Coast Guard's 'Gallatin' is decommissioned in Charleston

Shipmates on board the USCGC Gallatin, March 31, 2014, Charleston Harbor, S.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

On a beautiful spring morning in the harbor at Charleston, a ship whose crew has apprehended $450 million of illegal drugs, assisted with Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts, and rescued thousands of migrants was decommissioned by the U.S. Coast Guard and handed over to the Nigerian government.

More than 500 persons, including 100 past crew members and their families, came from around the U.S. to honor the Coast Guard Cutter Gallatin and the servicemen and women who have served on the ship.

The decommissioning of the USCGC Gallatin, March 31, 2014, Charleston Harbor, S.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

Shipmates together for a last time on the USCGC Gallatin, March 31, 2014, Charleston Harbor, S.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

The program noted the decommissioning ceremony "is as joyous as it is somber...[held] in recognition of the lives lost in pursuit of a greater nation and of the exhaustive efforts to maintain safety and security on the high seas."

Members of the Nigerian navy attended the decommissioning ceremony for the USCGC Gallatin, March 31, 2014, in Charleston Harbor, S.C. Nigeria is the new owner of the ship whose American crew was taking the Nigerians out to sea for more training after the ceremony, said one U.S. officer/photo by Patricia Leslie

The Gallatin served as command center for Hurricane Sandy recovery operations in New York Harbor in 2012, rescued and coordinated the 1994 rescue or coordination of 27,000 Cuban migrants in a one-month period, rescued 106 Haitians from a sinking sailboat in 1982, interdicted more than 50 tons of cocaine and marijuana and, on the final patrol, seized 1,016 kilos of cocaine worth more than $30 million.

The decommissioning of the USCGC Gallatin, March 31, 2014, Charleston Harbor, S.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

 

The decommissioning of the USCGC Gallatin, March 31, 2014, Charleston Harbor, S.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

 

Speakers commemorating the event were Vice Admiral Robert C. Parker, commander of the Coast Guard Atlantic Area, Captain Caleb Corson, the Gallatin's commanding officer, and Ann Slattery of Washington and Dallas, the daughter of Elizabeth Stafford Hutchinson (1920-2010) who christened the ship in 1967 in New Orleans.  Ms. Slattery's father, Everett Hutchinson (1915-1994), was undersecretary of transportation for President Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973).

Speakers at the decommissioning ceremony for the USCGC Gallatin included, from left, Captain Caleb Corson (speaking), Vice Admiral Robert C. Parker, and Ann Slattery, daughter of the Gallatin's sponsor, Elizabeth Stafford Hutchinson/photo by Patricia Leslie

The Coast Guard Brass Quintet played at the decommissioning ceremony for the USCGC Gallatin, March 31, 2014, Charleston Harbor, S.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

The ship was named for Albert Gallatin (1761-1849), the longest-serving secretary of the U.S. Treasury, a member of the cabinet of President Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) and President James Madison (1751-1836).  Mr. Gallatin founded what is now New York University, and a statue of him stands in front of the U.S. Treasury Building in Washington on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Shipmates march off the USCGC Gallatin, March 31, 2014, Charleston Harbor, S.C. for the final salute/photo by Patricia Leslie

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