Sentinel-class cutter


The Sentinel-class cutter, also known as Fast Response Cutter due to its program name, is part of the United States Coast Guard's Deepwater program.
At it is similar to, but larger than the lengthened 1980s-era s that it replaces. Up to 58 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 South West Asia.

Planning and acquisition

On March 14, 2007, newly appointed United States Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen announced that the USCG had withdrawn a contract from Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman for the construction of an initial flawed design of what would eventually become the Sentinel class.
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.
On September 26, 2008, Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, Louisiana, United States, was awarded US$88 million to build a prototype.
The vessel would be the first of a series of 24–34 cutters built to a design largely based on the Damen Stan 4708 patrol vessels from the Netherlands firm the Damen Group.
The South African government operates three similar 154 ft Lillian Ngoyi-class vessels for environmental and fishery patrol.
The first cutter,, and all future Sentinel-class vessels would be named after enlisted Coast Guard heroes. Bernard C. Webber was launched on Thursday, April 21, 2011, and commissioned on Saturday, April 14, 2012 at the Port of Miami.
Bernard C. Webber, and five sister ships, are stationed in Miami, Florida. The second cohort of six vessels is homeported in Key West, Florida, while the third cohort of six vessels is homeported in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
On September 26, 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.
As of June 23, 2016, eight more for a total of 38 FRCs have been ordered, 17 are in service, with six in Miami, Florida; six in Key West, Florida; and five in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The 18th fast response cutter, Joseph Tezanos, was delivered to the Coast Guard in Key West, Florida, on June 22, 2016. That cutter will be the sixth stationed in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and will complete the USCG complement there.
The Coast Guard has announced four future FRCs will be stationed in San Pedro, California by 2019 and two more will be stationed in Astoria, Oregon starting in 2021. A total of six FRCs will eventually be homeported in Alaska, with one cutter in Sitka, one in Seward, and two in Kodiak, joining two already operating from Ketchikan. Boston, Massachusetts will also eventually be an FRC homeport.
In June 2019, the United States House Committee on Armed Services approved a requirement for the US Navy to study the possibility of buying a version of the FRC, and basing them in Bahrain, where the USCG currently plans to base four FRCs.
In 2019 Lieutenant Commander Collin Fox, 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.

Mission

The vessels will perform various Coast Guard missions which include but are not limited to PWCS, Defense Operations, Maritime Law Enforcement, Search and Rescue, Marine Safety, and environment protection.

Design and construction

The vessels are armed with a remote-control 25 mm Bushmaster autocannon and four crew-served M2HB.50-caliber machine guns. They have a bow thruster for maneuvering in crowded anchorages and channels. They also 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 and the eight failed expanded Island-class cutters. They are manned by a crew of 22. The Fast Response Cutter deploys the Cutter Boat - Over the Horizon for rescues and interceptions. According to Marine Log, modifications to the Coast Guard vessels from the Stan 4708 design include an increase in speed from, fixed-pitch rather than variable-pitch propellers, stern launch capability, and watertight bulkheads. The vessels are built to ABS High Speed Naval Craft rules and some parts of the FRC also comply to ABS Naval Vessel Rules. The vessels meet Naval Sea Systems Command standards for two compartment damaged stability and also 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". 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.
On September 26, 2008, Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, Louisiana, was awarded US$88 million to build the prototype first vessel in its class. That vessel became USCGC Bernard C. Webber, which is the first of 58 planned Sentinel-class cutters to go into the U.S. Coast Guard fleet to replace their remaining 37 aging, 1980s-era 110 ft Island-class patrol boats.
On February 7, 2013, the Department of Homeland Security requested tenders from third party firms to independently inspect the cutters, during their construction, and their performance trials.
The bridge is equipped with a handheld device that allows crew members to remotely control the ship's functions, including rudder movement and docking.
On July 24, 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, bringing the total number of FRCs under contract with Bollinger to 30. Later that number was increased to 32 cutters.
On May 4, 2016, Bollinger Shipyards announced that the U.S. Coast Guard awarded it a new contract for building the final 26 Sentinel-class fast-response cutters. That brings to 58 the total number of FRCs that the USCG ordered from Bollinger. Acquiring the 58 cutters is expected to cost the federal government $3.8 billion — an average of about $65 million per cutter.

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, and the Sentinel-class cutters are also able to accommodate mixed-gender crews. When was commissioned, a profile in the Philadelphia Inquirer asserted off-duty crew members had access to satellite television broadcasts. The vessels come equipped with a desalination unit.

