A U.S. Coast Guardsman raises the Union Jack on the bow of Coast Guard patrol craft USCGC Shamal (WPC 13).

Pascagoula, Miss. (Dec. 06, 2004) A U.S. Coast Guardsman raises the Union Jack on the bow of Coast Guard patrol craft USCGC Shamal (WPC 13). Shamal and Coast Guard patrol craft USCGC Tornado (WPC 14) were commissioned as active U.S. Coast Guard cutters in a formal ceremony at the Naval Station Pascagoula, Miss., on Dec. 6. Commandant of the Coast Guard, Adm. Thomas Collins and Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) were among the guest speakers at the commissioning ceremony. The Tornado and Shamal are former U.S. Navy patrol crafts transferred to the Coast Guard under a memorandum of agreement between the Navy and Coast Guard signed in Oct. 2004. The vessels primary missions will be homeland security, drug and alien migrant interdiction, search and rescue operations in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico under the guidance of the Commander, Coast Guard Atlantic Area. U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 1st Class Kim DeJong File# 041206-N-6344D-002