USCG commissions Nathan Bruckenthal FRC

The US Coast Guard (USCG) has commissioned the 28th Fast Response Cutter (FRC), Nathan Bruckenthal, in Alexandria, Virginia, it was announced on 25 July.

The Sentinel-class cutter is the second FRC stationed in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, in the USCG’s fifth district. From South Carolina to New Jersey, the ship’s patrolling area will include 156,000 square miles of ocean, including several mid-Atlantic ports and nation’s capital.

The USCG is acquiring 58 FRCs to replace its 110ft Island-class patrol boats; 44 have been ordered. Twenty-eight are in service: 12 in Florida, six in Puerto Rico, two in Alaska, two in New Jersey, two in Mississippi, two in Hawaii and two in North Carolina. Galveston, Texas is a future FRC homeport.

The 154ft long Sentinel-class FRCs features advanced C4ISR equipment and are able to launch and recover small boats and having improved habitability and seakeeping.

The FRCs have a top speed of over 28kt and endurance of five days. The cutters have been designed for missions including SAR, ports, waterways and coastal security, drug and migrant interdiction and fisheries patrols.