Ships

On October 27, 2010, the Coast Guard released the names of the first 14 Coast Guard enlisted heroes for whom the Sentinel-class FRCs will be named.
NameHull
number		BuilderDeliveredCommissionedHome
port		Status
WPC-1101Bollinger Shipyards2011-04-212012-04-14Miami, FLActive service
WPC-1102Bollinger Shipyards2011-08-182012-08-03Miami, FLActive service
WPC-1103Bollinger Shipyards2011-11-102012-11-03Miami, FLActive service
WPC-1104Bollinger Shipyards2012-11-232013-02-15Miami, FLActive service
WPC-1105Bollinger Shipyards2013-01-132013-06-01Miami, FLActive service
WPC-1106Bollinger Shipyards2013-05-182013-08-24Miami, FLActive service
WPC-1107Bollinger Shipyards2013-08-172013-11-16Key West, FLActive service
WPC-1108Bollinger Shipyards2013-12-102014-03-08Key West, FLActive service
WPC-1109Bollinger Shipyards2014-03-282014-05-10Key West, FLActive service
WPC-1110Bollinger Shipyards2014-06-252014-09-06Key West, FLActive service
WPC-1111Bollinger Shipyards2014-11-252015-01-24Key West, FLActive service
WPC-1112Bollinger Shipyards2015-01-132015-03-28Key West, FLActive service
WPC-1113Bollinger Shipyards2015-04-142015-06-20San Juan, PRActive service
WPC-1114Bollinger Shipyards2015-07-302015-10-16San Juan, PRActive service
WPC-1115Bollinger Shipyards2015-10-202016-01-29San Juan, PRActive service
WPC-1116Bollinger Shipyards2015-12-232016-03-11San Juan, PRActive service
WPC-1117Bollinger Shipyards2016-03-052016-05-20San Juan, PRActive service
WPC-1118Bollinger Shipyards2016-06-222016-08-26San Juan, PRActive service
WPC-1119Bollinger Shipyards2016-08-232016-11-19Cape May, NJActive service
WPC-1120Bollinger Shipyards2016-10-202017-03-18Cape May, NJActive Service
WPC-1121Bollinger Shipyards2016-12-132017-04-12Ketchikan, AKActive service
WPC-1122Bollinger Shipyards2017-02-072017-06-14Ketchikan, AKActive service
WPC-1123Bollinger Shipyards2017-04-202017-07-04Pascagoula, MSActive service
WPC-1124Bollinger Shipyards2017-06-272017-10-31Honolulu, HIActive service
WPC-1125Bollinger Shipyards2017-09-052017-12-08Pascagoula, MSActive service
WPC-1126Bollinger Shipyards2017-11-092018-03-09Honolulu, HIActive service
WPC-1127Bollinger Shipyards2018-02-082018-04-20Atlantic Beach, NCActive service
WPC-1128Bollinger Shipyards2018-03-292018-07-25Atlantic Beach, NCActive service
WPC-1129Bollinger Shipyards2018-06-072018-11-08San Pedro, CAActive service
WPC-1130Bollinger Shipyards2018-08-212019-03-02San Pedro, CAActive service
WPC-1131Bollinger Shipyards2018-10-252019-03-22San Pedro, CAActive service
WPC-1132Bollinger Shipyards2019-01-082019-05-01San Pedro, CAActive service
WPC-1133Bollinger Shipyards2019-03-212019-06-08San Juan, PRActive service
WPC-1134Bollinger Shipyards2019-05-232019-09-26Honolulu, HIActive service
WPC-1135Bollinger Shipyards2019-08-012019-10-26Cape May, NJActive service
WPC-1136Bollinger Shipyards2019-11-072020-01-10Galveston, TXActive service
WPC-1137Bollinger Shipyards2020-02-062020-06-11Galveston, TXActive service
WPC-1138Bollinger Shipyards2020-04-022020-07-15Galveston, TXActive service
WPC-1139Bollinger Shipyards2020-05-28Santa Rita, GuamSea trials
WPC-1140Bollinger Shipyards2020-07-30Santa Rita, GuamSea trials
WPC-1141Bollinger Shipyards2020Manama, BahrainUnder construction
WPC-1142Bollinger Shipyards2020Manama, BahrainUnder construction
WPC-1143Bollinger ShipyardsSanta Rita, GuamUnder construction
WPC-1144Bollinger ShipyardsKey West, FLUnder construction
WPC-1145Bollinger ShipyardsUnder construction
WPC-1146Bollinger ShipyardsUnder construction
WPC-1147Bollinger ShipyardsUnder construction
WPC-1148Bollinger ShipyardsUnder construction
WPC-1149Bollinger ShipyardsUnder construction
WPC-1150Bollinger ShipyardsUnder construction
WPC-1151Bollinger ShipyardsUnder construction
WPC-1152Bollinger ShipyardsUnder construction
WPC-1153Bollinger ShipyardsUnder construction
WPC-1154Bollinger ShipyardsUnder construction
WPC-1155Bollinger Shipyards2023Under construction
WPC-1156Bollinger ShipyardsUnder construction
WPC-1157Bollinger ShipyardsContract pending
WPC-1158Bollinger ShipyardsContract pending
WPC-1159Bollinger ShipyardsContract pending
WPC-1160Bollinger ShipyardsContract pending
WPC-1161Bollinger ShipyardsContract pending
WPC-1162Bollinger ShipyardsContract pending
WPC-1163Bollinger ShipyardsContract pending
WPC-1164Bollinger ShipyardsContract pending

