After a journey of more than 7,000 miles, the Coast Guard Cutter Bailey Barco is about to be assigned to active service.
On Wednesday, June 14, the 154-foot Fast Response Cutter will become just the second of its kind to be commissioned in Alaska, and the ceremony will take place in Juneau. The ship recently arrived in Ketchikan, its homeport, after sailing up from Key West, Florida. It will share the port with Alaska’s other Fast Response Cutter, the CGC John McCormick, also homeported in Ketchikan.
Though the event is not open to the public, the vessel’s commissioning is an important event for Juneau’s Coast Guard. The commissioning of a ship is a tradition where the crew members accept their positions with the service and the boat officially goes on active duty. Vice Adm. Fred M. Midgette, the Coast Guard’s Pacific Area commander, will preside over the ceremony. Multiple other officers, including 17th District Commander, Rear Adm. Michael McAllister, will be there as well.
The cutter is named for Bailey Barco, who earned a Gold Lifesaving Medal in 1901 for rescuing five crew members from a schooner that ran aground in a severe storm on the Virginia coast. Barco’s great-granddaughter, Carol Lash Push, will be in attendance as well.
