Coast Guard authenticates keels for three waterways commerce cutters

The U.S. Coast Guard authenticated the keels for its first three waterways commerce cutters (WCC) during a March 6 ceremony at Birdon America Inc, Bayou La Batre, Ala., marking a milestone in the service’s effort to modernize its inland fleet.

The future cutters Allen Thiele, Fred Permenter, and Samuel Wilson are the first vessels in a planned class of 30 WCCs that will replace the Coast Guard’s aging inland buoy tender fleet responsible for maintaining aids to navigation on the nation’s rivers and waterways.

In a departure from tradition, the Coast Guard authenticated the keels for all three vessels simultaneously during the ceremony. Keel authentication is a longstanding maritime tradition in which a vessel’s sponsor welds their initials onto a ceremonial plate that becomes permanently affixed to the ship, symbolizing the beginning of construction.

“Today marks a monumental step forward in the modernization of our inland fleet,” Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Phillip Waldron said in a statement. “The new fleet has been designated the ‘Chief Petty Officer’s Class’ and the crews onboard who carry out critical missions on behalf of the Nation will honor the legacy of the senior enlisted leaders whose names they bear.”

The designation reflects the involvement of the Coast Guard’s chief petty officer community, many of whom attended the ceremony.

Sponsors for the three cutters also participated in the keel authentication. They included Delia Corbley, sponsor for the future Allen Thiele and daughter of its namesake; Kristin Permenter Melvin, sponsor for the future Fred Permenter and granddaughter of its namesake; and Barbara Wilson, sponsor for the future Samuel Wilson and widow of its namesake.

The vessels honor three Coast Guard enlisted leaders recognized for their service and heroism.

Master Chief Petty Officer Allen Thiele served as a boatswain’s mate in the Coast Guard from 1958 to 1990 and was selected as the service’s fifth master chief petty officer.

Chief Petty Officer Fred Permenter, also a boatswain’s mate, received the Gold Lifesaving Medal in 1952 after rescuing four of five crew members when the motor launch from St. George Reef Light Station capsized in heavy seas while being lowered.

Chief Petty Officer Samuel Wilson was awarded the Coast Guard Medal of Extraordinary Heroism in 1979 for rescuing 81 crew members from the Japanese fishing vessel Ryuyo Maru No. 2 after it ran aground on St. Paul Island, Alaska.

Once completed, the WCC fleet will support the Coast Guard’s inland waterways mission by maintaining aids to navigation and ensuring the safe movement of commercial traffic throughout the nation’s 12,000-mile marine transportation system.