On February 10, 2015, the USCG solicited vendors to bid to provide temporary lodging services for pre-commissioning crews in Lockport for each of 19 specific cutters to be launched for 19 specific date periods per vessel from April 19, 2015, out through December 28, 2018.

Operational histories

Press coverage of the vessels' operational histories suggests they have been effective at interdicting refugees who resort to dangerous overloaded small boats, and effective at capturing drug smugglers.
The cutters have also intercepted smugglers carrying large shipments of drugs. In February 2017 Joseph Napier intercepted a shipment of over 4 tons of cocaine, reported to be the largest drug-bust in the Atlantic Ocean since 1999.
Additionally, cutters are given tasks like looking for shipping containers full of toxic cargo that have fallen from container ships, as did in December 2015, when 25 containers fell from the barge.
Similarly, Charles Sexton helped search for the freighter when she was lost at sea during Hurricane Joaquin in October 2015.
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. Both voyages took nine days.

Namesakes

, who was then the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard, is credited with leading the initiative of naming the vessels after enlisted rank individuals who served heroically in the Coast Guard, or one of its precursor services.
Originally the first vessel of the class was to be named USCGC Sentinel.
In October 2010 the Coast Guard named the first fourteen individuals the vessels will be named after, and has provided biographies of them.
They are:
Bernard C. Webber,
Richard Etheridge,
William Flores,
Robert Yered,
Margaret Norvell,
Paul Clark,
Charles David Jr,
Charles Sexton,
Kathleen Moore,
Joseph Napier,
William Trump,
Isaac Mayo,
Richard Dixon,
Heriberto Hernandez.
A second group of eleven names was announced on April 2, 2014.
In 2013 the name of Joseph Napier was reassigned to WPC-1115
when WPC-1110 was named after the recently deceased Commander Raymond Evans.
The other ten new namesakes were:
Winslow W. Griesser,
Richard H. Patterson,
Joseph Tezanos,
Rollin A. Fritch,
Lawrence O. Lawson,
John F. McCormick,
Bailey T. Barco,
Benjamin B. Dailey,
Donald R. Horsley, and
Jacob L. A. Poroo. The 17th cutter was renamed as Donald R. Horsley after request of the Patterson Family, and the 24th cutter then was renamed as Oliver F. Berry.
On July 30, 2014, Coast Guard Commandant, Paul Zukunft, announced that the Coast Guard would name an additional cutter after Senior Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne, the first Coast Guard member to be murdered in the line of duty since 1927.
In February, 2015, the Coast Guard publicized ten more names tentatively assigned to cutters 26 through 35.
They were:
Joseph Gerczak,
Richard T. Snyder,
Nathan Bruckenthal,
Forrest O. Rednour,
Robert G. Ward,
Terrell Horne III,
Benjamin A. Bottoms,
Joseph O. Doyle,
William C. Hart, and
Oliver F. Berry.
On December 12, 2017, the Coast Guard announced the names of the 35th through 54th cutters. The twenty namesakes are:
Angela McShan,
Daniel Tarr,
Edgar Culbertson,
Harold Miller,
Myrtle Hazard,
Oliver Henry,
Charles Moulthrope,
Robert Goldman,
Frederick Hatch,
Glenn Harris,
Emlen Tunnell,
John Scheuerman,
Clarence Sutphin,
Pablo Valent,
Douglas Denman,
William Chadwick,
Warren Deyampert,
Maurice Jester,
John Patterson,
William Sparling. The 35th cutter is to be named as Angela McShan since the 24th cutter was renamed as Oliver F. Berry.
On October 23, 2019, the Coast Guard named the namesakes of cutters 55 through 64. They are:
Melvin Bell,
David Duren,
Florence Finch,
John Witherspoon,
Earl Cunningham,
Frederick Mann,
Olivia Hooker,
Vincent Danz,
Jeffrey Palazzo,
Marvin Perrett.