The first Fast Response Cutter, Bernard C. Webber, gets underway. |
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: | Coast Guard |
| Planned: | 58 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 353 long tons |
| Length: | 46.8 m (154 ft) |
| Beam: | 8.11 m (26.6 ft) |
| Depth: | 2.9 m (9.5 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 2 x 4,300 kilowatts (5,800 shp) 1 x 75 kilowatts (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 and landing craft carried: |
1 x Short Range Prosecutor RHIB |
| Complement: | 2 officers, 20 crew |
| Armament: | 1 x Mk 38 Mod 2 25 mm automatic gun 4 x crew-served Browning M2 machine guns |
The Sentinel class Cutter, previously known as the Fast Response Cutter, is part of the United States Coast Guard's Deepwater program.[1][2] At 46.8 metres (154 ft) it is similar to, but larger than the 123-foot extended Island Class Cutters, like the USCGC Matagorda. 24 to 58 vessels are to be 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 Stan 4708 patrol vessel.
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On March 14 2007, Commandant Thad Allen announced that they had withdrawn from a contract for the construction of the vessels, but had not entirely cancelled the program.[3][4] The new program would focus more on "off-the-shelf" technology.
On September 26 2008, Bollinger Shipyards was awarded US$88 million to build a prototype.[5] The cutter will be the first of a series of 24-34 43 metres (141 ft) cutters built to a design largely based on the Stan 4708 patrol vessels from the Netherlands firm the Damen Group.[6] The South African government employs similar vessels for environmental and fishery patrol.[7] The first cutter will be named USCGC Bernard C. Webber, and all future Sentinel Class will be named after enlisted Coast Guard heroes.[8] Bernard C. Webber will be stationed in Miami. The Bernard C. Webber was launched on Thursday, April 21, 2011, and is expected to be commissioned some time later in the year.[9]
The vessels will be armed with a remote-control 25 mm Bushmaster autocannon and four crew-served M2HB .50-caliber machine guns. They will have a bow thruster for maneuvering in crowded anchorages and channels. They will have small underwater fins, for coping with the rolling and pitching caused by large waves. They will have a stern launching ramp, like the Marine Protector class and the eight failed expanded Island Class cutters. They will be manned by a crew of 22. Like the Marine Protector class, and the cancelled extended Island class cutters, the Fast Response Cutter would deploy the Short Range Prosecutor Rigid-hulled inflatable for rescues and interceptions.[10] According to Marine Log, 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.[11]
On October 27, the Coast Guard released the names of the first 14 Coast Guard enlisted heroes for whom the Sentinel-class FRCs will be named.[12]
| Name | Number | Builder | Launched | Commissioned | Home port | Status |
| Bernard C. Webber | WPC 1101 | Bollinger Shipyards | 2011-04-21 | Miami, FL | Under construction, launched | |
| Richard Etheridge | WPC 1102 | Bollinger Shipyards | 2011-08-19 | Miami, FL | Under construction, launched[13] | |
| William Flores | WPC 1103 | Bollinger Shipyards | 2011-11-10 | Miami, FL | Under construction, launched[14] | |
| Robert Yered | Bollinger Shipyards | Under construction | ||||
| Margaret Norvell | ||||||
| Paul Clark | ||||||
| Charles David | ||||||
| Charles Sexton | ||||||
| Kathleen Moore | ||||||
| Joseph Napier | ||||||
| William Trump | ||||||
| Isaac Mayo | ||||||
| Richard Dixon | ||||||
| Heriberto Hernandez |
