U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Anacapa decommissioned after 34 years

"I want to thank the crew serving today, and all who served aboard Anacapa over these many years, for their dedication and service to our country," said Rear Admiral Charles Fosse, commander of United States Coast Guard District 13, during the decommissioning ceremony for USCG cutter Anacapa on April 26 in Port Angeles, Washington.

Commissioned in 1990, Anacapa spent 32 of its 34 years homeported in Petersburg, and the last two years in Port Angeles.

The 110-foot Coast Guard Cutter carried a crew of 17 or 18 people, and carried out a mission of law enforcement, search and rescue, and maritime defense.

In April 2012, the Anacapa was famously involved in the sinking of an unmanned Japanese fishing boat. The "ghost ship" had come unmoored following a 2011 tsunami and drifted for several months until reaching the Gulf of Alaska, where it posed a navigational hazard to passing vessels.

Petersburg resident and Forest Service Supervisory Electronics Technician Brandon Thomas was serving on the Anacapa as an electronics technician when the crew shot the ghost ship down with the deck machine guns and cannon.

"It floated across the entire Pacific Ocean for a reason, it was pretty seaworthy. And so it took quite a bit of shooting to get it to sink, but we did eventually get it done," Thomas recalled of the Japanese boat, which was around the size of the 110-foot Anacapa. "I feel like that was one of the coolest things I got to do in my eight years in the Coast Guard."

Preparing to move from his previous station in Minnesota, Thomas said "a lot of people that I knew were like, man, you're really lucky to be going to Petersburg, you're really lucky to be getting to do the job that you're gonna go do on the Anacapa..."

Although serving on the Anacapa in Petersburg was ranked ninth out of 10 on his list, Thomas confessed "those people were all right - it was really great to come to Petersburg."

Serving as an electronics technician prepared him for his Forest Service career in Petersburg, where he settled to raise his kids.

Thomas said he is glad the Coast Guard is decommissioning the Anacapa because the Coast Guard fleet "can only have so many vessels" and "ships should be, you know, ready and reliable for their missions."

He is curious to see where the Anacapa will go next. "I have great memories on that ship."

Petersburg EMS Coordinator Josh Rathmann served on the Anacapa for almost three years from 2016 to 2019 as a Boatswain's Mate (BM2).

"I had a lot of great memories on the ship," Rathmann told the Pilot. "You serve on that ship, you kind of get to know the boat and ... have somewhat of a connection with it ... and you kind of form a bond with those individuals that have [served] on that same ship..."

He remembers the rough seas and long transit time on the way out to Yakutat while the Anacapa crew responded to a mayday call from a vessel that was taking on water and had failing dewatering pumps.

"We approached the vessel taking on water, and I offloaded two guys and then our dewatering pump ... started helping dewater the boat," Rathmann told the Pilot. "We got them safely back into Yakutat and ... the two guys on board were, as you can imagine, supremely just thankful and, you know, couldn't express ... all the gratitude they had for us."

Rathmann said he has "mixed feelings" seeing the Anacapa decommissioned - happy the fleet is gaining ships with newer technology, but also a little sad to see the Anacapa go.

"I think the Anacapa has been a great staple in Southeast for a long, long time. It's served its role, it's done an excellent job, has had a lot of great crews throughout the years. So it's a little sad to see it go and hear that they're decommissioning it. But again, it's an older boat," he said. "It's kind of like a living legend is getting put to rest ... and it's cool to hear [old rescue] stories [from local fishermen]... knowing that it's been around that long and serving the community and serving Southeast for that long."

"And I mean ... that's really why I joined the Coast Guard was to do stuff like that ... do what I can with the abilities that I have to help somebody in need, and that's really why I'm still kind of in that service now, Fire and EMS ... because I have the ability to help and ... I can still do good so I'm gonna try and continue to do that, continue to serve," said Rathmann.

Serving on the Anacapa was Rathmann's first time in Alaska. After his term, Rathmann returned to the midwest, became EMT certified, and returned to Petersburg for his job as EMS coordinator with The Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department.

"Anacapa was kind of like ... the gateway to Petersburg for a lot of coasties," said Toler Alexander, who served as the executive officer, second in command on the Anacapa from 2019 to 2021. "It's definitely kind of a gateway to the community of Petersburg, a gateway to getting that rural Alaska experience..."

Alexander served on the Elderberry first and returned to North Carolina - though it was not long before he and his wife came back to town. When they first got orders to return to Petersburg and serve on the Anacapa, "it kind of felt like a homecoming ... we were ecstatic."

In 2020 after being at sea for two weeks, Alexander remembers the "weird, apocalyptic moment" his crew experienced porting Anacapa in Sitka and discovering there was no toilet paper in town and folks were wearing medical masks because the pandemic had escalated dramatically "and none of us had any clue because we'd been detached."

Otherwise, "we got to do a lot of really cool stuff" other than patrolling and law enforcement boardings on the fishing vessels and recreational vessels throughout Southeast. Notably, Alexander recalls the Anacapa's mission that went all the way to the Governor: "We were tasked with delivering the Christmas tree to the Governor's mansion."

On the way up, Anacapa's crew diverted to assist with waterside support and search and rescue when the deadly landslide of Dec 2, 2020 happened in Haines.

Alexander reports that the 30-foot wrapped up Christmas tree, hanging off the back of the cutter the entire journey, was successfully delivered in one piece.

The decommissioning ceremony for the Anacapa took place April 26 in Port Angeles.

According to a press release, USCG District 13 commander Rear Adm. Charles Fosse presided over the ceremony to honor the three decades of service the Anacapa and its crews provided: "The cutter Anacapa has been a reliable and highly effective presence in our nation's coastal waters for more than 30 years, conducting life-saving missions, ensuring preservation of precious natural resources and contributing to national security," said Fosse.

The Anacapa is on the way to the SALC Cutter Transition Division (CTD) facility in Baltimore, Maryland where the decommissioning will be completed and the Anacapa will be prepared for a new chapter of life abroad.

Decommissioning the Anacapa removes the cutter from the USCG's active records. At the CTD, all material and gear are removed and stored for when the Anacapa is transferred to new owners.

According to CTD Deputy Michael Ciaglo, the current plan for the Anacapa's fate is to be transferred to a foreign navy or coast guard.

"Once the cutters have arrived in their new homeports, we will send a team over to start the vessels back up and give refresher training to the crews. Then, the transferred cutters and new crews are ready to operate in their home waters performing missions identical to the US Coast Guard," Ciaglo told the Pilot. "It's quite a thing to see a cutter that has performed so well not only for the USCG, but the residents of Alaska, for so long and then turn around and get it ready for a second life with a partner nation to do much the same for them."

As of Tuesday, no recipient has been identified.

Anacapa was one of 49 Island-class cutters built, only three of which will remain after the Anacapa leaves service. Those cutters also are scheduled for decommissioning as the Coast Guard retires the Island-class cutters and replaces them with newer 154-foot Sentinel-class fast response cutters, according to reporting by the Port Angeles Peninsula Daily News.

Alexander is currently stationed on one of the last remaining 110-foot class cutters, the Liberty in Valdez, Alaska.

He felt nostalgic watching the decommissioning ceremony held for the Anacapa.

"I think there's something special about a ship to the mariners ... it's not just a piece of equipment, there's a personality to it, you know ... almost as if a ship could have a soul," Alexander said. "You develop feelings towards it ... and you see it moving on to a decommission status ... it's never going to be a Coast Guard Cutter again, which is kind of bittersweet ... [this cutter class is] getting old, and it is time, but ... there's still a lot of good memories and a lot of value to it, for sure."