CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Dauntless, homeported in Galveston, is scheduled to moor at the Coast Guard Harbor Facility in Corpus Christi for the first time Sunday, and will become a piece of its own history.
The 3 inch anti-aircraft gun, which is a full 50-caliber's long, that is on display at the USS Lexington Museum on the Bay, was removed from the Dauntless when the cutter upgraded its weapon systems. The gun was used to protect Coast Guard and Navy Auxiliary small boats and armed merchant men against aircraft and was operated entirely under manual control.
The Dauntless is a 210-foot medium endurance cutter that routinely deploys with the MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and has two high-speed, long-range boats for search-and-rescue and maritime law enforcement missions.
The Dauntless is also equipped with a 25mm Mark-38 chain gun and multiple .50-caliber machine guns. Under the Department of Homeland Security, Dauntless’ missions typically include living marine resource protection, migrant interdiction operations, search and rescue and counter-drug patrols.
“The Dauntless has roots in Corpus Christi and it’s great to bring the ship and its history back together,” said Cmdr. Daniel Deptula, response officer at Sector Corpus Christi.
The Dauntless is operating in the area in support of the North American Maritime Security Initiative and as a security asset along the U.S./Mexico maritime border.
The Dauntless is commanded by Cmdr. Christopher A. Strong, a 1993 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and a native of Rota, Spain.