Fast Response Cutter sets sail
Richard Etheridge will be homeported in Miami and will primarily perform missions to save lives, enforce U.S. and international maritime law and ensure security in the Coast Guard’s 7th District off the Southeastern coast of the U.S. and in the Caribbean Sea. U.S. Coast Guard photo.
The U.S. Coast Guard’s second 154-foot fast response cutter, the Richard Etheridge, was launched at Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, La., yesterday. This marks a significant milestone in the Coast Guard’s acquisition of the Sentinel-class patrol boats, which will replace the service’s legacy 110-foot patrol boats. You can see the launch play out in the photos below.
While in the water, the vessel will undergo a series of tests and evaluations prior to its planned delivery early next year. The launch is one of many steps in the construction process, leading to sea trials and crew training later this year and, eventually, the commissioning of the vessel and commencement of its Coast Guard operations.
To see photos of the first fast response cutter, Bernard C. Webber, which was launched in April 2011, click here. To learn more about the first 14 heroes the Sentinel-class fast response cutters have been named for, click here, or you can keep up on the latest news on fast response cutters here.
by: LT Stephanie Young
US Coast Guard
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