CGC JOSEPH NAPIER (WPC 1115)

“Failure is not an Option”

Welcome aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter JOSEPH NAPIER. The ship is named after Captain Joseph Napier, a station keeper for the United States Lifesaving Service. Captain Joseph Napier established the lifesaving station at St. Joseph, Michigan and spent over 40 years on the Great Lakes. He is credited with saving 60 lives throughout his extensive career. Captain Napier was the first member of the U.S. Lifesaving Service to earn the Gold Lifesaving Medal in recognition of his valiant efforts to save the crew of the schooner Merchant during a tempest in 1854.

CGC JOSEPH NAPIER was commissioned in January, 2016 and is one of seven Sentinel class Fast Response Cutters homeported in San Juan, Puerto Rico. CGC JOSEPH NAPIER operates throughout the waters surrounding Puerto Rico as well as the Central and Eastern Caribbean. Her primary missions include Search and Rescue, Counter Drug Operations, Maritime Law Enforcement and Alien Migrant Interdiction Operations. CGC JOSEPH NAPIER has rescued hundreds of Dominican, Haitian, and Cuban migrants and has supported as many as 40 migrants on deck at one time. CGC JOSEPH NAPIER has also interdicted over eight drug laden vessels, detaining narcotics smugglers, and denying drug cartels hundreds of millions of dollars in profit from the sale of illicit narcotics. Most recently, CGC JOSEPH NAPIER was one of the primary assets to conduct reconstitution efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands following the destruction of Hurricanes IRMA and MARIA.
 

The U.S. Life-Saving station and crew from St. Joseph, Mich. during rowing practice with their surfboat. Photo Courtesy of the Michigan Maritime Museum.
Coast Guard Heroes: Joseph Napier​

Phone: (787) 729-4384

Address: 5 Calle La Puntilla, San Juan, P.R. 00901