USCGC Diligence

USCGC Diligence (WMEC-616) is a Reliance-class United States Coast Guard 210-foot medium endurance cutter formerly based in Wilmington, NC but now based in Pensacola, Florida.[2] Diligence was the second of 16 cutters built from 1962 to 1968. Fourteen of this class of cutter are still in active U.S. service, and two have been transferred to foreign navies.

USCGC Diligence in 2002
History
United States
BuilderTodd Shipyards, Houston, Texas
Acquired20 July 1963[1]
Commissioned1964
HomeportPensacola, Florida
Identification
StatusActive
General characteristics
Displacement759 tons
Length210 ft 6 in (64.16 m)
Beam34 ft (10 m)
Draft10 ft 6 in (3.20 m) max
Propulsion2 x V16 2550 horsepower ALCO diesel engines
Speedmax 18 knots; 2,700-mile range
Rangecruise 14 knots; 6,100-mile range
Complement12 officers, 63 enlisted
Sensors and
processing systems		2 x AN/SPS-64
Armament
Aircraft carriedHH-65 Dolphin

All Reliance-class cutters were built with dual shafts and controllable pitch propellers, and were capable of speeds up to 18 knots.[2]

History

Diligence, the sixth US Coast Guard cutter to bear that name, originally moored in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. Diligence is capable of performing any of the missions that white-hulled Coast Guard cutters traditionally perform, ranging from alien migrant interdiction operations (AMIO) and drug interdiction missions down in the Caribbean, to fisheries protection of the Atlantic seaboard, to search and rescue (SAR) anywhere in between. The SAR capabilities are enhanced by utilizing helicopters to extend the reach of the cutters well beyond the horizon.

On 24 Jan. 2019, the Coast Guard announced that the Diligence would be homeported in Pensacola, Florida by 30 Sept. 2020.[3] Diligence departed Wilmington for the last time on 25 May 2020.[4]

The Diligence docked at her former home port in Wilmington, North Carolina

The cutter Diligence was seen in the 1966 science fiction movie Around the World Under the Sea starring Lloyd Bridges. USCGC Diligence also appeared in the Matlock TV series in the episode "The Heist".

References
  1. Todd Shipyards Archived 25 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "WPC's & WMEC's: 1945-2000". United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  3. "Mayor Saffo 'blindsided' by decision to move Diligence's home port to Florida". 25 January 2019.
  4. "PHOTOS: Coast Guard Cutter Diligence through the years".


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