USCGC Spencer (WMEC-905) is a United States Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

 medium endurance cutter. Her keel was laid on 26 June 1982 at Robert Derecktor Shipyard Incorporated, Middletown, Rhode Island

Middletown, Rhode Island

Middletown is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 16,150 at the 2010 census. It lies to the south of Portsmouth and to the north of Newport on Aquidneck Island, hence the name "Middletown."-Geography:...

. She was named for John Canfield Spencer

John Canfield Spencer

John Canfield Spencer was an American lawyer, politician, judge and United States Cabinet secretary in the administration of President John Tyler.-Early life:...

, United States Secretary of the Treasury

United States Secretary of the Treasury

The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...

 from 1843 to 1844 under President John Tyler

John Tyler

John Tyler was the tenth President of the United States . A native of Virginia, Tyler served as a state legislator, governor, U.S. representative, and U.S. senator before being elected Vice President . He was the first to succeed to the office of President following the death of a predecessor...

 and launched on 17 April 1984 and was commissioned into service on 28 June 1986. In March 1991, Spencer towed a disabled U.S. Navy frigate, a ship twice Spencer's size, to safety.http://www.uscg.mil/lantarea/cutter/spencer/HISTORY%20OF%20USCGC%20SPENCER%20(.htm Spencer participated in the search for a missing Air National Guard paratrooper during the 1991 Perfect Storm, sometimes called the "Perfect Storm". In 1999, Spencer was the on-scene commander for the EgyptAir Flight 990

EgyptAir Flight 990

EgyptAir Flight 990 was a regularly scheduled flight from Los Angeles International Airport, California to Cairo International Airport, Egypt, with a stop at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York...

 crash off Nantucket

Nantucket, Massachusetts

Nantucket is an island south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in the United States. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the town of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and the coterminous Nantucket County, which are consolidated. Part of the town is designated the Nantucket...

, controlling both U.S. Navy and Coast Guard assets in the search and recovery efforts.http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/cb/jan00/990.html

Operational history

During a law enforcement patrol in 1987, Spencer arrested 23 people and confiscated more than 46,000 pounds of marijuana from four smuggling vessels. While on a south patrol in 1989, Spencer rescued and repatriated (that is, returned them to Haiti) 538 Haiti

Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

an migrants bound for the United States, and later seized a Panamanian freighter laden with 438 kilograms of cocaine. In 1994, Spencer made the first planned deployment of a 270-foot cutter with an SH-60 helicopter. This ship/helicopter deployment was shortened so that Spencer could participate in the response to a mass exodus of Haitian migrants. The ship repatriated over 1700 Haitian migrants during this patrol. During New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

's Annual Fleet Week of 1995, Spencer opened her brow to more than 5000 visitors. Spencer also carried several crewmembers from the World War II cutter of the same name in honor of Fleet Week's celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the end of that war. In early 1996, Spencer responded to the downed Alas Nacionales plane crash off the coastal waters of the Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

 in which 188 people lost their lives on April 22, 1997 Spencer seized 3905 pounds of cocaine off the coast of Honduras. When the fishing vessel Lady of Grace became disabled during a severe storm in November 1997, Spencer was there to save the crew and tow the vessel to safety. Recently, Spencer worked with the French warship, Ventôse (F733), to seize 1800 kilograms of pure cocaine off the coast of Venezuela.http://www.uscg.mil/lantarea/cutter/spencer/HISTORY%20OF%20USCGC%20SPENCER%20(.htm

External links

• Spencer home page