View source for SLNS Gajabahu (P626)

{{Other ships|SLNS Gajabahu}}
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{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = [[File:USCGC Sherman WHEC-720 Vietnam War.jpg|300px]]
| Ship caption = ''Sherman'' seen in 1969
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|Ship country=[[United States]]
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United States|coast guard}}
|Ship name= USCGC ''Sherman'' (WHEC-720) 
|Ship namesake=[[John Sherman]]
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|Ship builder=[[Avondale Shipyards]]
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|Ship laid down=January 25, 1967
|Ship launched=September 23, 1967
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|Ship commissioned=September 3, 1968
|Ship decommissioned=May 1986
|Ship recommissioned=July 1989
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|Ship homeport=[[Honolulu, HI]]
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|Ship motto=“Honorable and Faithful”
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|Ship honors=Golden Eagle award by White House Drug Czar
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|Ship status=Active in service {{As of|2011|lc=on}}
|Ship notes=In July 2001, ''Sherman'' became the first Coast Guard cutter to circumnavigate the world.
|Ship badge=*[[File:USCGC Sherman shield.jpg|130px]]
*[[Naval heraldry|Crest]] of the USCGC ''Sherman'' 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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| Ship country = Sri Lanka
| Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Sri Lanka|naval}}
| Ship name = SLNS ''Gajabahu''
| Ship namesake = [[Gajabahu I of Anuradhapura|King Gajabahu I]]
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| Ship operator = [[Sri Lanka Navy]]
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| Ship laid down = January 25, 1967
| Ship launched = September 3, 1968
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| Ship acquired = 27 August 2018
| Ship commissioned = 6 June 2019
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| Ship status = Active
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*[[Maritime call sign|Callsign]]: NMMJ
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| Ship displacement = 3,250 tons
| Ship length = {{convert|378|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam = {{convert|43|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship draft = {{convert|15|ft|m|abbr=on}}
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| Ship propulsion = *Two [[diesel engines]] 
*Two gas [[turbine]] engines
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| Ship speed = 29 [[knot (unit)|knots]]
| Ship range = 14,000 miles
| Ship endurance = 45 days
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| Ship complement = 133 personnel (including 22 officers)
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| Ship sensors = *AN/SPS-78 Surface Search Radar 
*[[Mark 92 Guided Missile Fire Control System|MK 92 Fire Control System]]
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*6 × .50 caliber machine guns
* [[ZU-23-2]]
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'''SLNS ''Gajabahu'' (P626)''' (Sinhala: ගජබාහු, <small>romanized:</small> ''Gajabāhu'') is an [[Offshore Patrol Vessel|Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessel]] of the [[Sri Lanka Navy]]. The ship is the second ship named after [[Gajabahu I of Anuradhapura|King Gajabahu I]], the warrior king of the medieval Sri Lankan Kingdom of Anuradhapura.

Formerly, it was '''USCGC ''Sherman'' (WHEC-720)''' a [[United States Coast Guard]] [[Hamilton-class cutter|Hamilton-class]] [[high endurance cutter]] named for John Sherman, the 32nd United States Secretary of the Treasury and author of the Sherman Antitrust Act.<ref name="uscghist" />

==United States Coast Guard==
[[File:Logbook USCG Sherman November 1970.pdf|left|thumb|Logbook USCG Sherman November 1970]]
[[File:US Navy 060520-N-4104L-005 U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sherman (WHEC 720) leaves the White Beach Naval Facility, Okinawa pier to begin its participation in exercise Southeast Asia Cooperation Against Terrorism (SEACAT) 2006.jpg|left|thumb|USCGC ''Sherman'' in 2006.]]

CGC ''Sherman''{{'}}s keel was laid on January 25, 1967 at Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was launched on September 3, 1968.<ref name=uscghist>{{cite web |url=http://www.uscg.mil/pacarea/cgcsherman/shipshistory.asp |title=USCGC ''Sherman'' Unit History |date=7 August 2008 |website=U.S. Coast Guard |access-date=1 March 2019 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080923022615/http://www.uscg.mil/pacarea/cgcsherman/shipshistory.asp |archive-date=23 September 2008}}</ref>

CGC ''Sherman'' was originally homeported in Boston, Massachusetts where her primary mission was ocean station patrol in the North Atlantic.

