Nautical Research Journal


existed for over 110 years. In addition, she endowed the Smithsonian Institution with the donation of her personal art collection forming some of the original paintings held by the National Art Gallery.


T e second cutter named for Harriet Lane was built in 1926, over twenty years aſt er the death of


its namesake. Harriet Lane II was a 125-foot


patrol boat, commonly known as a “buck-and-a- quarter,” designed to interdict smugglers during Prohibition. It was home-ported fi rst in Boston; then in Provincetown and Gloucester, Massachusetts. For a few years during the Rum War, the cutter steamed under the command of Maurice Jester, who became the fi rst Coast Guard skipper to sink a U-boat in World War II and the Service’s fi rst Navy Cross Medal recipient of the war. In 1941, Harriet Lane II was outfi tted for buoy tending and conducted East Coast convoy escort duty during the war. Aſt er the war, it served briefl y as an air-sea rescue vessel for the Fiſt h Coast Guard District in Norfolk, Virginia. T e cutter was fi nally de-commissioned and sold in 1946 aſt er a distinguished 20-year service career.


T e current cutter named for Harriet Lane, Harriet Lane (WMEC-903), was commissioned in May 1984 in Washington, D.C. and was the fi rst Federal ship commissioned in that city since the late 1800s. Harriet Lane III is the third of thirteen “Famous”- class 270-foot medium endurance cutters and carries a crew of 100 offi cers and enlisted personnel. It can steam at nearly 20 knots, and carries a helicopter and rigid-hulled infl atable over-the-horizon boats for maritime interdiction and rescue missions.


In 1994, as the on-scene commander for Operation Able Manner, Harriet Lane III directed the rescue of thousands of Haitian and Cuban migrants fl owing across the Windward Pass and Florida Straits toward the United States. During this mass migration, the ship saved over 2,400 migrants, with operational oversight of fi ſt een cutters and numerous aircraſt . In 1996, the cutter served as on-scene commander for the initial search and recovery of TWA Flight 800 off Long Island. In the summer of 2000, Harriet Lane III served as command ship for the task unit supporting the highly successful Operation Sail 2000. In the 21st


century, Harriet Lane III continues to 63


8. T e modern 270-foot medium-endurance cutter Harriet Lane (WMEC-903), whose homeport is located in Hampton Roads, Virginia. (Coast Guard photograph)


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