HISTORY
We would like to share a little history about our ship, crew, and its missions. The USCGC NORTHLAND is the second cutter to carry that name and the fourth of the thirteen Famous Class cutters currently serving in the WMEC- 270' fleet. NORTHLAND is home ported in Portsmouth, Virginia. NORTHLAND's keel was laid in 1981, launched in 1982 and commissioned on December 17th, 1984. NORTHLAND was built by Tacoma Boatbuilding Company in Tacoma, Washington.
The first cutter NORTHLAND served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1927-1946. She was designed to replace Cutter BEAR, the Revenue Cutter Service's most famous cutter of that era. She was used initially to enforce the laws and save lives in the Alaskan waters of the United States. At the outbreak of hostilities in Europe, she was moved east to patrol the waters off of Greenland. On September 1, 1944, she captured the crew and seized a German Naval trawler as the first American Naval capture of World War II. NORTHLAND went on to sink a submarine and capture or destroy German radio and weather stations around Greenland, earning two Battle Stars.
The present USCGC NORTHLAND has many missions including Search and Rescue, Law Enforcement, Homeland Security, and Defense Operations. NORTHLAND's crew is comprised of officers and enlisted personnel with a large variety of different Coast Guard rates such as BM, MK, DC, EM, ET, IT, OS, FS, HS, GM, SK, and YN. NORTHLAND's primary area of operation includes but is not limited to the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico.