Portsmouth, Va. – Vice Adm. Robert J. Papp, Jr., commander of the Coast Guard’s Atlantic Area here, has temporarily relieved the commanding officer of a Boston-based cutter citing a loss in confidence in the officer’s ability to command.
Cmdr. Howard R. Shaw, the commanding officer of the 270-foot medium endurance cutter Escanaba that is currently on patrol in the Caribbean, has been temporarily reassigned to the Coast Guard’s First District staff in Boston pending the final results of the administrative investigation.
Capt. John Davis, the commanding officer of the Charleston, S.C.-based Coast Guard Cutter Gallatin, met the ship in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, today, and has assumed temporary command to ensure continuity of command, unit readiness, conduct training, and operate the ship during its return to homeport in Boston.
Coast Guard operations have not been impacted.
The Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba is a multi-mission ship that enforces federal and international fishing regulations in the waters off New England, conducts illegal migration and drug interdiction patrols in the Caribbean and carries out search and rescue and homeland security missions.
