USCGC Richard Dixon (WPC-1113)

The Richard Dixon moored next to smaller cutters, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2015-06-24.

USCGC Richard Dixon (WPD 1113) was the United States Coast Guard's thirteenth sentinel class cutter, commissioned in Tampa, Florida, on June 20, 2015.[1] She arrived in her home port of San Juan, Puerto Rico on June 24, 2015.[2]

Operational career

On September 20, 2015, the Richard Dixon intercepted a "go fast" smuggling boat, near the Dominican Republic, intercepting 41 bales of marijuana the smugglers had tried to scuttle, overboard, prior to their captures.[3]

On March 9, 2016, air elements of the US Customs and Border Protection Agency requested the Richard Dixon intercept a vessel with 25 refugees from the Dominican Republic.[4] The Coast Guard subjects every refugee to a biometric recording, enabling them to recognize them if they make subsequent attempts to reach the USA.[5] One individual was transferred to the US, for possible prosecution, while the other 24 were repatriated.

On April 2, 2016, the Richard Dixon intercepted another small vessel from the Dominican Republic, carrying 20 refugees.[6] Fourteen of the refugees were transferred to a Dominican naval vessel.[7] Three of the remaining refugees were taken to the USA, for prosecution, because this was not their first attempt to leave the Dominican Republic. The other three refugees were not Dominicans, they were believed to be from India. They too were taken to the USA, to be repatriated there.

Namesake

The vessel is named after Richard Dixon, a coast guard hero.[8][9][10][11]

References

  1. ↑ "13th Fast Response Cutter Arrives At San Juan Home Port". USCG News. 2015-07-01. Retrieved 2016-04-04. Richard Dixon arrived after a 1,500-nautical mile trip from Tampa, Florida, where the cutter was commissioned June 20, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Bollinger delivers FRC Richard Dixon". Marine Log. 2015-04-15. Retrieved 2016-04-04. Bollinger Shipyards LLC, Lockport, LA, has delivered the Richard Dixon, the thirteenth 154 ft Fast Response Cutter (FRC) to the United States Coast Guard.
  3. ↑ "US Coast Guard seized $41M in drugs in Caribbean Sea". Jacksonville Sentinel. 2015-09-29. Retrieved 2016-04-04. The agency's cutter Richard Dixon responded and seized the vessel after suspects tossed four packages into the water.
  4. ↑ "DR migrants intercepted heading towards Puerto Rico". The Daily Herald. 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2016-04-04. The USCG cutter Richard Dixon repatriated 24 migrants to the Dominican Republic.
  5. ↑ "Dominican Republic Migrants Intercepted Heading Towards Puerto Rico". Curaçao Chronicle. 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2016-04-04. The crew of the USCG Richard Dixon transferred the 25 migrants, who claimed to be citizens of the Dominican Republic, on board the cutter for safety and biometric processing.
  6. ↑ "Coast Guard Cutter Richard Dixon repatriates 14 Dominicans to the Dominican Republic". San Juan, Puerto Rico: Coast Guard News. 2016-04-03. Retrieved 2016-04-03. The Coast Guard Cutter Richard Dixon returned 14 Dominicans to the Dominican Republic Friday, after a boat carrying 17 Dominicans and three Indians was interdicted in the Mona Passage Wednesday just off the coast of Aguada, Puerto Rico.
  7. ↑ "US Coast Guard rescues 14 Dominican boatpeople". Dominican Today. 2016-04-02. Retrieved 2016-04-04. The Coast Guard Cutter Richard Dixon repatriated the remaining 14 Dominicans to the Dominican Republic during an at-sea transfer of the migrants to a Dominican Navy patrol vessel Friday just south of La Romana.
  8. ↑ Connie Braesch (2010-11-11). "Coast Guard Heroes: Richard Dixon". United States Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 2013-01-04. Richard Dixon, a Boatswain's Mate stationed at Tillamook Bay, was awarded two Coast Guard Medals for his heroic actions on July Fourth weekend, 1980.
  9. ↑ Stephanie Young (2010-10-27). "Coast Guard Heroes". United States Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 2013-01-03. Retrieved 2012-04-20.
  10. ↑ Clive Lawford (2011). "US Coast Guard Medal Awards". Retrieved 2013-01-10. Petty Officer Dixon is cited for heroism on the afternoon of 3 July 1980 while serving as the coxswain of Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat (MLB) 44409.
  11. ↑ "U.S. Coast Guard announces name for first Sentinel-class cutter". United States Coast Guard. 2010-03-22. Retrieved 2013-02-01. Previously designated to be named the Coast Guard Cutter Sentinel, the cutter Bernard C. Webber will be the first of the service’s new 153-foot patrol cutters. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen approved the change of the cutter’s name to allow this class of vessels to be named after outstanding enlisted members who demonstrated exceptional heroism in the line of duty. This will be the first class of cutters to be named exclusively for enlisted members of the Coast Guard and its predecessor services.
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