April 20, 2017 —
The Coast Guard accepted delivery of the 23rd fast response cutter (FRC), Benjamin Dailey, in Key West, Florida, April 20, 2017. Standing with the signed delivery documents, are, from left: Capt. Jeffrey Janszen, Sector Key West commanding officer; Lt. Todd Weimorts, Benjamin Dailey prospective commanding officer; Allen Harker, contracting officer at Project Resident Office Lockport, Louisiana; and Capt. Michael Cocklin, FRC program manager. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Mark Schwender.
The Coast Guard accepted delivery of the 23rd fast response cutter (FRC), Benjamin Dailey, in Key West, Florida, today.
The FRC will be stationed in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and is scheduled for commissioning in July. The cutter will be the first FRC stationed in the Coast Guard’s Eighth District, which includes coastlines along the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and the Florida panhandle.
The cutter’s namesake, Benjamin Dailey, was serving as keeper of the Cape Hatteras Life-Saving Station on Dec. 22, 1885, when he and his crew, assisted by another lifeboat station, rescued nine men from the foundering ship Ephraim Williams five miles off the Outer Banks. The seven men withstood heavy seas for two hours to rescue the vessel’s crew. For his actions, Dailey was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal on April 24, 1885.
The FRC, which is replacing the 1980s-era Island-class 110-foot patrol boats, features advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment; over-the-horizon cutter boat deployment to reach vessels of interest; and improved habitability and seakeeping. The Sentinel-class cutters can reach a maximum speed of more than 28 knots and have an endurance of five days. They are designed for multiple missions, including drug and migrant interdictions; ports, waterways and coastal security; fishery patrols; search and rescue; and national defense.
Twenty-one FRCs are in service: two in Cape May, New Jersey; six in Miami; six in Key West, Florida; six in San Juan, Puerto Rico; and one in Ketchikan, Alaska. Ketchikan will get a second FRC, as will Pascagoula. Future FRC homeports include Honolulu; Atlantic Beach, North Carolina; and San Pedro, California. The Coast Guard is acquiring 58 FRCs; 38 have been ordered.
For more information: Fast Response Cutter Program page