USCGC Richard Dixon

USCGC Richard Dixon is the United States Coast Guard's thirteenth Sentinel-class cutter, commissioned in Tampa, Florida, on June 20, 2015.[2][3] She arrived in her home port of San Juan, Puerto Rico on June 24, 2015.[4]

Richard Dixon moored next to smaller cutters, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 24 June 2015
History
United States
Name: USCGC Richard Dixon
Namesake: Richard Dixon
Operator: United States Coast Guard
Builder: Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana
Launched: April 14, 2015
Acquired: April 14, 2015[1]
Commissioned: June 20, 2015[2]
Homeport: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Identification: WPC-1113
Motto: Initiative & fortitude
Status: in active service
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type: Sentinel-class cutter
Displacement: 353 long tons (359 t)
Length: 46.8 m (154 ft)
Beam: 8.11 m (26.6 ft)
Depth: 2.9 m (9.5 ft)
Propulsion:
  • 2 × 4,300 kilowatts (5,800 shp)
  • 1 × 75 kilowatts (101 shp) bow thruster
Speed: 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Endurance:
  • 5 days, 2,500 nautical miles (4,600 km; 2,900 mi)
  • Designed to be on patrol 2,500 hours per year
Boats & landing
craft carried:		 1 × Short Range Prosecutor RHIB
Complement: 2 officers, 20 crew
Sensors and
processing systems:		 L-3 C4ISR suite
Armament:

Operational career

On September 20, 2015, Richard Dixon intercepted a "go fast" smuggling boat, near the Dominican Republic, intercepting 41 bales of marijuana the smugglers had tried to scuttle, overboard, prior to their captures.[5]

On March 9, 2016, air elements of the US Customs and Border Protection Agency requested Richard Dixon intercept a vessel with 25 refugees from the Dominican Republic.[6] The Coast Guard subjects every refugee to a biometric recording, enabling them to recognize them if they make subsequent attempts to reach the United States.[7] One individual was transferred to the US, for possible prosecution, while the other 24 were repatriated.

On April 2, 2016, Richard Dixon intercepted another small vessel from the Dominican Republic, carrying 20 refugees.[8] Fourteen of the refugees were transferred to a Dominican naval vessel.[9] Three of the remaining refugees were taken to the United States, for prosecution, because this was not their first attempt to leave the Dominican Republic. The other three refugees were not Dominicans, they were believed to be from India. They too were taken to the US, to be repatriated there.

On April 25, 2018, Coast Guard watchstanders in Sector San Juan diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Richard Dixon to intercept a suspected vessel while Customs and Border Protection Caribbean Air and Marine Branch (CAMB) and Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid Action positioned marine units that were also ready to respond. The "Richard Dixon" arrived on scene and interdicted the go-fast, detained the suspected smugglers – a US citizen from Puerto Rico and a national of the Dominican Republic – and seized multiple bales of contraband, which tested positive for cocaine. Two smugglers, 491.5 kilograms of cocaine and 9.2 kilograms of heroin worth an estimated wholesale value of US$13.3 million were held.

On August 9, 2018, Coast Guard Cutter Richard Dixon intercepted two yola type vessels from the Dominican Republic carrying a total of 56 refugees. One of the refugees was brought ashore by Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid Action while the rest were safely repatriated in the Dominican Republic.

On December 24, 2018, Coast Guard Cutter Richard Dixon intercepted a suspected vessel. The "Richard Dixon" arrived on scene and interdicted the go-fast, detained the suspected smugglers – four citizens of the Dominican Republic – and seized multiple bales of contraband, which tested positive for cocaine. 210 kilograms of cocaine were seized worth an estimated wholesale value of US$5 million dollars.

On May 13, 2019, Coast Guard Cutter Richard Dixon intercepted a yola type vessel from the Dominican Republic carrying a total of 20 refugees. Four of the refugees were brought ashore by Customs and Border Protection while the rest were safely repatriated in the Dominican Republic.

