KEY WEST, Fla. - The U.S. Coast Guard accepted delivery of Paul Clark, the sixth vessel in the Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutter (FRC) recapitalization project, May 18 in Key West, Florida. Paul Clark is the final FRC to be homeported in Miami, and once commissioned will provide support operations in the Seventh Coast Guard District, an area comprising 1.8 million square nautical miles of ocean ranging from the South Carolina coast to the Caribbean. The seventh FRC, Charles David, will be the first of six FRCs to be homeported in Key West.
To date, four FRCs, Coast Guard Cutter Bernard C. Webber, Coast Guard Cutter Richard Etheridge, Coast Guard Cutter William Flores and Coast Guard Cutter Robert Yered, have been commissioned into service. The Coast Guard plans to acquire 58 FRCs to replace the service's 110-foot Island-class patrol boat fleet, which range in age from 20 to 27 years old. Nine FRCs are currently in production at Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, Louisiana. The Coast Guard has ordered a total of 18 FRCs to date.
The Sentinel-class FRC project is representative of the Coast Guard's disciplined approach to rebuilding its surface fleet. The FRC uses a proven, in-service parent craft design based on the Damen Stan Patrol 4708. It has a flank speed of 28 knots and a 2,500-hours-per-year operational employment target. It uses state-of-the-market command, control, communications and computer technology interoperable with the Coast Guard's existing and future assets, as well as Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense assets.
