The Sentinel-class cutter, also known as the Fast Response Cutter or FRC due to its program name, is part of the United States Coast Guard's Deepwater program.[2][3][4] At 154 feet (46.8 m), it is similar to, but larger than, the 123-foot (37 m) lengthened 1980s-era Island-class patrol boats that it replaces. Up to 71 vessels are to be built by the Louisiana-based firm Bollinger Shipyards, using a design from the Netherlands-based Damen Group, with the Sentinel design based on the company's Damen Stan 4708 patrol vessel. The Department of Homeland Security's budget proposal to Congress, for the Coast Guard, for 2021, stated that, in addition to 58 vessels to serve the Continental US, they requested an additional six vessels for its portion of Patrol Forces Southwest Asia.[5]
Planning and acquisition
In March 2007, newly appointed United States Coast Guard CommandantThad Allen announced that the USCG had withdrawn a contract from Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman for the construction of an initial flawed design of what would eventually become the Sentinel class.[6][7][8][9]
Allen announced that instead of the initial high-tech design Bollinger would build vessels based on an existing design, and the new program would focus more on existing "off-the-shelf" technology.
In September 2008, Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, Louisiana, was awarded US$88 million to build the prototype first vessel in its class.[11]
That prototype was the first of a projected series of 46.8-meter (154 ft) cutters. In September 2008 the series was expected to comprise a maximum of 24 to 34 cutters[12] but by the time the prototype cutter, which became USCGC Bernard C. Webber, entered service in 2012 the planned number of Sentinel-class cutters had grown to 58. They replaced the 37 remaining aging, 1980s-era 110 ft Island-class patrol boats.[13]
USCGC Bernard C. Webber and all following Sentinel-class vessels are named after enlisted Coast Guard heroes.[14]Bernard C. Webber was launched in April 2011, and commissioned in April 2012 at the Port of Miami. She and five sister ships are stationed in Miami, Florida. The second cohort of six vessels is homeported in Key West, Florida. The third cohort of six vessels is homeported in San Juan, Puerto Rico.[15] As of October 2024, the Coast Guard plans to station most of the Sentinel-class cutters in the United States, but a cohort of six is stationed with the Coast Guard's largest unit outside the United States, Patrol Forces Southwest Asia (PATFORSWA), whose homeport is Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. As many as six more are planned to be stationed in the Indo-Pacific region.[16][17]
A second contract was awarded on December 15, 2009 for an additional three Sentinel-class cutters at a cost of US$141 million. By April 2010 the Coast Guard's contract with Bollinger allowed for the order of up to 34 Sentinel-class cutters at a cost of up to US$1.5 billion. Even then, the Coast Guard was planning to build a total of 58 Sentinel-class cutters.
[18]
In September 2013, Marine Link reported that the Coast Guard had placed orders with Bollinger Shipyards for additional cutters, bringing the number of such cutters ordered by then to thirty.[19]
In July 2014, it was announced that the U.S. Coast Guard had exercised a $225 million option at Bollinger Shipyards for construction through 2017 of an additional six Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutters (FRCs), bringing the total number of FRCs under contract with Bollinger to 30. Later that number was increased to 32 cutters.
In May 2016, Bollinger Shipyards announced that the U.S. Coast Guard had awarded it a new contract for building the final 26 Sentinel-class fast-response cutters. That brought to 58 the total number of FRCs that the USCG ordered from Bollinger.[20] Acquiring the 58 cutters was expected to cost the federal government $3.8 billion — an average of about $65 million per cutter.