Namesake

The vessel is named after Richard Dixon, a coast guard hero.[10][11][12][13]

References
  1. "Acquisition Update: 13th Fast Response Cutter Delivered To Coast Guard" (Press release). United States Coast Guard. 2015-04-17. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
  2. "Coast Guard scheduled to commission Puerto Rico's first fast response cutter in Tampa, Fla". Coast Guard News. 2015-06-15. Retrieved 2015-06-15.
  3. "13th Fast Response Cutter Arrives At San Juan Home Port". USCG News. 2015-07-01. Retrieved 2016-04-04. Richard Dixon arrived after a 1,500-nautical mile trip from Tampa, Florida, where the cutter was commissioned June 20, 2015.
  4. "Bollinger delivers FRC Richard Dixon". Marine Log. 2015-04-15. Retrieved 2016-04-04. Bollinger Shipyards LLC, Lockport, LA, has delivered the Richard Dixon, the thirteenth 154 ft Fast Response Cutter (FRC) to the United States Coast Guard.
  5. "US Coast Guard seized $41M in drugs in Caribbean Sea". Jacksonville Sentinel. 2015-09-29. Retrieved 2016-04-04. The agency's cutter Richard Dixon responded and seized the vessel after suspects tossed four packages into the water.
  6. "DR migrants intercepted heading towards Puerto Rico". The Daily Herald. 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2016-04-04. The USCG cutter Richard Dixon repatriated 24 migrants to the Dominican Republic.
  7. "Dominican Republic Migrants Intercepted Heading Towards Puerto Rico". Curaçao Chronicle. 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2016-04-04. The crew of the USCG Richard Dixon transferred the 25 migrants, who claimed to be citizens of the Dominican Republic, on board the cutter for safety and biometric processing.
  8. "Coast Guard Cutter Richard Dixon repatriates 14 Dominicans to the Dominican Republic". San Juan, Puerto Rico: Coast Guard News. 2016-04-03. Retrieved 2016-04-03. The Coast Guard Cutter Richard Dixon returned 14 Dominicans to the Dominican Republic Friday, after a boat carrying 17 Dominicans and three Indians was interdicted in the Mona Passage Wednesday just off the coast of Aguada, Puerto Rico.
  9. "US Coast Guard rescues 14 Dominican boatpeople". Dominican Today. 2016-04-02. Retrieved 2016-04-04. The Coast Guard Cutter Richard Dixon repatriated the remaining 14 Dominicans to the Dominican Republic during an at-sea transfer of the migrants to a Dominican Navy patrol vessel Friday just south of La Romana.
  10. Connie Braesch (2010-11-11). "Coast Guard Heroes: Richard Dixon". United States Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 2013-01-04. Richard Dixon, a Boatswain's Mate stationed at Tillamook Bay, was awarded two Coast Guard Medals for his heroic actions on July Fourth weekend, 1980.
  11. Stephanie Young (2010-10-27). "Coast Guard Heroes". United States Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 2013-01-03. Retrieved 2012-04-20.
  12. Clive Lawford (2011). "US Coast Guard Medal Awards". Retrieved 2013-01-10. Petty Officer Dixon is cited for heroism on the afternoon of 3 July 1980 while serving as the coxswain of Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat (MLB) 44409.
  13. "U.S. Coast Guard announces name for first Sentinel-class cutter". United States Coast Guard. 2010-03-22. Archived from the original on 2010-03-25. Retrieved 2013-02-01. Previously designated to be named the Coast Guard Cutter Sentinel, the cutter Bernard C. Webber will be the first of the service’s new 153-foot patrol cutters. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen approved the change of the cutter’s name to allow this class of vessels to be named after outstanding enlisted members who demonstrated exceptional heroism in the line of duty. This will be the first class of cutters to be named exclusively for enlisted members of the Coast Guard and its predecessor services.
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