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USCGC Vigilant (WMEC-617)
Encyclopedia
USCGC Vigilant (WMEC-617) is a United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
medium endurance cutter. She is the twelfth cutter to bear the name Vigilant, dating back to 1790 when the original Vigilant was built for the Revenue Cutter Service. She was commissioned on October 3, 1964, at Todd Shipyards
Todd Shipyards
Todd Shipyards was an American soccer club based in Brooklyn, New York that was an inaugural member of the American Soccer League. The team was formed when the Todd Shipyard company decided to merge the Brooklyn Robins Dry Dock with Tebo Yacht Basin F.C....
in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
at a cost of 2.3 million dollars. From 1964 through 1989 Vigilant was homeported in New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and about east of Fall River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 95,072, making it the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts...
. In 1989, she underwent an 18 month Major Maintenance Availability in order to modernize her capabilities. In 1990, Vigilant, moved her homeport to Port Canaveral, Florida. Vigilant has just completed another yard period, updating her with the most modern electronic and engineering equipment available.
Vigilant / Kudirka incident
On November 23, 1970, Simonas "Simas" Kudirka, a SovietSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
seaman of Lithuanian
Lithuanians
Lithuanians are the Baltic ethnic group native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,765,600 people. Another million or more make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland. Their native language...
origin, leapt from the 400-foot (120 m) mother ship Sovetskaya Litva, anchored in U.S waters near Aquinnah, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
on Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, known for being an affluent summer colony....
Island, aboard the Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
ship Vigilant, sailing from New Bedford
New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and about east of Fall River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 95,072, making it the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts...
. The Soviets accused Kudirka of theft of 3,000 rubles from the ship's safe. Ten hours passed. After attempts to get the U.S. State Department to provide guidance failed, Rear Admiral William B. Ellis, commander of the First Coast Guard District, ordered Commander Ralph E. Eustis to permit a detachment of Soviet seamen to board the Vigilant to return Kudirka to the Soviet ship. This led to a change in asylum policy by the U.S. Coast Guard. Admiral Ellis and his chief of staff were given administrative punishment under Article 15 of the UCMJ. Commander Eustis was given a non-punitive letter of reprimand
Letter of reprimand
A letter of reprimand is a United States Department of Defense procedure involving a letter to an employee or soldier from his or her superior that details the wrongful actions of the person and the punishment that can be expected...
and assigned to shore duty.
Kudirka was tried for treason by the Soviet Union and given a ten-year sentence in the Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
. Subsequent investigations revealed that Kudirka could claim American citizenship through his mother and was allowed to come to the United States in 1974.
An award-winning book detailing the incident, Day of Shame, by Algis Ruksenas, was published in 1973 (David McKay Publishers, New York). The book helped spur further investigations into the incident that eventually led to Kudirka's release by the Soviets. It remains part of the reading curriculum in the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
The incident was portrayed in a 1978 television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
, The Defection of Simas Kudirka
The Defection of Simas Kudirka
The Defection of Simas Kudirka is a 1978 television movie based on actual events, featuring Alan Arkin as Simas Kudirka, a Lithuanian merchant seaman in Soviet-era 1970 who attempts to defect to the United States by jumping onto a U.S. Coast Guard cutter. Among the movie's awards are two Emmys and...
, with Alan Arkin
Alan Arkin
Alan Wolf Arkin is an American actor, director, musician and singer. He is known for starring in such films as Wait Until Dark, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Catch-22, The In-Laws, Edward Scissorhands, Glengarry Glen Ross, Marley & Me, and...
playing Kudirka and Donald Pleasence
Donald Pleasence
Sir Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE, was a British actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades...
playing the captain of the Soviet ship.
Notable crew
- Admiral Thomas H. CollinsThomas H. CollinsThomas Hansen Collins is a retired United States Coast Guard 4 star admiral who served as the 22nd Commandant of the United States Coast Guard from 2002 to 2006.-Background:...
, served as Commandant of the Coast GuardCommandant of the Coast GuardThe Commandant of the United States Coast Guard is the highest ranking member of the United States Coast Guard. The Commandant is normally the only four-star Admiral in the Coast Guard and is appointed for a four-year term by the President of the United States upon confirmation by the United...
from 2002 to 2006.