By June 2016, 38 of the projected 58 FRCs had been ordered and 17 were in service. The Miami and Key West chorts were complete. The 18th fast response cutter, Joseph Tezanos, was delivered to the Coast Guard in Key West, Florida, in June 2016 en route to completing the San Juan cohort.[21]
On August 9, 2018 the Coast Guard exercised its contract option to order six more Sentinel-class cutters. These would be the 45th through 50th cutters of that class. With this order, the total value of orders under the contract grew to almost US$929 million. On August 21 the 30th fast response cutter, Robert Ward, was delivered.[22]
On July 31, 2019 the Coast Guard exercised its contract option to order another six Sentinel-class cutters. These would be the 51st through 56th cutters of that class. With this order, the total value of orders under the contract grew to about US$1.23 billion. Under the contract, the Coast Guard could order as many as 58 cutters, at a total cost of US$1.42 billion. The six new cutters were expected to be delivered starting in late 2022 and ending in late 2023.[23]
In September 2020, the Coast Guard announced it was ordering four more FRCs from Bollinger, to be delivered in 2024. These would be the 56th through 60th cutters of that class. At that time, 40 FRCs had been delivered and 38 had been commissioned. The Coast Guard had recently modified its contract with Bollinger to increase the maximum number of cutters that could be ordered under the contract to 64. The modified contract had a potential value of US$1.74 billion.[24]
In 2017, the Coast Guard announced two FRCs would be stationed in Astoria, Oregon starting in 2021.[25] In 2018, the Coast Guard announced four more would be stationed in San Pedro, California in 2018 and 2019.[26] Also in 2018, the Coast Guard revealed plans to eventually homeport a total of six FRCs in Alaska, with one cutter in Sitka, one in Seward, and two in Kodiak, joining two already operating from Ketchikan.[27]Boston, Massachusetts and St. Petersburg, Florida would eventually be FRC homeports.[28][29]
In 2019 Lieutenant Commander Collin Fox (USN), and columnist David Axe suggested that, when the US Navy started to develop unmanned patrol ships to replace the Cyclone class, which are similar in size to the Sentinel class, the hulls and other elements of the robot ships would be based on the Sentinels, and built in the same factory.[31][32]
In August 2021, the Coast Guard exercised its option to order four more Sentinel-class cutters—the 61st through 64th—from Bollinger. Bollinger planned to build the ships at Bollinger's Lockport, Louisiana facility[33] and deliver the first of the four vessels in the fall of 2024 and the last in the summer of 2025.[34]
In 2022, the Coast Guard awarded a $30 million contract to install a fixed pier and two floating docks to accommodate FRCs at East Tongue Point in Oregon. The first new cutter is expected to arrive at Astoria, Oregon in March 2024 rather than in 2021 as originally planned.[35]
In March 2022, President Joe Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2022, which provided $130 million in funding for two additional FRCs, bringing the total number to 66.[36][37] In August 2022, the Coast Guard exercised its contract option for the first of these additional cutters, to be delivered by Bollinger in 2025.[38] This order expanded the total value of the Phase 2 contract with Bollinger Shipyards to US$1.8 billion.[39]
On May 8, 2024 the Coast Guard exercised a contract option for two additional FRCs, bringing the total vessels built by or under contract with Bollinger to 67[40] and the total value of the Phase 2 contract to about US$2 billion. The two new FRCs are expected to be delivered in fiscal year 2028.[41]
Mission
The vessels perform various Coast Guard missions which include but are not limited to PWCS (Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security), Defense Operations, Maritime Law Enforcement (Drug/migrant interdiction and other Law Enforcement), Search and Rescue, Marine Safety, and environment protection.[42]
Design and construction
The vessels are armed with a remote-control Mark 38 25 mm Machine Gun System and four crew-served .50-caliber (12.7 mm) M2HB heavy machine guns. They have a bow thruster for maneuvering in crowded anchorages and channels. They have small underwater fins, for coping with the rolling and pitching caused by large waves. They are equipped with a stern launching ramp, like the Marine Protector-class and the eight failed expanded Island-class cutters. They are manned by a crew of 22. The Fast Response Cutter deploys the 26-foot (7.9 m) Cutter Boat - Over the Horizon (OTH-IV) for rescues and interceptions.[43]
Modifications to the Coast Guard vessels from the Stan 4708 design include an increase in speed from 23 to 28 knots (43 to 52 km/h; 26 to 32 mph), fixed-pitch rather than variable-pitch propellers, stern launch capability, and watertight bulkheads.[44] The vessels are built to ABS High Speed Naval Craft rules and some parts of the FRC also comply to ABS Naval Vessel Rules.[45] The vessels meet Naval Sea Systems Command standards for two compartment damaged stability and meet the Intact and Damage Stability and reserve buoyancy requirements in accordance with the “Procedures Manual for Stability Analyses of U.S. Navy Small Craft".[46][47]
