USCGC ''Dauntless'' (WMEC-624) is a

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

medium endurance cutter The Medium Endurance Cutter or WMEC is a type of United States Coast Guard Cutter mainly consisting of the Famous- and ''Reliance''-class cutters. These larger cutters are under control of Area Commands (Atlantic Area or Pacific Area). These cut ...

, commissioned in 1968. She is the first cutter in Coast Guard history to hold this name. Like all ships in the ''Reliance'' class of 210-foot medium-endurance cutters, ''Dauntless'' is named for an aspirational trait, in this case meaning to "persevere fearlessly." This trait is further reflected in the ship's motto ''Sin Miedo'' which, in Spanish, means "Without Fear."

Construction and career

''Dauntless'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

on May 15, 1967 and launched on October 21, 1967 by the

American Ship Building Company The American Ship Building Company was the dominant shipbuilder on the Great Lakes before the Second World War. It started as Cleveland Shipbuilding in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1888 and opened the yard in Lorain, Ohio, in 1898. It changed its name t ...

Lorain, Ohio Lorain () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. It is located in Northeast Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River (Ohio), Black River about west of Cleveland. It is the List of cities in Ohio, ninth-most populous city in O ...

. She was commissioned on June 10, 1968. She is the tenth of the sixteen ''Reliance''-class cutters. ''Dauntless'' was designed for search-and-rescue work. At launch, she had a small, high superstructure with 360-degree visibility and a correspondingly large helicopter pad aft without a hanger. To improve the view from the bridge and to ease helicopter operations, her engine exhaust was not routed through a stack but out through the transom. In practice, waves washing into the exhaust openings in heavy weather proved troublesome. The exhaust through the transom was replaced by a conventional stack during ''Dauntless''s Mid-life Maintenance Availability in 1993. Afterwards the ship had a larger superstructure and a smaller helicopter pad. Her hull is welded steel and her superstructure aluminum, as is usual with contemporary warships. At launch, ''Dauntless''s main armament was an open-mount Mark 22 3-inch/50 caliber gun on the foredeck. During the Mid-life Maintenance Availability this gun was replaced by a 25-mm/87 cal Bushmaster Mark 38 and her Mark 22 gun was put on display onboard the USS ''Lexington'' Museum. ''Dauntless'' is also armed with two M2HB .50 caliber machine guns. Her design included space and weight reservations for Hedgehog anti-submarine mortars and later Mark 32 anti-submarine torpedoes but these were never actually installed. After her commissioning, ''Dauntless'' was homeported in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

for 25 years, where she earned a reputation as one of the nation's premier "drug busters." ''Dauntless'' became the second cutter in history (after USCGC ''Steadfast'') to seize one million pounds of marijuana, an accomplishment signified by a large gold marijuana leaf painted on her

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

. She became the first cutter to seize one ton of marijuana in a single bust when her crew boarded the fishing boat ''Big L'' on March 8, 9173. During her Coast Guard career, ''Dauntless'' has over 85 illegal narcotics "busts" to her credit, more than any other cutter. She has also played a leading role in

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

(SAR) operations. During the mass Cuban exodus (see

Mariel boatlift The Mariel boatlift () was a mass emigration of Cubans who traveled from Cuba's Mariel Harbor to the United States between April 15 and October 31, 1980. The term "" is used to refer to these refugees in both Spanish and English. While the ex ...

) between April 23 and May 13, 1980, over 25 vessels were towed to safety, eight persons adrift at sea were rescued, and 55 SAR cases were conducted. President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

visited the cutter on November 17, 1982 and awarded her the Coast Guard Unit Commendation. It was the first time in 19 years that a President visited a Coast Guard cutter. The ship's most-publicized case occurred during January 1986, when ''Dauntless'' was second (after USCGC ''Point Roberts'') to arrive and served as on-scene commander (until relieved by USCGC ''Dallas'') for the response to the

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

''Challenger''

disaster A disaster is an event that causes serious harm to people, buildings, economies, or the environment, and the affected community cannot handle it alone. '' Natural disasters'' like avalanches, floods, earthquakes, and wildfires are caused by na ...

