Alex Haley-class

USCGC Alex Haley (WMEC-39) is a United States Coast Guard Cutter and former United States Navy vessel that was recommissioned for Coast Guard duty on 10 July 1999. It first entered service as USS Edenton (ATS-1), an Edenton-class salvage and rescue ship on 23 January 1971. In 1995, Edenton won the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award for the Atlantic Fleet. The conversion from a salvage ship to a Coast Guard cutter involved the removal of the stern towing machine, forward crane, and A-frame, and the installation of a flight deck, retractable hangar, and air-search radar. Additionally, her four aging Paxman diesel engines were replaced with four 16-cylinder Caterpillar diesels.

The Alex Haley-class patrol vessel, represented by the sole cutter USCGC Alex Haley (WMEC-39), was developed by converting the former U.S. Navy Edenton-class salvage ship USS Edenton to meet the U.S. Coast Guard's need for a robust, long-endurance patrol platform. Following extensive modifications to optimize it for fisheries patrol and search and rescue, the vessel officially entered Coast Guard service in 1999. Based in Kodiak, Alaska, the cutter has been primarily deployed in the harsh waters of the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, performing critical maritime law enforcement, homeland security, and search and rescue missions. Today, the vessel remains in active service, celebrated for its unique naval heritage and its enduring capability to operate in extreme sub-arctic environments.