The vessels have space, weight, and power reserved for future requirements which includes weapons and their systems. The cutters have a reduced radar cross-section through shaping.[48] The bridge is equipped with a handheld device that allows crew members to remotely control the ship's functions, including rudder movement and docking.[49]
In February 2013, the Department of Homeland Security requested tenders from third party firms to independently inspect the cutters, during their construction, and their performance trials.[50]
At the September 2022 commissioning of USCGC Douglas Denman, it was announced that she had several upgrades compared to the two cutters deployed to Ketchikan, Alaska six years previously. These include an improved bow thruster and radar system and the addition of a forward-looking infrared camera.[51] Though initially stationed at Ketchikan, Douglas Denman will eventually be homeported at Sitka when port infrastructure improvements have been completed there.[52]
In March 2024, a Congressional Research Service report revealed that the Coast Guard's long term procurement plan called for the purchase of up to 71 FRCs. Six of the new cutters would be deployed to the Indo-Pacific region for engagement with allies and partner countries.[53]
Crew accommodation
Prior to the deployment of the Marine Protector class, the Coast Guard decided that all its cutters, even its smallest, should be able to accommodate mixed-gender crews. The Sentinel-class cutters are able to accommodate mixed-gender crews. When USCGC Rollin Fritch was commissioned, a profile in The Philadelphia Inquirer asserted off-duty crew members had access to satellite television broadcasts.[49] The vessels come equipped with a desalination unit.[49]
The cutters have intercepted smugglers carrying large shipments of drugs.[180] In February 2017 Joseph Napier intercepted a shipment of over four tons of cocaine, reported to be the largest drug-bust in the Atlantic Ocean since 1999.
In 2018 and 2019 Oliver Berry and Joseph Gerczak made voyages beyond the design range, on missions from Hawaii to the Marshall Islands and American Samoa.[184][185] Both voyages took nine days.
In August 2022, one of the ships in the Sentinel class, Oliver Henry, was stuck in the Solomon Islands after the country's government failed to respond to a fuel request.[186]
In February 2024, Clarence Sutphin Jr. intercepted a shipment of weaponry on its way to the Houthi militia in the Red Sea.[187]
^Originally was to be named Joseph Napier, but, in 2013, hull number WPC-1110 was reassigned to the name Raymond Evans to honor recently deceased Commander Raymond Evans. WPC-1115 became Joseph Napier.
^"Surface Forces: Bad Decisions". Strategy Page. November 19, 2019. Archived from the original on December 4, 2019. Retrieved November 19, 2019. The Dutch design was selected in 2008 because in 2007, the Coast Guard was finally forced to admit defeat in its effort to build an earlier design for Fast Response Cutters. The shipbuilders (Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman) screwed up, big time. While the Coast Guard shares some of the blame, for coming up with new concepts that didn't work out, the shipbuilders are the primary culprits because they are, well, the shipbuilding professionals and signed off on the Coast Guard concepts. Under intense pressure from media, politicians, and the shame of it all, the Coast Guard promptly went looking for an existing (off-the-shelf) design and in a hurry. That had become urgent because of an earlier screw-up.
^O'Rourke, Ronald (October 7, 2024). Coast Guard Cutter Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress (Report). Congressional Research Service. p. 17. Retrieved November 13, 2024. Under the original POR [program of record], all 58 FRCs would be for domestic use. The Coast Guard has since modified the POR to call for procuring up to 71 FRCs, including 59 (rather than 58) for domestic use, another 6 for use by the Coast Guard in the Persian Gulf as elements of a Bahrain-based Coast Guard unit, called Patrol Forces Southwest Asia (PATFORSWA), which is the Coast Guard's largest unit outside the United States, and up to 6 more for use in the Indo- Pacific region.
^"USCG: Acquisition Newsroom". Uscg.mil. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2014. On Dec. 15, 2009, the Coast Guard awarded a $141 million contract option to Bollinger to begin low-rate initial production on three additional Sentinel-class FRCs. The current contract is worth up to $1.5 billion if all options for 34 cutters are exercised. The Coast Guard plans to build a total of 58 Sentinel-class FRCs.
^"Coast Guard exercises contract option for FRCs 51-56" (Press release). Washington, DC: Defense Media Activity. Acquisition Directorate, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
^
Collin Fox (February 2019). "Two Birds with One Stone: A New Patrol Craft and Unmanned Surface Vessel". United States Naval Institute Proceedings. Retrieved February 20, 2020. The Navy should latch onto the Coast Guard's WPC program to acquire a PC(R) that could also serve as a MDUSV development platform and, eventually, a MDUSV... A vessel based on the WPC would take advantage of the Coast Guard's sunk development costs and production learning curve, while also leveraging multiyear procurement to achieve still greater cost savings.
