USCGC ''Diligence'' (WMEC-616) is a ''Reliance''-class

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

210-foot medium endurance cutter formerly based in

Wilmington, NC Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is th ...

but now based in Pensacola, Florida. ''Diligence'' was the second of 16 cutters built from 1962 to 1968. Fourteen of this class of cutter are still in active U.S. service, and two have been transferred to foreign navies. All ''Reliance''-class cutters were built with dual shafts and controllable pitch propellers, and were capable of speeds up to 18 knots.

History

''Diligence'', the sixth US Coast Guard cutter to bear that name, originally moored in downtown

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is t ...

. ''Diligence'' is capable of performing any of the missions that white-hulled Coast Guard cutters traditionally perform, ranging from alien migrant interdiction operations (AMIO) and drug interdiction missions down in the Caribbean, to fisheries protection of the Atlantic seaboard, to search and rescue (SAR) anywhere in between. The SAR capabilities are enhanced by utilizing helicopters to extend the reach of the cutters well beyond the horizon. On 24 January 2019, the Coast Guard announced that the ''Diligence'' would be homeported in Pensacola, Florida by 30 September 2020. ''Diligence'' departed Wilmington for the last time on 25 May 2020. The cutter ''Diligence'' was seen in the 1966 science fiction movie '' Around the World Under the Sea'' starring

Lloyd Bridges Lloyd Vernet Bridges Jr. (January 15, 1913 – March 10, 1998) was an American film, stage and television actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. He was the father of four children, includi ...

. USCGC ''Diligence'' also appeared in the ''Matlock'' TV series in the episode "The Heist".

References

External links

''Diligence'' home page
Ships of the United States Coast Guard Reliance-class cutters Ships built in Houston {{US-mil-ship-stub