USCGC Munro
USCGC Douglas Munro (WHEC-724)
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 United States
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| Name: | USCGC Douglas Munro |
| Namesake: | Douglas Albert Munro |
| Operator: | United States Coast Guard |
| Builder: | Avondale Shipyards |
| Commissioned: | September 27, 1971 |
| Homeport: | Kodiak, Alaska |
| Motto: | Honoring the Past by Serving the Present |
| Fate: | Active |
| Badge: |
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| General characteristics | |
| Type: | High Endurance Cutter |
| Displacement: | 3,250 tons |
| Length: | 378 ft (115 m) |
| Beam: | 43 ft (13 m) |
| Draught: | 15 ft (4.6 m) |
| Propulsion: | Two diesel engines and two gas turbine engines |
| Speed: | 27 knots |
| Range: | 14,000 miles |
| Endurance: | 45 days |
| Complement: | 167 personnel |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
AN/SPS-40 air-search radar |
| Armament: | Otobreda 76 mm, Phalanx CIWS, six M2HB 12.7mm Heavy Machine Guns |
| Aircraft carried: | |
| Aviation facilities: | Helicopter pad, Retractable hangar bay |
USCGC Douglas Munro (WHEC-724) is a High Endurance Cutter of the United States Coast Guard, named for Signalman First Class Douglas A. Munro (1919–1942), the only Coast Guardsman to be awarded the Medal of Honor. The vessel is currently commanded by Samuel R. Jordan (May 2015 – Present), and as of September 4, 2007 is stationed in Kodiak, Alaska.
Munro was commissioned on September 27, 1971, at Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans, Louisiana. The tenth of twelve 378-foot (115 m) cutters, she was the first to be named after a Coast Guard hero. The previously commissioned 378-footers had been named for former secretaries of the Treasury, a tradition that began in 1830 when a cutter was named for Alexander Hamilton.
Secretary of Transportation John A. Volpe and Douglas Munro's mother, Edith, were on hand to commission the Munro. The ship's original complement included 17 officers and 143 enlisted men, under the command of the ship's first Commanding Officer, Captain John T. Rouse.
The dedication of the ship took place on April 15, 1972, at Munro's first homeport of Boston, Massachusetts. Secretary Volpe was once again on hand, retelling the story of Douglas Munro and reminding the crew of the honor they had to bear the name of that hero. The first commanding officer was Captain John T. Rouse. While operating out of Boston, the ship's original missions included ocean station patrol and search and rescue.
The stay in Boston was not to last long, however, as the Munro shifted to a new homeport of Seattle, Washington, on August 29, 1973. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer hailed the arrival of "Two (Munro and Boutwell) of the newest, finest ships in the Coast Guard fleet." Seattle was also especially receptive to the Munro because Douglas Munro himself had been a resident of Cle Elum, a small town in Washington State. While operating out of Seattle, the Munro became more active in the fisheries enforcement mission and less active in the ocean station mission, which was quickly being made obsolete by technological advances. Alaskan fisheries were especially busy and controversial at this time. In 1971, for instance, the combined Japanese, Russian, Canadian, and South Korean fishing fleets had caught about ten times as many fish as the U.S. fleet did. Coast Guard action was badly needed to regulate the practices of these foreign fleets. Munro performed this mission admirably and with many successes, including the seizure of the Korean longliner Dong Won No. 51 in June 1979.
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