USCGC Halibut is a United States Coast Guard Marine Protector-class coastal patrol boat based in Marina del Rey, California.[1] Her patrol area is the 300 miles (480 km) from Morro Bay to Dana Point, California, and several important offshore islands.
Like her sister ships, Halibut was built at the Bollinger Shipyards, in Lockport, Louisiana.[2]
Commissioned on April 26, 2002, she replaced the Point-class cutter USCGC Point Bridge (WPB 82338). She was commissioned on 26 April 2002.
In the early morning of 2 December 2012, Halibut encountered a suspicious vessel and dispatched her pursuit boat to investigate.[3][4][5][6] The crew of the pursuit boat hailed the vessel and attempted to board her for an inspection, upon which the suspicious vessel rammed Halibut′s boat. Senior Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne, Halibut's executive petty officer, was credited with heroically pushing a colleague to safety at the cost of his own life.
In October 2016, Halibut joined the Coast Guard patrol boat USCGC Blacktip (WPB-87326) in supporting operations by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) personnel aboard the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary′s research vessel R/V Shearwater who used a VideoRay Mission Specialist remotely operated vehicle to find and identify the wreck of the Coast Guard cutter McCulloch, which sank in the Pacific Ocean 3 nautical miles (5.5 km) off Point Conception, California, on 13 June 1917 after colliding with the passenger steamer Governor.[7]
HALIBUT is under the operational command of Sector Los Angeles/Long Beach and is responsible for patrolling 300 miles of the southern California coast from Morro Bay to Dana Point, including the Channel Islands and Catalina Island.
HALIBUT replaced USCGC POINT BRIDGE (WPB 82338), an 82 foot patrol boat that had been stationed in Marina Del Rey since 1964.
The Commandant personally informed the Horne family earlier today a fast response cutter will bear Terrell's name in honor of his sacrifice and faithful service in defense of his nation.
Two Mexican nationals from Ensenada who were apprehended on a smuggling panga in December 2012 were convicted today in the death of Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III.
Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III's death made him the first Coast Guardsman murdered in the line of duty since 1927, officials said. Horne, who spent 14 years with the Coast Guard, was posthumously promoted to the rank of senior chief petty officer.