^ ab"Coast Guard exercises contract option to build one fast response cutter". dcms.uscg.mil. August 12, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2022. The Coast Guard exercised a contract option Aug. 9 for production of one Sentinel-class fast response cutter (FRC)...This option brings the total number of FRCs under contract with Bollinger to 65...The FRC built under this option will be delivered in 2025.
^ abc"U.S. Coast Guard Awards Bollinger Shipyards 2 Fast Response Cutters". Biz New Orleans. May 14, 2024. Retrieved June 15, 2024. The U.S. Coast Guard has exercised a contract option to award Bollinger Shipyards two additional Sentinel-Class Fast Response Cutters. This announcement brings the total number of FRCs awarded to Bollinger up to 67 vessels since the program's inception.
^"Fast Response Cutter"(PDF). USCG.mil. The United States Coast Guard. Archived(PDF) from the original on February 14, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
^ abcJacqueline L. Urgo (November 19, 2016). "Coast Guard to get 'game changer' cutter to save lives and catch criminals". Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on November 20, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2021. Although the cutter is far from luxurious, its crew quarters provide slightly more room and comfort than earlier models, with larger staterooms, more toilets and sinks, greater storage space, and DirecTV access in the mess areas.
^"Cutter Richard Etheridge in commission". United States Coast Guard. August 3, 2012. Archived from the original on December 12, 2012. Retrieved October 23, 2012. Crewmembers aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Richard Etheridge reveal the ship's name placard during the cutter's commissioning.
^"Photo Release: Coast Guard Cutter William Flores commissioned in Tampa, Florida". Tampa Bay, Florida: United States Coast Guard. November 3, 2012. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2012. The William Flores' location of the commissioning honored the history of the cutter's namesake. On the night of Jan. 28, 1980, Coast Guard Seaman William "Billy" Flores, 18, died while assisting his shipmates after the Coast Guard Cutter Blackthorn, collided with a large merchant vessel in the Tampa Bay ship channel.
^"Bollinger Deliver [sic] Fifth Fast Response Cutter". Marine Link. March 25, 2013. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2013. The 154 foot patrol craft 'Margaret Norvell' is the fifth vessel in the Coast Guard's Sentinel-class FRC program. To build the FRC, Bollinger Shipyards used a proven, in-service parent craft design based on the Damen Stan Patrol Boat 4708.
^"Bollinger Shipyards delivers seventh Sentinel Class cutter". Lockport, Louisiana: Marine Log. August 20, 2013. Archived from the original on August 27, 2013. Retrieved August 20, 2013. The 154-foot patrol craft Charles David Jr. is the seventh vessel in the Coast Guard's Sentinel-class FRC program. To build the FRC, Bollinger Shipyards used a proven, in-service parent craft design based on the Damen Stan Patrol Boat 4708. It has a flank speed of 28 knots, state of the art command, control, communications and computer technology, and a stern launch system for the vessels 26 foot cutter boat. The FRC has been described as an operational "game changer," by senior Coast Guard officials.
^Keith Magill (August 20, 2013). "Bollinger delivers latest Coast Guard cutter". Daily Comet. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2013. The 154-foot Charles David Jr. was delivered Friday to the 7th Coast Guard District in Key West, Florida, where it will be commissioned in November.
^"Coast Guard's Eighth FRC Enters Service". Marine Link. March 14, 2014. Archived from the original on March 15, 2014. Coast Guard Cutter Charles Sexton was commissioned into service March 8 at Coast Guard Sector Key West, Fla. The Sexton is the second of six Fast Response Cutters to be homeported in Key West, and the eighth vessel to be delivered through the Coast Guard's Sentinel-class FRC recapitalization project.
^"Bollinger Delivers 9th USCG Fast Response Cutter". Marine Link. March 28, 2014. Archived from the original on March 28, 2014. The Coast Guard took delivery on March 28, 2014 in Key West, Florida and is scheduled to commission the vessel in Key West, Florida during May, 2014.
^"Bollinger Delivers 10th Coast Guard FRC". Maritime Executive. June 25, 2014. Archived from the original on June 26, 2014. Retrieved June 25, 2014. The Coast Guard took delivery on June 25, 2014 in Key West, Florida and is scheduled to commission the vessel in Key West, Florida during September, 2014.
