USCGC Paul Clark

Paul Clark underway.
History
United States
Name	USCGC Paul Clark
Namesake	Paul Clark
Operator	United States Coast Guard
Builder	Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana
Launched	January 13, 2012
Acquired	May 18, 2013[1]
Commissioned	August 24, 2013[2]
Out of service	2018
Homeport	Miami, Florida
Identification	MMSI number: 338926406 Callsign: NAAD Hull number: WPC-1106
Motto	Courage valor confidence
Status	in active service
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Sentinel-class cutter
Displacement	353 long tons (359 t)
Length	46.8 m (154 ft)
Beam	8.11 m (26.6 ft)
Depth	2.9 m (9.5 ft)
Propulsion	2 × 4,300 kW (5,800 shp) 1 × 75 kW (101 shp) bow thruster
Speed	28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Endurance	5 days, 2,500 nautical miles (4,600 km; 2,900 mi) Designed to be on patrol 2,500 hours per year
Boats & landing craft carried	1 × Short Range Prosecutor RHIB
Complement	2 officers, 20 crew
Sensors and processing systems	L-3 C4ISR suite
Armament	1 × Mk 38 Mod 2 25 mm automatic gun 4 × crew-served Browning M2 machine guns

USCGC Paul Clark (WPC-1106) is the sixth Sentinel-class cutter. Like the previous five vessels of her class she is homeported in Miami, Florida.[3] She was delivered to the Coast Guard, for testing, on May 18, 2013.[1][4]

Operational history

On September 13, 2013 the vessel repatriated 66 Cuban migrants to Bahia de Cabañas. Four migrant boats had been intercepted by small Coast Guard vessels in four separate operations over the preceding days. Their passengers and crew were transferred to the larger Paul Clark for repatriation to Cuba.

"Our main concern is the safety of life at sea...Attempting to cross the Florida Straits in a homemade raft or vessel is inherently dangerous" explained Coast Guard Captain Mark Fedor.[5]

Namesake

The vessel is named after Paul Leaman Clark, who served as a fireman in the United States Coast Guard during World War II. Clark was a landing boat engineer attached to USS Joseph T. Dickman during the allied assault on a beach in French Morocco when the craft's two other crew members were wounded by a Luftwaffe fighter. Clark took command of the craft, took the wounded crew members to USS Palmer for medical care and then returned to his duties as a beachmaster, directing disembarkation activity. For his courage he was awarded the Navy Cross.[6]

References

1. "Acquisition Update: Sixth Fast Response Cutter Delivered to the Coast Guard" (Press release). United States Coast Guard. 2013-05-21. Retrieved 2013-05-21.
2. "Coast Guard to commission Miami's final fast response cutter". Coast Guard News. 2013-08-23. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
3. Rhonda Carpenter (2012-11-05). "Coast Guard Commissions Third Fast Response Cutter, William Flores". Defense Media Network. Archived from the original on 2013-03-24. The first six FRCs for District 7 will be homeported in Miami; the next six in Key West; and the remaining six in Puerto Rico.
4. "Fast Response Cutter, Paul Clark, named after WWII hero, delivered to Coast Guard". Government Security News. 2013-05-22. Archived from the original on 2013-05-31. Retrieved 2013-05-31. The Coast Guard accepted delivery of Paul Clark, the sixth vessel in the Coast Guard's Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutter (FRC) recapitalization project on May 18 in Key West, FL.
5. "Coast Guard Cutter Paul Clark repatriates 66 Cuban migrants". Miami, Florida: Coast Guard News. 2013-09-13. Retrieved 2013-09-13. Crewmembers aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Paul Clark repatriated 66 Cuban migrants to Bahia de Cabañas, Cuba, Friday. This repatriation was a result of four separate migrant interdiction events this week.
6. Connie Braesch (2010-11-02). "Coast Guard Heroes: Paul Leaman Clark". United States Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 2012-09-03. Early into the assault, which lasted from November 8–11, 1942, Clark was unloading a transport when a hostile plane battered his boat with machinegun fire. The heavy fire mortally wounded the bowman and severely injured the coxswain. Showing unsurpassed courage and initiative Clark took control of the boat and withdrew from the beach with the injured crewmember aboard.