In 1970, ''Sherman'' was assigned to Coast Guard Squadron Three in Vietnam. Her tasking during the conflict was primarily in support of [[Operation Market Time]], which involved sorting through hundreds of small vessels off the Vietnamese coast in search of enemy weapons smugglers. ''Sherman''{{'}}s crew inspected some 900 vessels during her 10-month tour in Southeast Asia. The old 5" gun (now replaced by a 76mm mount) answered 152 calls for naval gunfire support, including a running fight on the night of 21 November 1970 which resulted in sinking the North Vietnamese armed freighter ''SL-3'', which was carrying tons of enemy munitions.<ref name="uscghist" />

In 1971, ''Sherman'' returned to Boston. With satellite technology reducing the need for ocean station patrols and amid concern of the rising American drug problem, the emphasis shifted to drug interdiction. In October 1976, ''Sherman'' seized the 275-foot Panamanian freighter ''Don Emilio'' and confiscated 82 tons of marijuana, the largest drug seizure in history at the time. Responding to a need for greater operational resources in the Pacific, ''Sherman'' was transferred to her next homeport in Alameda, California in May 1979. ''Sherman''{{'}}s primary missions shifted to Alaskan Patrols (ALPAT) involving fisheries law enforcement (LE), drug interdiction, search and rescue (SAR), and military readiness in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. ''Sherman'' was decommissioned from May 1986 until July 1989 to complete a three-year Fleet Renovation and Modernization (FRAM) project at Todd Shipyard in Seattle, Washington. The project upgraded ''Sherman''{{'}}s weapons, communications, aviation and other operating systems and completely renovated crew living and berthing spaces. ''Sherman'' completed ready-for-sea trials in July 1990 and once again commenced operational missions in the Pacific.<ref name=uscghist />

In July 2001, ''Sherman'' became the first Coast Guard cutter to circumnavigate the world, after conducting U.N. sanctions enforcement duty in the Persian Gulf and goodwill projects in Madagascar, South Africa, and Cape Verde.<ref name=uscghist />

''Sherman'' was involved in search and rescue efforts following the sinking of F/V ''Big Valley'' near Saint Paul Island, Alaska, on January 15, 2005.<ref>{{cite web|date=17 January 2005|title=Coast Guard continues search for ''Big Valley'' crewmen|url=http://www.uscgnews.com/go/doc/780/60701/|url-status=dead|website=U.S. Coast Guard Office of Public Affairs|accessdate=5 May 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710080913/http://www.d17.uscgnews.com/go/doc/780/60701|archivedate=10 July 2011}}</ref>

CGC ''Sherman'' appeared in the 2005 film ''Yours Mine & Ours''.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}

In May 2006, the cutter participated with a U.S. Navy task group during a five-month deployment to Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines. In March 2007, ''Sherman'' received worldwide attention when her boarding team discovered more than 17 metric tons of cocaine aboard the Panamanian freighter ''Gatun'', a record seizure in the Eastern Pacific. ''Sherman'' was awarded the Golden Eagle award by the White House for combined interdiction successes during 2007.<ref name=uscghist />

In May 2011, ''Sherman'' was transferred to San Diego, California. ''Sherman'' continued her operations by accomplishing three drug interdiction deployments in the Eastern Pacific, a winter Alaskan patrol in the Bering Sea to enforce U.S. fisheries regulations and to provide search-and-rescue support during the Alaskan red king crab harvest, and by earning the Pacific Area Operational Readiness Award.<ref name=uscghist />

In May 2015, ''Sherman'' transferred her homeport to Honolulu, Hawaii.<ref name=uscghist />

After a final patrol in the Bering Sea, ''Sherman'' returned to Honolulu on January 23, 2018<ref name="final-deployment">{{cite web |url=https://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-cutter-sherman-returns-home-from-bering-sea-final-deployment/2018/01/24/ |title=Coast Guard Cutter ''Sherman'' returns home from Bering Sea, final deployment |date=24 January 2018 |website=Coast Guard News |accessdate=1 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302090639/https://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-cutter-sherman-returns-home-from-bering-sea-final-deployment/2018/01/24/ |archive-date=2 March 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> to await decommissioning on March 29, 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-cutter-sherman-decommissioned-after-nearly-50-years/2018/03/30/ |title=Coast Guard Cutter ''Sherman'' decommissioned after nearly 50 years |date=30 March 2018 |website=Coast Guard News |access-date=1 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302090636/https://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-cutter-sherman-decommissioned-after-nearly-50-years/2018/03/30/ |archive-date=2 March 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Two new National Security Cutters will replace ''Sherman'' and the previously-retired {{USCGC|Morgenthau|WHEC-722|2}} in Honolulu.<ref name="final-deployment"/>

