Search the Site with

General Characteristics

Crew List

History

Image Gallery

to end of page

USS Whirlwind (PC 11)

USS WHIRLWIND was the eleventh CYCLONE - class patrol coastal boat and the second ship in the Navy to bear the name. From November 2001 on, the CYCLONE - class ships were temporarily operated under US Coast Guard control for homeland defense. On March 21, 2022, WHIRLWIND was decommissioned at Naval Support Activity Bahrain. On March 21, 2022, ex-WHIRLWIND was transferred via Foreign Military Sales to the Royal Bahrain Naval Forces, where she entered service as RBNS AL-SAKEER (PC 74) on March 30, 2022.

back to top

go to the end of the page

back to top

go to the end of the page

Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS WHIRLWIND. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

• Click here to view the list.

back to top

go to the end of the page

USS WHIRLWIND History:

USS WHIRLWIND was ordered in July 1991 as part of the CYCLONE-class patrol coastal program, intended to give the U.S. Navy small, very fast ships able to operate close to shore, insert and recover special operations forces, and conduct maritime interdiction and security patrols in confined waters. Construction began when WHIRLWIND was laid down on March 4, 1994, at Bollinger Shipyards at Lockport, Louisiana. She was launched on September 9, 1994, and delivered to the Navy on April 11, 1995. The ship's sponsor was Elizabeth A. Tanner, wife of Congressman John S. Tanner of Tennessee, reflecting the close relationship between the ship and the city that would host her commissioning. WHIRLWIND was commissioned on July 1, 1995, in Memphis, Tennessee, entering service with the motto "Second To None". After commissioning, she joined the growing CYCLONE-class force and was stationed at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virginia, from where she supported operations under U.S. 4th and 6th Fleets.

In the late 1990s, WHIRLWIND's routine consisted of training, exercises and coastal patrol duties out of Little Creek. Open sources do not provide a detailed day-by-day account of these early years, but Navy historical summaries note that from this base she supported 4th Fleet and 6th Fleet operations, placing her periodically in the Caribbean and western Atlantic for 4th Fleet tasks and in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic for 6th Fleet duty. Within that pattern, she conducted shakedown and readiness training, integrated with larger surface combatants and special operations forces, and participated in fleet exercises that developed the Navy's concept of operations for the new patrol coastal class.

One early snapshot comes from May 19, 1997, when WHIRLWIND was recorded underway on the Anacostia River after departing the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. Photographic and historical records place her there as part of Navy outreach and routine operations in the nation's capital region, demonstrating the class's ability to operate in restricted waterways and to visit inner-harbor facilities that were inaccessible to larger ships.

WHIRLWIND's association with U.S. 6th Fleet is documented more concretely in 2000. On September 12, 2000, she deployed to Genoa, Italy, on a Mediterranean assignment. Imagery and historical notes show her in port at Genoa during this period, a visit that fits the pattern of theater engagement and maritime security operations then typical for small U.S. combatants in the region. While the detailed schedule of this deployment is not described in open sources, her presence in Genoa marks her as an active participant in 6th Fleet port visits and exercises at the turn of the century.

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, WHIRLWIND shifted from these peacetime engagement tasks to a homeland security role. Navy historical documentation records that the ship "helped secure New York City's harbor" immediately after the attacks. In the days that followed September 11, she joined other Navy and Coast Guard units in patrolling approaches to the port, monitoring traffic and supporting the broader homeland defense effort under what became Operation Noble Eagle. This employment highlighted the utility of the patrol coastal ships in densely trafficked coastal environments where speed, shallow draft and rapid reaction were at a premium.

On February 25, 2003, WHIRLWIND took part in a high-visibility movement inside the Hampton Roads area. Historical notes record that she escorted the aircraft carrier GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73) by downtown Norfolk along the Elizabeth River as the carrier transited from Naval Station Norfolk to Norfolk Naval Shipyard at Portsmouth, Virginia. Operating as an escort in the constrained waters of the river, WHIRLWIND provided close-in security during the carrier's passage, at a time when tensions were rising in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the Navy was heightening its force protection posture at home.

By 2006, WHIRLWIND's career had shifted decisively toward the Middle East. Contemporary news reports show her operating in the North Arabian Gulf as part of Commander, Task Group 158.1, a formation charged with Maritime Security Operations (MSO) and the protection of Iraq's vital offshore oil infrastructure. On April 14, 2006, WHIRLWIND was documented protecting Iraq's oil terminals in the North Arabian Gulf. Under CTG 158.1 she conducted patrols around platforms such as the Al Basra and Khawr Al Amaya oil terminals, enforcing exclusion zones, monitoring local traffic and contributing to a security umbrella designed to safeguard Iraq's sea-based economic lifelines during the early years of the post-2003 reconstruction period.

