USCGC Rush (WHEC-723)

As all Hamilton-class cutters, Rush was constructed at Avondale Shipyard near New Orleans, Louisiana and launched November 16, 1968, she was the fifth Coast Guard Cutter to be named after Secretary of the Treasury Richard Rush, the nation's eighth Secretary of Treasury.

Rush was based out of USCG Base Sand Island, Honolulu, Hawaii, and performed regular patrols of Alaskan waters and the Bering Sea. Rush has the distinction of having ridden out "the most powerful storm, at least in terms of depth of pressure, to affect Alaska in modern history" of October 25, 1977.[1] Under command of Captain Norman Fernald, Rush sustained damage to her sonar dome and superstructure, but completed her patrol.

The Rush assisted in the rescue of East Wood affair, an incident of piracy in early 1993 aboard the cargo ship East Wood (also Eastwood). Chinese illegal immigrants took control of East Wood before being taken back by her crew.

On February 3, 2015, the United States Coast Guard officially decommissioned Rush with a ceremony held in Honolulu, Hawaii.[2]

The Coast Guard has transferred Rush (now BNS Somudra Avijan) to the Bangladesh Navy as part of a Foreign Military Sale through the Foreign Assistance Act.[3]

Rush is the Bangladesh Navy's second Hamilton-class cutter acquisition. The Bangladesh Navy's first Hamilton-class cutter acquired was USCGC Jarvis, given to Bangladesh in 2013. Jarvis is now named BNS Somudra Joy. The Bangladesh Navy designates these former Hamilton-class cutters as a "patrol frigate."