==Sri Lanka Navy ==
[[File:Colombo Naval Exercise 2022.jpg|thumb|right|SLNS Gajabahu (P626) during Sri Lanka Navy Exercise]]
On 27 August 2018, at Honolulu, the ex-''Sherman'' was transferred to the [[Sri Lanka Navy]]. Ex-''Sherman'' was recommissioned 6 June 2019 as SLNS ''Gajabahu'' (P626). The ship is the second ship named after [[Gajabahu I of Anuradhapura|King Gajabahu I]], the warrior king of the medieval Sri Lankan Kingdom of Anuradhapura. The ship retained its [[Otobreda 76 mm]] gun and [[Mark 92 Guided Missile Fire Control System|MK 92 Fire Control System]], while the [[Phalanx CIWS]] was removed and was replaced with a rear mounted [[ZU-23-2|dual 23mm cannon]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.janes.com/article/82669/sri-lanka-navy-receives-ex-us-coast-guard-cutter |title=Sri Lanka Navy receives ex-US Coast Guard cutter |first=Gabriel |last=Dominguez |date=30 August 2018 |website=Jane's 360 |accessdate=30 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830183304/https://www.janes.com/article/82669/sri-lanka-navy-receives-ex-us-coast-guard-cutter |archive-date=30 August 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=President commissions U.S. Coast Guard Cutter given to Sri Lanka Navy as SLNS Gajabahu |url=http://www.colombopage.com/archive_19A/Jun06_1559840466CH.php |accessdate=6 June 2019 |agency=ColomboPage |date=6 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607003346/http://www.colombopage.com/archive_19A/Jun06_1559840466CH.php |archive-date=7 June 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Joseph|first=Dishan|title=Guarding our ocean's domain|url=https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/05/05/features/248372/guarding-our-ocean%E2%80%99s-domain|access-date=2021-09-27|website=Daily News|language=en}}</ref>

During the [[2022 Sri Lankan protests]], SLNS Gajabahu evacuated President [[Gotabaya Rajapaksa]] and his wife from Colombo, hours before the President's House was stormed and occupied by thousands of protesters on 9 July. Departing from the Colombo harbour and sailed within Sri Lankan territorial waters allowing President Rajapaksa to maintain communications while being safely out of reach of the protesters.<ref>{{cite news |title=The story behind Gotabaya's dramatic escape from Lanka |url=https://www.sundaytimes.lk/220717/columns/the-story-behind-gotabayas-dramatic-escape-from-lanka-489043.html |access-date=18 July 2022 |publisher=Sunday Times}}</ref> President Rajapaksa left the island a few days later on the morning of 13 July on an [[Antonov An-32]] military transport aircraft of the [[Sri Lanka Air Force]] to Maldives.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62132271|title=Sri Lanka: President Gotabaya Rajapaksa flees the country on military jet|work=BBC News|date=12 July 2022|language=en-GB|accessdate=12 July 2022|archive-date=12 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220712222342/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62132271|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2024 March, SLNS Gajabahu deployed for [[Operation Prosperity Guardian]] during Red Sea crisis.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSUyzybN948 | title=රතු මුහුදේ අමෙරිකානු මෙහෙයුමට සහය වෙන්න නැවක් යැව්වේ ඇයි? | website=[[YouTube]] | date=6 March 2024 }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[SLNS Gajabahu]]
*[[SLNS Vijayabahu|SLNS Vijayabahu (P627)]]
*[[SLNS Parakramabahu (P625)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite web |url=http://www.uscg.mil/pacarea/cgcsherman/ |title=Welcome to USCGC ''Sherman'' (WHEC-720) |website=U.S. Coast Guard |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214051319/http://www.uscg.mil/pacarea/cgcsherman/ |archive-date=14 February 2017}}
* {{cite magazine |url=http://www.parade.com/news/2010/01/27-stopping-drugs-at-sea.html |title=Stopping Drugs At Sea |last=Reiss |first=Bob |date=31 January 2010 |magazine=[[Parade (magazine)|Parade]]}}

{{Hamilton class cutter}}

{{Wikipedia|SLNS Gajabahu (P626)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gajabahu (P626)}}
[[Category:Ships of the United States Coast Guard]]
[[Category:Hamilton-class cutters]]
[[Category:1968 ships]]
[[Category:Hamilton-class cutters of the Sri Lanka Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Bridge City, Louisiana]]