Coast Guard to move Diligence homeport to Florida

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — After nearly three decades in the Port City, the US Coast Guard Cutter Diligence will soon have a new home.

Rep. David Rouzer says he received a letter from the Coast Guard dated Dec. 26 that it would change the homeport of the Diligence from the Wilmington riverfront to Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida on or around Sept. 30, 2020.

“The homeport change will support the strategic cutter homeporting priorities by clustering cutters of the same class,” the letter reads.

According to its official history, the Diligence (WMEC 616) is the sixth cutter to bear the name. The Medium Endurance Cutter (WMEC) was commissioned in 1964. The Coast Guard says it has a crew of 78.

Rouzer says the Coast Guard plans to decommission the aging Diligence and replace it with a newer version cutter that is much bigger and too big to keep using downtown Wilmington as its home port.

Wilmington was designated a Coast Guard City in 2003. Rouzer says the Coast Guard is committed to maintaining a strong presence in the area. Last year he helped secure the $6.7 million the Coast Guard said was needed to restore the downtown bulkhead along the Cape Fear River, where the Diligence docks.

Wilmington is also home to a Coast Guard sector office. The Coast Guard also has stations at Wrightsville Beach and Oak Island.

Rouzer says he has also discussed with the Coast Guard returning the Diligence to Wilmington during festivals and events from time to time.

Originally homeported in Key West from 1964-1983, and then Cape Canaveral, FL, from 1983-1990. The Coast Guard says the Diligence was temporarily decommissioned for modernization at the Coast Guard Yard from 1990-1992. Following a $28 million refurbishment, a rebuilt Diligence was placed back in commission and moved to Wilmington as its home port.

The Diligence traces its roots to Diligence I, which was one of the first ten US Revenue Cutters. Built in 1791 in Washington, NC, Diligence I temporarily sailed out of New Bern before moving to her permanent home port of Wilmington in October of 1792.

Diligence II, III and IV replaced Diligence I. Each new cutter was bigger and faster, and all remained home ported along the Cape Fear River. By the 1830s, the Diligence line temporarily ended after Diligence IV was decommissioned.

Diligence V, a 125-foot diesel-powered Coast Guard Cutter was commissioned in 1919 and sailed out of New York, Boston, Cleveland and finally Long Beach, CA, before being decommissioned in 1961.

Other Coast Guard ships have also called Wilmington home over the years.