Cutter Bertholf (WMSL 750) is the first of a new class of National Security Cutter. She is a state-of-the-art 418-foot vessel designed to meet the challenges the Coast Guard faces today and for years to come. BERTHOLF will be commissioned in Alameda at Coast Guard Island on August 4th 2008.

USCGC BERTHOLF is named for Commodore Ellsworth Price Bertholf, the Coast Guard’s First Commandant. Bertholf was born in New York City on April 7, 1866. He entered the Revenue Cutter Service as a cadet, graduated, and was commissioned on June 12, 1889. Bertholf’s most notable service was his role in the famous Overland Expedition in 1897. Over 200 whalers became trapped at Point Barrow, AK. Bertholf led the trip via dogsled, along with LT David Jarvis and Dr. Samuel Call, over 1600 miles herding reindeer to feed the starving whalers earning him the Congressional Medal of Honor. On June 19, 1911, Bertholf was named the Captain Commandant of the United States Revenue Cutter Service. Bertholf oversaw the combination of the Life-Saving Service with the Revenue Cutter Service to form the U.S. Coast Guard. Bertholf retired as Commandant of the Coast Guard on June 30, 1919 and became a vice-president of the American Bureau of Shipping. He died November 11, 1921 and was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. Source: Bertholf Newsletter One