The Coast Guard Cutter Steelhead (WPB 87324) officially arrived at its new homeport in Fort Macon, Aug. 6, 2021.
The Steelhead is a coastal patrol boat with a crew of 11 men and women whose area of operations ranges from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay near Cape Charles and Cape Henry, Va., to the South Carolina border.
Steelhead joins Coast Guard Cutters Maple, Bayberry, Smilax, Richard Snyder, and the Nathan Bruckenthal in Fort Macon.
“We are pleased to announce the Coast Guard Cutter Steelhead has relocated to Fort Macon, North Carolina,” said Capt. Matt Baer, commanding officer of Coast Guard Sector North Carolina. “As a multi-mission, maritime service with vast responsibilities and limited resources, we are constantly seeking ways to be more efficient and effective. Cutter Steelhead will conduct both law enforcement and search and rescue operations spanning the entire North Carolina coastline, providing an outstanding addition to the Coast Guard’s layered response strategy of shore-based boats, aircraft, and cutters. The change of homeport will ensure critical mission support functions for cutter maintenance and personnel needs are met, while improving offshore response capabilities from the Outer Banks throughout the Crystal Coast and across southeastern North Carolina. The crew and families of the cutter Steelhead are excited to join the long-standing heritage of lifesavers who call the Coast Guard community of Cartaret County their home.”
The 87-foot coastal patrol boat is a capable multi-mission platform designed for search and rescue, law enforcement, and fisheries patrols, as well as drug interdiction and illegal alien interdiction duties up to 200 miles off shore.
