Coast Guard Cutter Alert

Coast Guard Cutter Alert at the Columbia River Maritime Museum.

The United States Coast Guard cutter Alert, WMEC 630, isn't really a part of the museum; it's still an active Coast Guard cutter, based in Astoria, Oregon, assigned to cover the North Pacific from Alaska to Central America and Hawaii enforcing fishing, immigration and contraband regulations. However, when not on duty at sea, the Alert is docked at the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria, where it sometimes is open for tours for museum visitors. The Alert is the last 210-foot Medium Endurance Cutter built by the Coast Guard.  It was built at the Coast Guard shipyard at Curtis Bay, Maryland and commissioned August 4, 1969. The Alert was modernized in 1993. The Alert has a crew of 75, is powered by two 2,500 horsepower engines, has a top speed of 18 knots, a range of 5000 miles at 15 knots and an endurance of 30 days. The Alert is also capable of carrying an HH65A Dolphin helicopter. The Alert's sister ship Steadfast is also based out of Astoria.

This concludes the original content of my Astoria PLACES page. To see any additional blog entries about Astoria, click on the Astoria label.