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Coast Guard cutter crew returns to Honolulu after joint operations across Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, prepares to participate in RIMPAC 2026

Courtesy Photo | Legend-class national security cutter USCGC Kimball (WMSL 756) crew members interdict...... read more read more

HONOLULU, HAWAII, UNITED STATES

07.01.2026

Courtesy Story

U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area

HONOLULU — The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kimball (WMSL 756) returned to their Honolulu home port June 20 after sailing more than 20,000 nautical miles during a 73-day patrol in the Caribbean.

Kimball’s crew departed Honolulu on April 8 and transited through the Panama Canal to support maritime interdiction operations in the Caribbean Sea and Florida Straits. The crew monitored activity and shadowed suspected dark fleet oil tankers operating in the region, working in coordination with Coast Guard District Southeast and U.S. Southern Command.

During the patrol, Kimball conducted flight operations with Coast Guard Air Station Miami, qualifying two pilots and recertifying the cutter’s flight deck team. In support of U.S. Southern Command objectives, the crew also completed deck-landing qualifications with two U.S. Army MH-60 helicopters from the 1-228th Aviation Regiment, demonstrating joint interoperability and qualifying eight pilots in preparation for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations ahead of hurricane season.

Kimball conducted an astern refueling-at-sea evolution with the 154-foot Sentinel-class fast response cutter Charles David Jr. (WPC 1107), refueling the cutter following maritime interdiction tasking near Cuba.

While transiting the Eastern Pacific, Kimball’s crew also supported Coast Guard District Southwest and Joint Interagency Task Force–South in detecting, monitoring, and intercepting illicit narcotics. The crew interdicted a go-fast vessel, seizing approximately 2,138 pounds of contraband worth an estimated $10 million, and transferred the contraband and detainees to Panama’s National Aeronaval Service (SENAN) for further disposition.

Following their return to home port, Kimball’s crew is scheduled to represent the U.S. Coast Guard during the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise in and around the Hawaiian Islands. RIMPAC is the world’s largest international maritime exercise, featuring a multinational force of about 40 surface ships, five submarines, 140 aircraft, and more than 25,000 personnel.

“This deployment highlighted the global mission scope and capabilities of the National Security Cutter platform,” said Capt. Craig Allen Jr., Kimball’s commanding officer. “The crew was phenomenal, demonstrating incredible adaptability, resilience, and operational proficiency while executing high-priority national tasking across a complex mission set.”

Commissioned in 2019, Kimball is one of two 418-foot Legend-class National Security Cutters homeported in Honolulu. The cutter’s primary missions include counterdrug operations and defense readiness. Kimball is named for Sumner Increase Kimball, the organizer of the U.S. Life-Saving Service and its general superintendent from 1878 to 1915.