A DVIDS feature from June 1, 2006, offers a more detailed picture of WHIRLWIND's operations during this phase. The article describes USS WHIRLWIND and the Coast Guard cutter USCGC MAUI (WPB 1304) as integral elements of MSO in the North Arabian Gulf, highlighting the advantages of small patrol craft that can reach their destinations quickly and operate in shallower waters than larger warships. The report notes that CYCLONE-class patrol ships like WHIRLWIND typically remain forward-deployed in the Arabian Gulf for extended periods while their crews are rotated roughly every six months, a model that maximized "on-station" time around the Iraqi oil platforms. The same source explains that WHIRLWIND and MAUI patrolled sectors associated with the oil terminals, carried out interaction patrols with local fishing dhows, and worked closely with Iraqi Navy patrol craft, providing a picture of continuous, routine security work aimed at building regional maritime capacity and deterring threats to offshore infrastructure.

Later that year, on October 18, 2006, WHIRLWIND was photographed steaming while escorting the Navy's new Joint Maritime Staging Terminal (JMAST) in the Persian Gulf. The JMAST served as a floating logistics and staging facility to support multinational maritime security operations in the region. WHIRLWIND's escort role underscored her function as a close-in protective screen for key maritime assets, this time in support of an innovative afloat support platform that extended coalition reach in Gulf waters.

Open sources show WHIRLWIND remaining in the North Arabian Gulf through the later 2000s. Imagery and reporting document her continuing role under 5th Fleet and CTG 158.1, frequently in company with U.S. Coast Guard cutters and other CYCLONE-class patrol ships. A 2006-2008 pattern emerges of sector patrols around Iraqi oil terminals, visit-board-search-and-seizure (VBSS) operations against small craft, and training evolutions with Iraqi Navy and Coast Guard units, all within the broader framework of coalition MSO in support of Iraq's post-conflict stabilization.

By February 2010, WHIRLWIND was still on station in the North Arabian Gulf, as evidenced by imagery dated February 12, 2010, that shows the ship operating in those waters. On September 29, 2011, naval historical records note that WHIRLWIND transited into the Arabian Gulf, an entry that likely reflects a documented Strait of Hormuz or theater transit within the 5th Fleet area of operations. WHIRLWIND appears again in the record on April 8, 2014, during a formation and maneuvering exercise in the Arabian Gulf. On that date, she transited in formation as part of Patrol Coastal Squadron One alongside TEMPEST (PC 2), SQUALL (PC 7), FIREBOLT (PC 10), TYPHOON (PC 5) and THUNDERBOLT (PC 12). Photographs from this exercise show a line of CYCLONE-class ships underway together, illustrating the concentration of patrol coastal forces then forward-deployed to Bahrain and the importance the Navy placed on small-ship presence for maritime security operations and theater security cooperation across the 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

By September 30, 2017, WHIRLWIND is documented as docked in Manama, Bahrain, a routine snapshot that nonetheless confirms her long-term basing at Naval Support Activity Bahrain and her continued employment in Gulf waters more than a decade after her initial deployment to the region. In May 2019, WHIRLWIND was photographed repeatedly in the Arabian Gulf during a period of heightened regional tension. Imagery from May 24 and May 27, 2019, shows the ship preparing for sea and patrolling while flying her battle ensign. The accompanying captions state that Gulf Cooperation Council nations and the U.S. Navy were conducting enhanced security patrols across the region, increasing communication and coordination with each other in support of regional naval cooperation and maritime security operations.

For her performance, WHIRLWIND received formal recognition. Naval Surface Forces announced on March 18, 2020, that she was one of the Manama-based ships awarded the 2019 Battle Effectiveness Award ("Battle E"), alongside SIROCCO (PC 6) and the mine countermeasures ship SENTRY (MCM 3). The Battle "E" reflected sustained excellence in readiness and operational performance across warfare, engineering, logistics, command and control, and safety during the competitive period. Later historical summaries also credit WHIRLWIND with winning the Battle "E" again for 2020, indicating that she maintained this high standard in successive years.

From April 16-19, 2020, WHIRLWIND participated in a live-fire and training event that highlighted the integration of surface ships and rotary-wing aviation in the Gulf. A U.S. 5th Fleet report describes how forces from the Expeditionary Mine Countermeasures Task Force and Destroyer Squadron 50, including the expeditionary sea base LEWIS B. PULLER (ESB 3), patrol coastal ships SIROCCO, WHIRLWIND, FIREBOLT and TEMPEST (PC 2), Coast Guard cutters ADAK (WPB 1333), MAUI (WPB 1304) and WRANGELL (WPB 1332), and the destroyer PAUL HAMILTON (DDG 60), conducted a live-fire exercise with AH-64E Apache helicopters from U.S. Army aviation units. The exercise linked Navy and Coast Guard surface platforms with Army attack helicopters, demonstrating combined capabilities for engaging surface targets and enhancing maritime security in the 5th Fleet theater.

WHIRLWIND's U.S. Navy career concluded in 2022. On March 21, 2022, she was decommissioned at Naval Support Activity Bahrain. Photographs from the decommissioning ceremony in Manama show her crew mustered on deck as the ship's U.S. service came to an end. On March 21, 2022, ex-WHIRLWIND was transferred via Foreign Military Sales to the Royal Bahrain Naval Forces, where she entered service as RBNS AL-SAKEER (PC 74) on March 30, 2022.

back to top

go to the end of the page

USS WHIRLWIND Image Gallery:

back to top

Back to Patrol Coastal Boats list.

Back to ships list.

Back to selection page.

Back to 1^st page.