USCGC ''Oliver Henry'' (WPC-1140) is the 40th cutter built for the

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 ...

. She is the second of three Fast Response Cutters homeported in

Santa Rita, Guam Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Christma ...

Operational History

''Oliver Henry'' arrived in Santa Rita, Guam after a 10,620 nautical mile journey from

Key West, Florida Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Islan ...

, on September 19, 2022. During her voyage, she also partook in drug interception operations as well as searching for a fishing vessel off of

Saipan Saipan () is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated Territories of the United States, territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Cens ...

. Some of Oliver Henry's descendants attended the acceptance ceremony of the ship. Between August and September 2022, she did an expeditionary patrol around Australia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Micronesia, patrolling the

Exclusive Economic Zone An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...

s (EEZ) of each country. She patrolled for over 8,000 nautical miles between

Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. The Apia Urban A ...

and Cairns, Australia over a period of 43 days. In Papua New Guinea, her crew engaged with local authorities at HMPNGS Tarangau School, in Australia her crew met up with the mayor of Cairns, then took part in a multinational exercise alongside Australian and Fijian vessels. On her way back she made a stop in

Pohnpei Pohnpei (formerly known as Ponape or Ascension, from Pohnpeian: "upon (''pohn'') a stone altar (''pei'')") is an island of the Senyavin Islands which are part of the larger Caroline Islands group. It belongs to Pohnpei State, one of the fou ...

and hosted American embassy staff. Between September and October 2023, she partook in Operation Rematau as a part of Operation Blue Pacific, operating a 28-day patrol around

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Poly ...

's EEZ for 4,986 nautical miles. She also delivered supplies to the villages of Chuuk and

Yap Yap (, sometimes written as , or ) traditionally refers to an island group located in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, a part of Yap State. The name "Yap" in recent years has come to also refer to the state within the Federate ...

. Between February 20–27, she took part in a patrol as a part of Operation Blue Pacific around the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...

, delivering supplies to

Wotje Atoll Wotje Atoll (Marshallese language, Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of 75 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Geography Wotje's land area of is one of the largest in the Ma ...

. On September 2, 2024, she completed another patrol around Micronesia as part of Operation Rematau. During the patrol she rescued six fisherman off of

Satawal Satawal is a solitary coral atoll of one island with about 500 people on just over 1 km2 located in the Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It forms a legislative district in Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia. Satawal is the ...

when their vessel broke down.

Namesake

Like the other vessels in her class, she is named after an individual in the Coast Guard who distinguished themselves in the line of duty. She is named for Oliver T. Henry Jr., an African American Coast Guardsman who is credited with the process of desegregation of the then segregated service.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver Henry (WPC-1140) Sentinel-class cutters 2020 ships Ships of the United States Coast Guard