USCGC ''Edgar Culbertson'' (WPC-1137) is the

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 ...

's 37th

cutter Cutter may refer to: Tools * Bolt cutter * Box cutter, aka Stanley knife, a form of utility knife * Cigar cutter * Cookie cutter * Glass cutter * Meat cutter * Milling cutter * Paper cutter * Side cutter * Cutter, a type of hydraulic rescue to ...

, and the second of three to be homeported in

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Gal ...

Design

Like her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

s, ''Edgar Culbertson'' is designed to perform

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 ...

missions,

port security Port security is part of a broader definition concerning maritime security. It refers to the defense, law and treaty enforcement, and counterterrorism activities that fall within the port and maritime domain. It includes the protection of the se ...

, and the interception of smugglers. She is armed with a remotely-controlled, gyro-stabilized 25 mm autocannon, four crew served

M2 Browning machine gun The M2 machine gun or Browning .50 caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. Its design is similar to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, ...

s, and light arms. She is equipped with a

stern launching ramp Some modern patrol vessels are equipped with a stern launching ramp, for deploying smaller rescue or pursuit boats without requiring the parent ship to first come to a halt. Typically the smaller craft are powered by water-jets, and can driv ...

, that allows her to launch or retrieve a water-jet propelled high-speed auxiliary boat, without first coming to a stop. Her high-speed boat has over-the-horizon capability, and is useful for inspecting other vessels, and deploying boarding parties. The crew's drinking water needs are met through a desalination unit. The crew mess is equipped with a television with satellite reception.

Operational career

''Edgar Culbertson'' was delivered to the Coast Guard, for her acceptance trials, in

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...

, on February 6, 2020. She arrived at her homeport of

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Gal ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

on March 23, 2020. ''Edgar Culbertson'' was commissioned in Galveston on June 11, 2020.

Namesake

In 2010, Charles "Skip" W. Bowen, who was then the United States Coast Guard's most senior

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

, proposed that all 58 cutters in the Sentinel class should be named after enlisted sailors in the Coast Guard, or one of its precursor services, who were recognized for their heroism. The Coast Guard chose

Edgar Culbertson Edgar A. Culbertson (October 13, 1935 – April 30, 1967) was a United States Coast Guard Boatswain's Mate First Class (BM1) who died while trying to rescue three teenage brothers during a fierce storm in Duluth, Minnesota. Rescue Meteorologists ...

as the namesake of the 37th cutter. Culbertson and two other Coast Guard sailors saw three teenage boys at the end of a long pier, on

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh w ...

, when a storm had whipped up waves. They saw a wave wash one boy off the pier, and saw the other boys pinned by the extremity of the weather. Culbertson and his comrades ventured out onto the pier to rescue the boys, and Culbertson himself was washed away.

References

{{Sentinel class cutter Sentinel-class cutters 2020 ships Ships of the United States Coast Guard Ships built in Lockport, Louisiana