^"Key West Navy League Commissioning Committee Welcomes You". Key West Navy League. Archived from the original on August 21, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2014. The first of these cutters, the CGC CHARLES DAVID JR, was commissioned at sunset on Saturday, 16 November 2013, the second CGC CHARLES SEXTON on March 8, 2014, the CGC KATHLEEN MOORE on May 10th, the CGC RAYMOND EVANS on 6 September 2014, and the latest CGC WILLIAM TRUMP on 24 January 2015 at US Coast Guard Sector Key West.
^"Bollinger delivers FRC named for Normandy hero". Marine Log. November 25, 2014. Archived from the original on November 30, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2014. We are extremely happy to announce the delivery of the latest FRC built by Bollinger, the William Trump, to the 7th Coast Guard District in Key West, Florida," said Bollinger Chief Operating Officer, Ben Bordelon. "We are looking forward to honoring and celebrating the heroic acts of William Trump at the vessel's commissioning.
^"Bollinger delivers FRC Richard Dixon". Marine Log. April 15, 2015. Archived from the original on April 17, 2015. We are very pleased to announce the delivery of the latest FRC built by Bollinger, the Richard Dixon, to the Seventh Coast Guard District in Puerto Rico," said Bollinger's President and CEO, Ben Bordelon. "We are looking forward to honoring and celebrating the heroic acts of Richard Dixon at the vessel's commissioning.
^"Bollinger delivers FRC Heriberto Hernandez". Marine Log. July 30, 2015. Archived from the original on August 4, 2015. Retrieved August 5, 2015. The Coast Guard took delivery on July 30, 2015 in Key West, FL, and is scheduled to commission the vessel in Puerto Rico during October, 2015.
^"Bollinger delivers FRC Joseph Napier". Marine Log. October 20, 2015. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved October 20, 2015. Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, LA, has delivered the Joseph Napier, the 15th Fast Response Cutter (FRC) to the United States Coast Guard. The Coast Guard took delivery on October 20, 2015 in Key West, Florida, and is scheduled to commission the vessel in Puerto Rico during January, 2016.
^Charles Michel (April 12, 2017). "A first for Alaska, a first for the West Coast". Juneau Empire. Archived from the original on April 13, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2017. Today we usher in a new era for the Coast Guard in Alaska. At a ceremony in Ketchikan, Coast Guard Cutter John McCormick will officially enter the fleet...While we're commissioning this Fast Response Cutter today, it is the first of six of its kind that will call Alaska home.
^Eric Haun (February 8, 2017). "FRC Bailey Barco Delivered to the USCG". Marine link. Archived from the original on February 8, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2017. The U.S. Coast Guard has taken delivery of USCGC Bailey Barco on February 7, 2017 in Key West, Fla. The vessel is scheduled to be commissioned in Ketchikan, Alaska in June, 2017.
^"Bollinger delivers latest Coast Guard cutter". Houma Today. February 8, 2017. Archived from the original on February 9, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2016. This vessel is named after Barco, who was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal on Oct. 7, 1901, for his heroic action to rescue the crew of the Jennie Hall, a schooner that had been grounded during a winter storm off Virginia Beach, Va.
^
Eric Haun (April 20, 2017). "Bollinger Delivers USCGC Benjamin Dailey". Marine Link. Archived from the original on April 21, 2017. The Coast Guard took delivery of the 154-foot patrol craft on April 20, 2017 in Key West, Fla. The vessel's commissioning is scheduled for July 4, 2017 in Pascagoula, Miss.
^"Bollinger delivers the 23rd FRC to USCG". Port News. April 21, 2017. Archived from the original on April 22, 2017. This vessel is named after Coast Guard Hero Benjamin Dailey. Dailey, Keeper of the Cape Hatteras Life-Saving Station, was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal on April 24, 1885 for his exceptional bravery in one of the most daring rescues by the Life-Saving Service.
^"Coast Guard commissions 23rd fast response cutter" (Press release). Pascagoula, Mississippi: Defense Media Activity. Acquisition Directorate, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. July 4, 2017. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
^Fagan, Linda L. (November 15, 2023). Fast Response Cutter Laydown(PDF) (Report). U. S. Coast Guard. p. 2. Retrieved June 21, 2024. One ship, Coast Guard Cutter (CGC) Benjamin Dailey (WPC 1123), was severely damaged in a shipyard fire in December 2021. Coast Guard subject matter experts determined that repair of the vessel was not feasible. If repaired, the cutter would not have fulfilled its expected service life and would have incurred higher operational costs. CGC Benjamin Dailey has been de-commissioned.
