Aug. 6, 2025 —
A plasma cutter at Austal USA’s shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, cuts steel plate to be used in the production of the future offshore patrol cutter Icarus. Photo courtesy of Austal USA.
The Coast Guard joined Austal USA on Aug. 5 at the contractor’s facility in Mobile, Alabama, to mark the start of production of future Coast Guard Cutter Icarus. Icarus is the second of up to 11 cutters that will be delivered to the Coast Guard through the Stage 2 contract with Austal USA and one of four OPCs under contract for production. Icarus was put on contract on July 31.
This is the second Coast Guard vessel to carry the name Icarus. The first Icarus, a 165-foot “B-class” cutter, was commissioned in 1932. Originally charged with intercepting smugglers and rum runners in the latter days of the Prohibition era, Icarus was assigned convoy, antisubmarine and general patrol missions during World War II. On May 9, 1942, while transiting off the coast of North Carolina toward Key West, Florida, Icarus’ sonar crewmen detected a potential adversarial submarine in the immediate vicinity. Shortly thereafter, an explosion – believed to have come from a torpedo – occurred off Icarus’ port bow but failed to cause any damage. In response, Icarus tracked the submarine and deployed depth charges at strategic locations and intervals, eventually damaging it and forcing it to surface. Once reaching the surface, the submarine crew abandoned ship. The survivors were rescued by Icarus and transferred to the Charleston Navy Yard in Charleston, South Carolina. The captured submarine crew were the first foreign prisoners of war to set foot on U.S. soil since the War of 1812.
OPCs play an important role in addressing the Coast Guard’s long-term need for cutters that can deploy independently or as part of a task group. The OPC will provide a capability bridge between the national security cutter, which patrols the open ocean in the most demanding maritime environments, and the fast response cutter, which serves closer to shore. With the strong support of the president and Congress, the Coast Guard is leveraging a historic $4.3 billion investment in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to fully build out the remaining Stage 2 OPCs.
The ships will feature state-of-the-market technology and will replace the service’s 270-foot and 210-foot medium endurance cutters, which are becoming increasingly expensive to maintain and operate. OPCs are a part of the Department of Homeland Security’s layered security strategy, performing a variety of missions such as responding to disasters, rescuing mariners, performing drug interdictions, uncovering smuggling activities and enforcing fisheries laws.
For more information, visit the Offshore Patrol Cutter Program page.