3] |
| Sensors and processing systems |
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| Electronic warfare & decoys | |
| Armament |
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| Armor | Ballistic protection for main gun |
| Aircraft carried | 2 x MH-65C Dolphin MCH, or 4 x VUAV or 1 x MH-65C Dolphin MCH and 2 x VUAV |
| Aviation facilities | 50-by-80-foot (15 m × 24 m) flight deck, hangar for all aircraft |
USCGC Bertholf (WMSL-750) is the first Legend-class maritime security cutter of the United States Coast Guard. She is named for Commodore Ellsworth P. Bertholf, fourth commandant of both the Revenue Cutter Service and Coast Guard.
In 2005, construction began at Northrop Grumman's Ship Systems Ingalls ShipyardinPascagoula, Mississippi. She was launched on September 29, 2006,[4] christened November 11, 2006,[5] and commissioned on August 4, 2008. The cutter's home port is Alameda, California. Bertholf was the first to fire the Bofors 57 mm gun aboard a U.S. vessel on 11 February 2008.[6]
On March 3, 2016, Bertholf responded to a sighting off the Pacific Coast of Panama of a semi-submersible narco-submarine, reported by a P-3 Orion.[7] The semi-submersible surrendered to a boarding party launched from Bertholf, and four suspects were captured along with 6 tons of cocaine.[8] The boarding party then sank the semi-submersible.[9] During the 2012 RIMPAC exercises Bertholf detected and tracked missile threats and also provided naval gunfire support for troops ashore during the training exercise, demonstrating the capability of moving with other naval forces and being able to perform other defense operations.[10]
On 25 March 2019, USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54), in concert with Bertholf transited the contested Taiwan Strait.[11] On 15 April of same year, the ship visited Hong Kong, the first Coast Guard vessel to do so in seventeen years.[12]
Bertholf is the lead ship of the Legend-class cutter design and the first large ship to be built under the Coast Guard's multi-year Deepwater acquisitions project. The NSCs replaced the fleet's aging 1960s-era 378-foot Hamilton-class cutters.
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