March 22, 2019 —
Coast Guard Cutter Terrell Horne’s crew mans the rail as aircrews from Sacramento, San Francisco and San Diego conduct an overflight during the ship’s commissioning ceremony in San Pedro, California, March 22, 2019. The ship is the third of four planned Sentinel-class fast response cutters to be stationed in San Pedro. U.S. Coast Guard photo.
The Coast Guard today commissioned the 31st fast response cutter (FRC), Terrell Horne, in San Pedro, California. The cutter is the third of four planned FRCs to be stationed in San Pedro.
Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III, the cutter’s namesake, served as executive petty officer of Coast Guard Cutter Halibut. He 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 toward 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 injury.
FRCs are replacing the 1980s-era Island-class 110-foot patrol boats and are designed for multiple missions, including drug and migrant interdictions; ports, waterways and coastal security; fishery patrols; search and rescue; and national defense. The cutters feature 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. They can reach a maximum speed of more than 28 knots and have an endurance of at least five days.
Thirty-one FRCs are in service: 12 in Florida; six in Puerto Rico; three in California and two each in Alaska, New Jersey, Mississippi, Hawaii and North Carolina. The Coast Guard has ordered 50 of the cutters to date. Future FRC homeports include Galveston, Texas; Santa Rita, Guam; Astoria, Oregon; and Kodiak, Seward and Sitka, Alaska.
For more information: Fast Response Cutter Program page