Coast Guard Commissions Newest FRC in San Diego
SAN DIEGO —
The Coast Guard commissioned the newest California-based 154-foot Fast Response
Cutter in San Diego, May 1, the Coast Guard 11th District said in a
release of the same date.
The Benjamin
Bottoms is the fourth Sentinel-Class Fast Response Cutter (FRC) to be
homeported at Base Los Angeles-Long Beach.
While these
ships will be based in San Pedro, they will operate throughout the 11th Coast
Guard District, which includes all of California and international waters off
of Mexico and Central America.
“Radioman
First Class Benjamin Bottoms is a Coast Guard hero,” said Adm. Charles
Ray, the Coast Guard vice commandant. “He was the embodiment of honor,
commitment and sacrifice — the motto of this new cutter.”
FRC’s are
154-foot multimission ships designed to conduct drug and migrant interdictions;
ports, waterways and coastal security operations; fisheries and environmental
protection patrols; national defense missions; and search and rescue.
To date, the
Coast Guard has accepted delivery of more than 30 FRCs. Each ship is designed
for a crew of 24, has a range of 2,500 miles and is equipped for patrols up to
five days. The FRCs are part of the Coast Guard’s overall fleet modernization
initiative.
FRCs feature
advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance equipment as well as over-the-horizon response
boat deployment capability and improved habitability for the crew. The ships
can reach speeds of 28 knots and are equipped to coordinate operations with
partner agencies and long-range Coast Guard assets such as the Coast Guard’s
National Security Cutters.
FRCs are
named in honor of Coast Guard enlisted leaders, trailblazers and heroes. The
four California-based FRCs are:
Forrest Rednour (WPC-1129): Rednour aided in the rescue of 133
people during the sinking of the U.S.A.T. Dorchester, Feb. 3, 1943. He was
awarded the Purple Heart and Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his actions.
Rednour lost his life in the sinking of the Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba in June
1943.
Robert Ward (WPC-1130): Ward operated beach-landing boats
during the Normandy invasion. He landed his craft on the Cotentin Peninsula and
rescued two stranded boat crews in the face of a heavily fortified enemy
assault.
Terrell Horne III (WPC-1131): Horne was murdered by suspected drug
smugglers who intentionally rammed the boat he and fellow Coast Guardsmen were
aboard during law enforcement operations near Santa Cruz Island off the
Southern California coast in December 2012. Horne pushed one of his shipmates
out of the way of the oncoming vessel attack and sustained fatal injuries.
Benjamin Bottoms (WPC-1132): Bottoms was part the Coast Guard
aircrew that rescued an Army aircrew from a downed B-17 off the east coast of Greenland
in 1942. Bottoms and the pilot conducted the first landing of a cutter plane on
an icecap and commenced a two-day rescue over a rugged arctic terrain that
required multiple flights. During the second day of rescue operations, radio
contact with Bottoms’ plane was lost and he was declared missing in
action.