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Coast Guard Cutter Vigilant (WMEC-617) was commissioned in 1964,
which means it has served this nation well over 50 years. During
those many years, the cutter and its crews have performed the
missions of maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, homeland
security, national defense and international engagement.
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The medium endurance U.S. Coast Guard Vigilant (WMEC-617) on patrol
at an undisclosed location and date. It is home-ported in Cape
Canaveral, Florida. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)
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Vigilant is named for an inspirational trait meaning to keep
careful watch, especially for possible danger or difficulties. Its
motto is Semper Vigilans meaning “Always Vigilant” and its nicknames
have included “RONC Captain Bob’s Econo-Fill,” “None Here in Charge”
(a play on the cutter’s radio call sign NHIC), “We Must Eat Chicken
(a play on the cutter’s designation WMEC),” “Baby Dallas,” “Warship
U-617,” “The Zone of Insanity,” and “Home of the Broken Orange
Flying Chicken.”
Vigilant has been involved in many unique
and historic operations. In 1965, it was part of the Project Gemini
recovery team assisting in recovery of the Gemini space capsule and
crew. Vigilant secured its place in history in 1970 as a result of
the infamous “Vigilant Incident” off of Massachusetts in which
Lithuanian seaman Simas Kudirka attempted to defect to the United
States by leaping from his Soviet ship to the deck of the Vigilant.
Kudirka was repatriated to his Soviet ship, but later emigrated to
the U.S. In 1976, Vigilant also served as on-scene commander when
the oil tanker Argo Merchant grounded near Cape Cod spilling cargo
into the sea. This case is considered one of the worst spills in
U.S. history prior to the Exxon Valdez and Vigilant earned the Coast
Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation for its role in the spill
clean-up.
Vigilant has the unique distinction of being the
10th vessel in service history to bear the name. This record of
predecessor vessels with the same name is greater than other
cutters, including “Alert” and “Active” with eight cutters and
“Eagle” and “Crawford” with seven. The first cutter named “Vigilant”
was one of the service’s original 10 revenue cutters. Vigilant I saw
service out of New York from 1791 to 1798, and may have been the
first of the original cutters to be completed. Its patrol area
included the Hudson River, New York Harbor and the coastlines of
Northern New Jersey and Long Island.
During the early 1800s,
three more cutters named “Vigilant” served the nation. The second
Vigilant entered service in 1802 and also served out of New York
until it was sold in 1807. The third cutter Vigilant entered service
in 1812 and saw extensive action during the War of 1812. On Oct. 4,
1813, under the command of John Cahoone, Vigilant III sailed out of
Newport, Rhode Island, and pursued the armed privateer Dart.
Vigilant fired its guns at Dart and then closed with the privateer.
Cahoone sent a boarding party aboard Dart, chasing the privateer’s
crew below deck and capturing the ship. This was the last successful
use of boarding by a revenue cutter in the Age of Sail. Records
indicate that another cutter named Vigilant served concurrently with
the 1812 cutter between 1824 and 1830 with Vigilant IV sailing in
the Chesapeake Bay and later out of New Bern, North Carolina.
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U.S. Coast Guard Revenue Cutter Vigilant attacks the British
privateer Dart off the shores of Block Island on October 4, 1813. (U.S. Coast Guard
Collection photo)
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The rest of the 19th century and early 20th century saw
five more vessels named “Vigilant” serving in the Coast
Guard or its ancestor agencies. These included a cutter that
entered service in 1843 only to wreck off Key West, Florida,
in a hurricane a year later. In 1856, the Lighthouse Service
bought a schooner to tend lighthouses and re-named it
Vigilant. In 1866, the ship also wrecked near Key West.
Vigilant VII entered service in 1867 and sailed out of
Boston and Portland, Maine. The cutter and its sister-cutter
Reliance were the last sail-powered cutters in the history
of the service. In 1910, the 45-foot harbor launch Vigilant
entered service at the Sault Ste. Marie locks in Michigan.
The 125-foot “buck-and-a-quarter” cutter Vigilant entered
service during Prohibition. The ship was built to battle Rum
Runners and served from 1927 through World War II, when it
was credited with rescuing the survivors of two tankers
torpedoed off the East Coast. The cutter remained in the
service into the mid-1950s.
Picture of the medium
endurance cutter Vigilant, home-ported in Cape Canaveral,
Fla. U.S. Coast Guard photo.
Today’s Vigilant remains
Semper Vigilans, performing with unparalleled success in a
wide range of Coast Guard missions. The cutter played a key
role in Operation “Able Manner” containing the 1981 Cuban
exodus. In 1993, Vigilant participated in Operation “Tradewinds”
training the nations of Nassau, St. Vincent, Trinidad,
Jamaica, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, and Antigua in law
enforcement, search and rescue, leadership and teamwork
techniques. Beginning in 1994, the ship participated in
Operation “Uphold Democracy” enforcing the United Nations
embargo on the island nation of Haiti. In two patrols
conducted in 1994 and 1995, the cutter and its crew made
seven migrant repatriations, returning over 1,400 migrants
to Haiti. Following the September 11 terrorist attacks,
Vigilant also demonstrated its multi-mission capability by
taking on the mission of homeland security. Vigilant also
participated in Operation “Noble Eagle” in the fall of 2002,
boarding merchant vessels entering the mouth of the
Mississippi and ensuring they posed no threat to the port of
New Orleans.
Vigilant has continued its history of
distinguished service in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.
In its first three decades of counter-drug operations, the
cutter seized numerous vessels smuggling hundreds of
thousands of pounds of marijuana and cocaine. In recent
years, Vigilant has made several high-profile cocaine
seizures. In June 2012 the crew of Vigilant interdicted a
cocaine shipment with a street value of over $26 million and
made two October 2012 seizures totaling $64 million. In May
2015, working with cutter Bear, Vigilant intercepted a
shipment of cocaine and marijuana valued at $14 million.
In its over 50 years of service to the nation, Vigilant
has received countless honors. These awards include numerous
Coast Guard Unit Commendations, Coast Guard Meritorious Unit
Commendations, Navy Meritorious Unit Commendations,
Humanitarian Service Medals, Coast Guard Special Operations
Ribbons and Coast Guard “E” Ribbons. Firmly rooted in its
long list of accomplishments and the history of its
distinguished predecessor vessels, Vigilant will continue to
live up to its motto and remain “Always Vigilant.”
By William H. Thiesen, Atlantic Area Historian, USCG
Provided
through
Coast
Guard
Copyright 2017
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