HONOLULU ˗˗ The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Jarvis returned to its homeport in Honolulu, Sept. 16 after completing the final patrol of the ship's 40 years in service.
Since departing Honolulu Aug. 17, Jarvis completed a patrol in the Coast Guard's 14th District conducting operations with an embarked NOAA shiprider to enforce the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zones, which extend 230 miles from shore. The cutter conducted critical training to maintain proficiency and readiness. Through a coordinated effort with District 14 and Air Station Barber’s Point, Jarvis was able to provide law enforcement presence throughout the Hawaiian island chain and most notably the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument extending out to Midway Island.
"Serving aboard Jarvis has been an honor and this final cruise is especially bittersweet for everyone onboard,” said Capt. Richard Mourey, Jarvis’ commanding officer. “Jarvis has proudly served the Coast Guard and the people of Hawaii for the past 40 years, and we will all remember her fondly.”
The Jarvis holds the distinction of being the first Coast Guard cutter to be commissioned in Hawaii, and has called Honolulu home since being commissioned Aug. 4, 1972. The cutter is named after Captain David H. Jarvis, who led an expedition to rescue 300 whalers stranded off Barrow Point, Alaska in 1897.
Since re-commissioning in December of 1992 following a fleet renovation and modernization initiative, Jarvis has participated in Alaskan fisheries patrols, counter-narcotics patrols in the Eastern Pacific, Western Pacific capacity building, and exercises with U.S. and foreign navies. In 2009, Jarvis successfully seized a self propelled semi-submersible vessel in the Eastern Pacific laden with more than five tons of illegal narcotics. During the cutter’s spring 2012 patrol, Jarvis served as the on-scene commander for an aircraft that crashed off the coast of Palau, and coordinated the search and rescue efforts to save two lives.
Jarvis will be honored at a ceremony in Honolulu Oct. 2, where the ship will be taken out of active service and recognized for its 40 years of service to the nation. Later this year, Jarvis will be replaced in Honolulu by the Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau, which is currently homeported in Alameda, Calif.
Jarvis is the fourth of the Coast Guard's fleet of 378-foot high endurance cutters to be removed from service to make way for the new, more capable fleet of National Security Cutters.
High Endurance Cutters such as the Jarvis have been in service since the 1960s, and are in the process of being replaced by the 418-foot National Security Cutters, the largest and most technologically advanced of the Coast Guard’s newest classes of cutters.