. In June 1993, she was decommissioned and entered Major Maintenance Availability (MMA) at the

Coast Guard Yard The United States Coast Guard Yard or just Coast Guard Yard is a United States Coast Guard operated shipyard located on Curtis Bay in northern Anne Arundel County, Maryland, just south of the Baltimore city limits. It is the Department of Homela ...

in Curtis Bay,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. After 18 months and at a total cost of $21 million, the ship was completely overhauled from stem to stern. The major renovations included the addition of an engine exhaust stack aft of the pilot house, a complete powerplant overhaul, installation of new navigation and communications systems, and extensive habitability improvements. After MMA, ''Dauntless'' sailed to her new homeport of

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

in March 1995. She was also drydocked for overhaul for ten months in 2009 at the

and for six months in 2022 at the

Brooklyn Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York (state), New York, U.S. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a se ...

. On November 24, 1995, ''Dauntless'' rescued 578 migrants from a grossly overloaded 75-foot coastal freighter, the largest number of migrants rescued from a single vessel in Coast Guard history. After relocating to

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

, ''Dauntless'' continued performing her primary missions of law enforcement, alien migrant interdiction operations, protection of marine resources, SAR, and later homeland defense in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. Operational highlights included the four "drug busts" resulting in over 3,000 pounds of illegal drugs seized; and the September 2001 rescue of a young commercial mariner from

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

who had fallen overboard from the vessel on which he was working; he was successfully located and returned to his ship. After the events of

September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, ''Dauntless'' conducted several patrols dedicated to enhancing port security in the Gulf of Mexico. In July 2018, ''Dauntless'' arrived at her newly assigned homeport of

Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. At a June 21, 2024 Naval Air Station Pensacola ceremony celebrating her 56 years of service, ''Dauntless'' was removed from active duty and placed in commission, special statusan inactive shipyard condition. Her crew departed to other duty stations to help address the Coast Guard's shortage of enlisted personnel.

Awards

The cutter's awards include the

Coast Guard Unit Commendation The Coast Guard Unit Commendation is the highest peacetime unit award that may be awarded to military commands of the United States Coast Guard. The decoration was first created in 1963 and is presented to members of any Coast Guard unit that di ...

(2), the

Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The United States Army, U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstand ...

(5), the Coast Guard Bicentennial Unit Commendation, the Coast Guard "E" ribbon (7), the

National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four s ...

(3), and the

Humanitarian Service Medal The Humanitarian Service Medal (HSM) is a military service medal of the United States Armed Forces which was created on January 19, 1977 by President Gerald Ford under . The medal may be awarded to members of the United States military (incl ...

(3).

In fiction

''Dauntless'' has appeared in two motion pictures: ''The Island'', in which (portraying the fictional USCGC ''New Hope'') she was boarded and seized by Caribbean pirates, and in the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

film ''

Licence to Kill ''Licence to Kill'' is a 1989 spy film, the sixteenth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the second and final film to star Timothy Dalton as the MI6 agent James Bond (literary character), J ...

'' In the 2016 novel ''Goliath'' by Shawn Corridan and Gary Waid, ''Dauntless'' along with ''Alex Haley'' are the two Coast Guard cutters that respond to the fire aboard and subsequent stranding of a Russian ULCC.

Gallery

File:USCG Dauntless returns to port.jpg, USCGC ''Dauntless'' returning to port in December 2009. File:USCG Dauntless returns to port -b.jpg, USCGC ''Dauntless'' returning to port in December 2009. File:Shipboard landing in Gulf of Mexico 131114-G-HN254-156.jpg, USCGC ''Dauntless'' in the

on 14 November 2013. File:Shipboard training aboard Coast Guard Cutter Dauntless (27369140420).jpg, USCGC ''Dauntless'' in the

on 10 June 2016.

References

External links

History
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dauntless Historic American Engineering Record in Texas Ships of the United States Coast Guard Reliance-class cutters 1967 ships Ships built in Lorain, Ohio