Bollinger Shipyards Delivers 30th Fast Response Cutter, USCGC Robert Ward, to U.S. Coast Guard

Bollinger Shipyards has delivered the 30th Fast Response Cutter (FRC), the future USCGC Robert G. Ward (WPC 1130), to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard took delivery of the vessel on the 21st of August, 2018 in Key West, Florida. The vessel’s commissioning is scheduled for February, 2019 in California and she will be the second FRC stationed in San Pedro, California.

Each FRC is named for an enlisted Coast Guard hero who distinguished him or herself in the line of duty. This cutter’s namesake, Robert Ward, was a seaman first class on USS Joseph T. Dickman during the battle of Normandy. While serving as coxswain in the first wave of landings, he successfully landed his troops despite heavy enemy oppression and went back to guide to safety two other crews whose boats had been destroyed by enemy mortar fire. For his conspicuous gallantry in action against the enemy, Ward was awarded the Silver Star.

To build the FRC, Bollinger used a proven, in-service parent craft design based on the Damen Stan Patrol Boat 4708.

The 154-foot FRC is designed to patrol coastal regions and features advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment; the ability to launch and recover standardized cutter boats from astern or via side davits; and improved seakeeping and habitability.

The FRCs, which are replacing the 1980s-era 110-foot Island-class patrol boats, feature an endurance of five days and reach a maximum speed of over 28 knots. The cutters are complemented operationally by the offshore patrol cutter’s extended range and endurance, and the national security cutter’s offshore capabilities.

The FRC has been described as an operational “game changer,” by senior Coast Guard officials. Recently, the Coast Guard deployed USCGC Oliver F. Berry (WPC 1124) from Hawaii across the Pacific to the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The 4,400 nautical mile trip marked the furthest deployment of an FRC to date. This trip showcases the hugely expanded operational reach and capability that the FRC provides.

The Coast Guard has ordered 44 FRCs to date. Twenty-eight are in service: 12 in Florida, six in Puerto Rico, two in Alaska, two in New Jersey, two in Mississippi, two in Hawaii and two in North Carolina. Future FRC homeports include Galveston, Texas and Santa Rita, Guam.

First in a Quartet of New Coast Guard Cutters Arrive in Los Angeles

The Coast Guard’s fast response cutter Forrest Rednour (WPC-1129) arrived Saturday at its new California home, marking the first of four of the multi-mission cutters to be homeported at Coast Guard Base Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif.

“We are excited and honored to bring the Forrest Rednour to her new homeport in San Pedro,” Lt. Graham Sherman, Forrest Rednour’s commanding officer, said in an 11th Coast Guard District news release. “We are absolutely humbled to bring this cutter to life and the Coast Guard could not have selected a better crew to honor Forrest Rednour. This crew will do a phenomenal job of serving the people of California by keeping the coasts, harbors and shipping channels safe and secure.”

The 154-foot Forrest Rednour will be commissioned into the service in the fall. It’s latest in the Sentinel-class of fast response cutters that are replacing the aging, 110-foot, Island-class patrol boats as part of the Coast Guard’s fleet modernization initiative.

The Coast Guard plans to homeport three more fast response cutters at the base, located on Terminal Island in San Pedro, and each will be commissioned into service by next summer. The cutters will operate throughout the 11th Coast Guard District, which covers California and the international waters off Mexico and Central America.

“This ship and the three other Fast Response Cutters bound for California will help strengthen our security and emergency response capabilities in the Pacific Southwest,” Rear Adm. Peter Gautier, who commands the 11th Coast Guard District. “Working with our partner agencies, we will continue to protect our global supply chain, disrupt the transnational criminal organizations that smuggle drugs and traffic humans into our nation, and keep our waterways safe and secure.”

The fast response cutters are designed for a range of missions, including drug and migrant interdictions; ports, waterways and coastal security operations; fisheries and environmental protection patrols; national defense missions; and search and rescue. So far, the Coast Guard has accepted delivery of 29 cutters, which are built by Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, La.

Each FRC, with a crew of 24, can operate at a range of 2,500 miles and can conduct patrols of up to five days, according to the Coast Guard. The cutters, which top speed of 28 knots, have advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment, improved habitability for crews and can deploy a response force for over-the-horizon missions. Its top speed of 28 knots enables the cutter to operate with other agencies as well as the Coast Guard’s national security cutters.

Each new cutter is named after a Coast Guard enlisted heroes. Rednour, a second-class petty officer, was serving on the USCGC Escanaba (WPG-77) in the north Atlantic on the night of Feb. 3, 1943, when the German submarine U-223 attacked a U.S. supply convoy, including the torpedoed chartered troop-transport ship Dorchester. The Cutler, Ill.-born Rednour joined in rescue efforts over four hours and is credited with helping rescue 145 people. According to the Navy and Marine Corps Medal he received for “heroic conduct” that day: “Despite possible enemy submarine action, Rednour risked his life in the black and icy waters to aid in the rescue of unconscious and helpless survivors. Realizing the danger of being crushed between the rafts and the ship’s side or of being struck by a propeller blade if the engines backed, he swam in under the counter of the constantly maneuvering Escanaba and prevented many floating survivors from being caught in the suction of the screws, in one instance retrieving a loading raft. Rednour’s gallant and voluntary action in subjecting himself to pounding seas and bitter cold for nearly four hours contributed to the rescue of 145 persons and his courageous disregard for his own personal safety in a situation of grave peril was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.”

Four months later, Rednour perished along with 100 of the 103-member crew when “an explosion of undetermined cause” sunk the ship, officials said at the time. Only two men survived the attack. They were found floating in the icy waters. Relatives of the two survivors in June marked the 75th anniversary of that fateful day at a ceremony in Michigan, home to Escanaba city.