On July 23, 2012, First Lady Michelle Obama christened the USCGC Stratton, the first Legend-class National Security Cutter named for a woman.
On July 23, 2012, First Lady Michelle Obama christened the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stratton (WMSL-752) in Pascagoula, Mississippi, honoring the legacy of Captain Dorothy C. Stratton more than six years after her death.
The USCGC Stratton became the first Legend-class National Security Cutter to be named after a woman, and the christening marked the first time a Coast Guard cutter was sponsored by a sitting First Lady of the United States. The ceremony drew attention to Stratton's historic role as the first woman commissioned officer in Coast Guard history and her leadership of the SPARS during World War II.
Naming a major national security asset after Stratton represented a powerful symbolic acknowledgment of women's historical contributions to U.S. military and maritime security. It highlighted a direct institutional through-line from the pioneering servicewomen of the 1940s to the modern, fully integrated Coast Guard of the 21st century, in which women serve at every rank, including as commanding officers of major cutters.
The event was widely covered as part of a broader effort to recognize women's history within U.S. military service. It cemented Stratton's place not merely as a historical curiosity but as an enduring inspiration for servicewomen, with her name now permanently borne by an active-duty vessel patrolling U.S. waters and conducting international security missions.