Oct. 31, 2018 —
A crew member from Coast Guard Cutter Terrell Horne salutes the ship after its delivery to the Coast Guard in Key West, Florida, Oct. 25, 2018. The 154-foot cutter will be the third fast response cutter to be stationed in San Pedro, California. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Jetta Disco.
The Coast Guard accepted delivery of the 31st fast response cutter (FRC), Terrell Horne, in Key West, Florida, Oct. 25. It will be the third FRC stationed in San Pedro, California.
The cutter’s namesake, Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III, served as executive petty officer of Coast Guard Cutter Halibut and was mortally injured while conducting maritime law enforcement operations near Santa Cruz Island, California, on Dec. 2, 2012. Horne and another Halibut crewmember were operating a cutter boat to investigate a vessel suspected of smuggling narcotics. As the suspect vessel maneuvered towards the cutter boat at a high speed, Horne placed himself in harm’s way and tried to push his fellow crewmember away from the collision. Despite Horne’s effort, both crewmembers went overboard. They were immediately recovered, but Horne sustained a fatal head injury.
For his selfless service, Horne was posthumously awarded the Coast Guard Medal and promoted from chief petty officer to senior chief petty officer.
The FRCs are replacing the 1980s-era 110-foot patrol boats and feature advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment. The cutters feature improved habitability and seakeeping, and over-the-horizon cutter boat launch and recovery from astern or via side davits. Each FRC is 154 feet long, has an endurance of at least five days and can reach a maximum speed of over 28 knots.
The Coast Guard has ordered 50 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, Santa Rita, Guam, and Astoria, Oregon.
For more information: Fast Response Cutter Program page