^"Coast Guard commissions 24th fast response cutter" (Press release). Honolulu, Hawaii: Defense Media Activity. Acquisition Directorate, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. November 1, 2017. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
^"Coast Guard commissions 25th fast response cutter" (Press release). New Orleans, Louisiana: Defense Media Activity. Acquisition Directorate, U.s. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. December 8, 2017. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
^"Coast Guard accepts 26th fast response cutter" (Press release). Key West, Florida: Defense Media Activity. Acquisition Directorate, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. November 9, 2017. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
^"Coast Guard commissions 26th fast response cutter" (Press release). Honolulu, Hawaii: Defense Media Activity. Acquisition Directorate, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. March 12, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
^"Coast Guard commissions 27th fast response cutter" (Press release). Atlantic beach, North Carolina: Defense Media Activity. Acquisition Directorate, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. April 20, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
^"Coast Guard accepts 28th fast response cutter" (Press release). Key West, Florida: Defense Media Activity. Acquisition Directorate, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. March 29, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
^"Coast Guard commissions 28th fast response cutter" (Press release). Alexandria, Virginia: Defense Media Activity. Acquisition Directorate, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. July 25, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
^"Coast Guard accepts 29th fast response cutter" (Press release). Key West, Florida: Defense Media Activity. Acquisition Directorate, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. June 7, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
^"Coast Guard commissions 30th fast response cutter" (Press release). San Francisco, California: Defense Media Activity. Acquisition Directorate, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. March 5, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
^"Coast Guard commissions 31st fast response cutter" (Press release). San Pedro, California: Defense Media Activity. Acquisition Directorate, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. March 22, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
^"Coast Guard commissions 32nd fast response cutter" (Press release). San Pedro, California: Defense Media Activity. Acquisition Directorate, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. May 2, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
^"Coast Guard accepts 33rd fast response cutter" (Press release). Key West, Florida: Defense Media Activity. Acquisition Directorate, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. March 22, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
^"Coast Guard commissions 34th fast response cutter" (Press release). Honolulu, Hawaii: Defense Media Activity. Acquisition Directorate, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. September 27, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
^Barlow, Bill (October 29, 2019). "CG Cutter McShan Commissioned". Cape May County Herald. Archived from the original on October 29, 2019. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
^"Coast Guard accepts 36th fast response cutter". U.S. Coast Guard. November 9, 2019. Archived from the original on November 10, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019. The cutter will be the first of three planned FRCs stationed in Galveston, Texas.
^Mike Hill (November 17, 2019). "Bollinger delivers Coast Guard cutter". Houma Today. Archived from the original on November 19, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019. Lockport-based Bollinger Shipyards delivered the USCGC Daniel Tarr, the 36th fast response cutter, to the U.S. Coast Guard on Nov. 7 in Key West, Florida.
^ ab"Sea Power - January 2019". Sea Power 2019 Almanac. January 2019. Archived from the original on February 26, 2019. Retrieved February 26, 2019.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^"Coast Guard commissions 38th fast response cutter" (Press release). Galveston, Texas: Defense Media Activity. Acquisition Directorate, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. July 17, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
^ abc"US Coast Guard conducts triple commissioning". Dvids. Santa Rita, Guam: Defense Visual Information Distribution Service. July 29, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2024. Adm. Karl Schultz, commandant, U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), offers remarks during a commissioning ceremony on U.S. Naval Base Guam July 29. The ceremony commissioned three new USCG sentinel-class fast response cutters stationed on Guam: USCG Cutter Myrtle Hazard, USCG Cutter Oliver Henry, and USCG Cutter Frederick Hatch.
^"Coast Guard accepts 40th fast response cutter" (Press release). Key West, Florida: Defense Media Activity. Acquisition Directorate, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. July 30, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
^
Keith Magill (October 22, 2020). "Lockport shipyard's latest Coast Guard cutter to serve overseas". Houma Today. Retrieved October 23, 2020. The Charles Moulthrope will be based in Manama, Bahrain, replacing a 110-foot Island Class Patrol Boat built by Bollinger 30 years ago. The new ship will support U.S. defense missions in southwest Asia, the Coast Guard's largest overseas presence.
