U.S. COAST GUARD ACCEPTS 36TH FAST RESPONSE CUTTER
KEY WEST, Fla. -- The U.S. Coast Guard accepted delivery of the 36th fast response cutter (FRC), Daniel Tarr, in Key West, Florida, November 7.
The cutter will be the first of three planned FRCs stationed in Galveston, Texas.
Daniel Tarr, the cutter’s namesake, was one of four Coast Guard coxswains who served with the Marines during the amphibious invasion of Tulagi, Solomon Islands, in August 1942. Tarr enlisted as a surfman and later became coxswain of USS McKean’s Boat Number 1 prior to the invasion. On Aug. 7, 1942, Tarr, along with the other 3 coxswains, landed the first wave of the Marine Corps’ Raider Battalion on the beaches of Tulagi; in the following three days, they also delivered vitally needed equipment, ammunition and supplies. For their role in the landing of the Marines’ first wave, and capture of Tulagi, the four coxswains were awarded the Silver Star Medal. They were the first enlisted men in the Coast Guard to receive the Silver Star Medal.
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.
Thirty-five FRCs are in service: 12 in Florida; seven in Puerto Rico; four in California; three in Hawaii and in New Jersey; and two in Alaska, Mississippi and North Carolina. The Coast Guard ordered 56 FRCs to date. Future FRC homeports include Santa Rita, Guam; Astoria, Oregon; and Kodiak, Seward and Sitka, Alaska.
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