The US Coast Guard recently took delivery of a new Sentinel-class fast response cutter (FRC) built by Bollinger Shipyards of Louisiana, the coast guard said via a press release on Tuesday, March 18.
The future USCGC Earl Cunningham is the 59th FRC to be built for the coast guard. It will be stationed in Kodiak, Alaska, and is scheduled to be commissioned into service in August of this year.
As with its earlier sisters, the future Earl Cunningham has a length of 154 feet (46.9 metres), a flank speed of 28 knots, a state of the art C4ISR suite, and a stern launch and recovery ramp for a 26-foot (7.92-metre), over-the-horizon interceptor cutter boat. Armament includes a 25mm autocannon and four 12.7mm machine guns.
The Sentinel-class cutters are designed for multiple missions including drug and migrant interdiction, ports, waterways and coastal security, fishery patrols, and search and rescue (SAR).
The cutter honours World War I veteran and enlisted coast guard sailor Earl Cunningham, who perished during an attempt to rescue two fishermen in distress in Lake Michigan in 1936. For his actions, Cunningham was awarded the Gold Life Saving Medal posthumously.