WAVY.com

Coast Guard Cutter Bear returns to Portsmouth after 58-day patrol

    • PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Coast Guard Cutter Bear returned home to Portsmouth earlier this month.

    The crew of the Bear completed a 58-day homeland security and counter-drug patrol in the Windward Passage in the Caribbean Sea.


    Courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard
    Courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard
    Courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard
    Courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard

    While underway, Coast Guard Cutter Bear supported Homeland Security Task Force – Southeast and Operation Vigilant Sentry in maritime safety and security missions.

    Cutter Bear is a 270-foot, medium endurance cutter and was commissioned in 1983. Bear has had over 65 operational deployments, numerous major drug seizures, and countless search and rescue operations, including combing over 1,900 square nautical miles of ocean in response to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.