U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Walter Shinn.
JUNEAU, Alaska – The Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf, the largest most technically advanced class of cutter in the Coast Guard, will be making a second port call in Unalaska Friday and will be open for public tours Saturday.
The Bertholf, a 418-foot National Security Cutter, has been patrolling Alaskan waters for approximately one month conducting fishery boardings and search and rescue. This is the first time the Bertholf has come to Alaska.
With capabilities for maritime homeland security, law enforcement and national defense missions, the Bertholf is the first of eight planned National Security Cutters commissioned to replace the aging 378-foot High Endurance Hamilton Class cutters that have been in service since the 1960s.
The cutter is named after the first Commandant of the Coast Guard, Commodore Ellsworth P. Bertholf, who was part of the Overland Expedition which traveled more than 1,600 miles by dog sled, from Nunivak Island to Point Barrow to rescue 265 whalers aboard eight whaling ships caught in Arctic ice during the winter of 1898.
While visiting Unalaska the cutter is scheduled to be open for public tours Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. They will be moored at the UMC pier.
The Bertholf is homeported in Alameda, Calif.
