Laid down August 23, 1979 Homeport Portsmouth, Virginia Beam 38 ft (12 m) Construction started 23 August 1979 Weight 1,829 tons Draft 4.42 m | Commissioned February 4, 1983 Fate Active Length 82 m Launched 25 September 1980 Displacement 1.633 million kg | |
Motto Summa Potentia Per Facilitatem
Highest might / ability through willingness. Builder Tacoma Boatbuilding Company | ||
USCGC Bear (WMEC-901) is a United States Coast Guard medium endurance cutter. She was laid down August 23, 1979 and launched September 25, 1980 by the Tacoma Boatbuilding Company of Tacoma, Washington. She was commissioned February 4, 1983. She was named for USRC Bear (AG-29), a steam barquentine that was built in Scotland and served the United States Treasury Department in the United States Revenue Cutter Service's Alaskan Patrol.
In 1986, Bear responded to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster by searching over 1900 square nautical miles (6,500 km²). During any given patrol, Bear conducts a wide-spectrum of missions such as search and rescue, alien migrant interdiction operations, counter-drug patrols, fisheries enforcement, and international engagement—illustrating the versatile, multi-mission character of the Coast Guard and the cutter fleet. Since her commissioning she has made 18 significant drug seizures involving 12 marijuana and 6 cocaine busts.