^"Coast Guard commissions 41st fast response cutter" (Press release). Portsmouth, Virginia: Defense Media Activity. Acquisition Directorate, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. January 22, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
^"Coast Guard accepts 44th fast response cutter" (Press release). Key West, Florida: Defense Media Activity. Acquisition Directorate, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. April 22, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
^"Coast Guard accepts 45th fast response cutter" (Press release). Key West, Florida: Defense Media Activity. Acquisition Directorate, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. July 1, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
^"Coast Guard accepts 47th fast response cutter" (Press release). Key West, Florida: Defense Media Activity. Acquisitions Directorate, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. January 7, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
^"Coast Guard accepts 48th fast response cutter" (Press release). Key West, Florida: Defense Media Activity. Acquisition Directorate, U.S. Coast Guar,d U.S. Department of Homeland Security. March 22, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
^Michael Braun (December 27, 2015). "Trio nabbed in 20-hour high-speed boat chase". Fort Myers Press-News. Retrieved December 28, 2015. A 20-hour high-speed boat chase that at times resembled a James Bond movie ended about 65 miles west of Cuba on Christmas Eve when the three suspects just gave up, law enforcement officials said.[permanent dead link]
^"U.S. Coast Guard Seizes 515 Kilos of Cocaine In 'Operation Caribbean Venture'". Space Coast Daily. November 22, 2015. Archived from the original on November 23, 2015. The four suspected smugglers were transferred to U.S. authorities for prosecution. The Friesland transferred the suspects and contraband to the Coast Guard Cutter Bernard C. Webber who was returning home from a successful counterdrug patrol off of Puerto Rico in support of Operation Unified Resolve.
^
Alfonso Chardy (December 20, 2015). "Details of cocaine bust near Dominican coast revealed". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on December 21, 2015. In this case, the interdiction operation involved the Coast Guard and the HNLMS Friesland, an offshore patrol vessel from the Royal Netherlands Navy.
^Cheryl Pellerin (August 26, 2015). "DoD 101: Drugs, Thugs and the Coast Guard". Miami Beach: DoD News, Defense Media. Archived from the original on April 11, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2016. On the Webber, Gould and Mike Cortese, commanding officer of Coast Guard Station Miami Beach, show the SLEP group what the Coast Guard does if it catches a target of interest making an illicit run from Bimini to the United States carrying migrants, drugs, money or guns.
^"Coast Guard Seizes Cocaine and Marijuana". Maritime Executive. March 18, 2014. Archived from the original on March 19, 2014. Retrieved March 19, 2014. Crewmembers aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Richard Etheridge, a 154-foot Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutter homeported at Sector Miami, offload approximately 1,500 pounds of cocaine, worth an estimated wholesale value of $23 million, in St. Petersburg, Fla., Monday, March 17, 2014.
^
Mia Whylly (April 5, 2016). "34 Cubans apprehended over the weekend". The Freeport News. Archived from the original on April 8, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016. The United States Coast Guard Vessel (USCG) William Flores brought 12 Cuban migrants to the Lucayan Harbour Friday, April 1 and handed them over to a team of officers headed by SIO (Senior Immigration Officer) Jerome Hutcheson.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^"Cutter Charles Sexton Repatriates 39 Cuban Migrants". Military Daily. November 19, 2015. Archived from the original on November 21, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015. This repatriation is a result of three separate interdictions at sea in the south Florida Straits. These were interdictions of Cuban nationals attempting to illegally enter the United States on unseaworthy vessels commonly referred to as "rustics" or "chugs."
^"US Coast Guard repatriates 85 Cuban migrants". Caribbean News Now. November 3, 2015. Archived from the original on April 23, 2016. Retrieved November 3, 2015. The Coast Guard Cutters Kathleen Moore, Marlin, along with numerous other Coast Guard patrol boats and aircraft, aggressively patrol the Florida Straits to detect and deter illegal and unsafe maritime migration. Safety of life at sea is always the Coast Guard's top priority.
^"US Coast Guard rescues 14 Dominican boatpeople". Dominican Today. April 2, 2016. Archived from the original on April 23, 2016. Retrieved April 4, 2016. The Coast Guard Cutter Richard Dixon repatriated the remaining 14 Dominicans to the Dominican Republic during an at-sea transfer of the migrants to a Dominican Navy patrol vessel Friday just south of La Romana.
