The first three Coast Guard waterways commerce cutters (WCCs) are under construction at Birdon America’s shipyard in Bayou La Batre, Ala. The Allen Thiele, Fred Permenter, and Samuel Wilson are the first three of 30 WCCs that will replace the Coast Guard’s legacy inland tender fleet.
The first three keels were authenticated in a March 6 shipyard ceremony. Traditionally keel authentication is a maritime tradition in which a ship’s sponsor welds their initials onto a ceremonial plate permanently affixed to the cutter, symbolizing the start of the vessel’s construction.
The triple authentication included the lead vessels for the WCC class river buoy and inland construction tender variants.
The Waterways Commerce Cutter Program will help maintain the United States’ 12,000-mile marine transportation system, supporting “more than $5.4 trillion in annual economic activity and millions of American jobs,” according to a Coast Guard statement.
The WCC design is designated as the Chief Petty Officer class, with each cutter named in honor of a distinguished Coast Guard senior enlisted leader. The namesakes for the first three WCCs are:
· Master Chief Petty Officer Allen Thiele, a boatswain’s mate, served in the Coast Guard from 1958 to 1990 and was selected as the fifth master chief petty officer of the Coast Guard.
· Chief Petty Officer Fred Permenter, a boatswain’s mate, received the Gold Lifesaving Medal in 1952 for rescuing four of five crew members when the St. George Reef Light motor launch capsized while being lowered in heavy seas.
· Chief Petty Officer Samuel Wilson, a boatswain’s mate, received the Coast Guard Medal of Extraordinary Heroism in 1979 for helping rescue 81 crew members from the Japanese fishing vessel Ryuyo Maru No. 2 after it ran aground on St. Paul Island, Bering Sea, Alaska.
Acquisition of the WCC fleet is supported in part by the 2025 funding bill by Congress that included the largest single funding commitment in Coast Guard history. The law provided $162 million to accelerate production and deliver three cutters ahead of schedule.
The first waterways commerce cutter is expected to be completed in 2027.
