USCGC Boutwell

USCGC Boutwell (WHEC-719) was a United States Coast Guard high endurance cutter based out of San Diego, California. Named for George S. Boutwell, United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Ulysses S. Grant. Boutwell engages in many CG missions, including Search and Rescue, Law Enforcement, Maritime Security, and National Defense.

The Boutwell was formally decommissioned in March 16, 2016 at Naval Base San Diego, California. She was then sold to the Philippines as Excess Defense Article (EDA) and rechristened the BRP Andres Bonifacio (FF-17), becoming the third Hamilton-class cutter to be transferred to the Philippine Navy.

History
USCGC Boutwell is the fifth of the Coast Guard’s fleet of 378 foot High Endurance Cutters. She was built in 1967 in the Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans, LA. She was launched on 17 June 1967, and her launching sponsor was Mrs. Douglas Dillon. After she was commissioned in 1968, she sailed to her first homeport, Boston. In 1973 Boutwell moved to Seattle, where she remained until she underwent the Fleet Renovation and Modernization Program in 1990. Once the renovation was complete she moved to Coast Guard Island in Alameda, CA. In 2011 she relocated to San Diego, CA to replace the decommissioned USCGC Hamilton.

Boutwell’s successful missions have earned her fame and respect in the Coast Guard Community. Boutwell’s successes include many historic records. In 1980 Boutwell conducted the largest at-sea rescue ever conducted, when she rescued more than 500 people from the burning cruise ship Prisendam, in the Gulf of Alaska. In 1998, Boutwell had the largest high-seas drift net bust in Coast Guard history.

In 2003, Boutwell participated in the Iraqi conflict. Boutwell valiantly defended the oil terminals off the coast of Iraq and Iran. For her many accomplishments and continued excellence, Boutwell received the Admiral John B. Hayes Award for Unit Excellence. In 2005, Boutwell seized over 900 million dollars in cocaine (28,000 lbs). In doing this, Boutwell was exercising the newly developed Go-Fast Response Team. With the help of the new HITRON helicopter, Boutwell could stop and seize drugs from every Go-Fast it pursued.

Boutwell was recognized as the 2013 Forrest O. Rednour Memorial Award Large Afloat Dining Facility and as the second-place winner for the 2014 Large Unit Afloat MWR Program of the Year. In October 2014, Boutwell completed a noteworthy counterdrug deployment in support of the U.S. Coast Guard's Western Hemisphere Strategy; this deployment was cited by U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul Zukunft as an example of how better integration of operations and intelligence can impact smuggling in the Western Hemisphere.

Boutwell is being decommissioned in early 2016 and will be sold to the Philippines as Excess Defense Article (EDA) after U.S. President Barack Obama announced that a High Endurance Cutter and the R/V Melville will be made available to the Philippines during the APEC 2015 summit in Manila The Boutwell will be the third Hamilton-class cutter to be transferred to the Philippine Navy. Boutwell's decommissioning ceremony with the US Coast Guard is scheduled in March 16, 2016 at Naval Base San Diego, California.