^Susan Mohammed (March 2, 2017). "T&T Coast Guard in $837 million drug bust: ...fishing vessel intercepted off Suriname". Trinidad Express. Archived from the original on March 2, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2017. The crew of the Napier, which is based in Port Canaveral, Florida, towed the 70-foot (21-meter) fishing vessel, the Lady Michelle, to St. Vincent and four men on board from Guyana were taken to the U.S. Virgin Islands to face possible criminal charges. The Coast Guard took the cocaine to Puerto Rico and turned it over to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
^Amanda Levasseur, Sara Muir (August 1, 2018). "USCGC Oliver Berry crew sets new horizons for cutter operations". Dvidshub. Archived from the original on August 9, 2018. Retrieved August 9, 2018. In July Oliver Berry's crew set a new milestone by deploying over the horizon to the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The 4,400 nautical mile trip marked marking the furthest deployment of an FRC to date for the Coast Guard and is the first deployment of its kind in the Pacific.
^Sara Muir (August 3, 2019). "USCGC Joseph Gerczak (WPC 1126) arrives in American Samoa on patrol". Dvidshub. Pago Pago. Archived from the original on August 5, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019. 'It was a good transit, the longest we've conducted yet, nine days at sea and we're proving the capabilities of these new cutters to operate over the horizon throughout the remote Pacific,' said Lt. James Provost, commanding officer of Joseph Gerczak.
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Susan Schept (March 22, 2010). "Enlisted heroes honored". United States Coast Guard. Archived from the original on March 29, 2010. Retrieved February 1, 2013. After the passing of several well-known Coast Guard heroes last year, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Charles "Skip" Bowen mentioned in his blog that the Coast Guard does not do enough to honor its fallen heroes.
^"U.S. Coast Guard announces name for first Sentinel-class cutter". March 22, 2010. Archived from the original on March 25, 2010. Retrieved February 1, 2013. Previously designated to be named the Coast Guard Cutter Sentinel, the cutter Bernard C. Webber will be the first of the service's new 153-foot patrol cutters. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen approved the change of the cutter's name to allow this class of vessels to be named after outstanding enlisted members who demonstrated exceptional heroism in the line of duty. This will be the first class of cutters to be named exclusively for enlisted members of the Coast Guard and its predecessor services.
^"FRC Plan B: The Sentinel Class". Defense Industry Daily. May 2, 2014. Archived from the original on July 7, 2014. Retrieved April 3, 2014. All of these boats will be named after enlisted Coast Guard heroes, who distinguished themselves in USCG or military service. The first 25 have been named, but only 8 have been commissioned...
^Christopher Lagan (July 30, 2014). "Coast Guard to name cutter for BMCS Terrell Horne III". Coast Guard Compass. Archived from the original on August 6, 2014. Retrieved August 2, 2014. The Commandant personally informed the Horne family earlier today a fast response cutter will bear Terrell Horne's name in honor of his sacrifice and faithful service in defense of his nation.
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Kevin Roderick (February 5, 2014). "Mexican smugglers convicted in sea death of Coast Guard Chief Horne". LA Observed. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2014. Two Mexican nationals from Ensenada who were apprehended on a smuggling panga in December 2012 were convicted today in the death of Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III.
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Kate Mather (February 15, 2014). "Mexican nationals convicted in 2012 death of Coast Guardsman". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 2, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2014. Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III's death made him the first Coast Guardsman murdered in the line of duty since 1927, officials said. Horne, who spent 14 years with the Coast Guard, was posthumously promoted to the rank of senior chief petty officer.
^"Coast Guard Aligns Names with Hull Numbers for its Sentinel-class FRCs". Seapower magazine. Washington DC. December 12, 2017. Archived from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2017. The U.S. Coast Guard has announced the names and corresponding hull numbers for its next 20 Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutters (FRCs), each vessel being named for a deceased leader, trailblazer or hero of the Coast Guard and its predecessor services of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, the U.S. Lifesaving Service and the U.S. Lighthouse Service, according to a Dec. 12 Coast Guard release.
^"ALCOAST 328/19 - Oct 2019 New Fast Response Cutters Named for Coast Guard Heroes". U.S. Coast Guard. October 23, 2019. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2019. These namesakes include recipients of the Gold Lifesaving Medal, Silver Star Medal, Good Conduct Medal, and Medal of Freedom. These new cutters are scheduled for delivery starting in 2023 and will be named for the following people: