Bollinger delivers FRC 8

Sister Ship of the USCGC CHARLES SEXTON, MARGARET NORVELL operating in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico

DECEMBER 10, 2013 — Bollinger Shipyards, Inc. has delivered the Charles Sexton, the eighth Fast Response Cutter (FRC), to the United States Coast Guard.

“We are very pleased to announce another successful on-time and on-budget FRC delivery to the U.S. Coast Guard,” said the shipbuilder’s president, Chris Bollinger. “The Charles Sexton was delivered to the 7th Coast Guard District in Key West, FL, and will be stationed at USCG Sector Key West. We are all looking forward to the vessel’s upcoming commissioning, as well as honoring and celebrating the heroic acts of Charles Sexton.”

Each FRC is named for an enlisted Coast Guard hero.

Petty Officer Charles W. Sexton was posthumously awarded the Coast Guard Medal for extraordinary heroism in which he exhibited courage and devotion to save others in the face of grave danger.

Petty Officer Sexton was on duty at Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment, WA, on January 11, 1991 as the 75 ft trawler Sea King was taking on water four miles northwest of the Columbia River bar.

Four fishermen were aboard, the decks were awash and the engine room was filling up with water.

After stabilizing an injured crewmember on board, Petty Officer Sexton focused on dewatering the vessel. The trawler was so flooded that it required several pumps to remove the seawater from the engine room.

After Petty Officer Sexton had been manning the pumps for more than six exhaustive hours, the Sea King rolled over without warning and threw those aboard into the stormy seas. Petty Officer Sexton and two fishermen were trapped in the enclosed pilothouse. The three went down with the vessel.

The 154 foot patrol craft Charles Sexton is the eighth vessel in the Coast Guard’s Sentinel-class FRC program. To build the FRC, Bollinger Shipyards used a proven, in-service parent craft design based on the Damen Stan Patrol Boat 4708. It has a flank speed of 28 knots, state of the art command, control, communications and computer technology, and a stern launch system for the vessels 26 foot cutter boat. The FRC has been described as an operational “game changer,” by senior Coast Guard officials.

The Coast Guard took delivery on December 10, 2013 in Key West, FL, and is scheduled to commission the vessel there during March of 2014.

Sister Ship of the USCGC CHARLES SEXTON, MARGARET NORVELL operating in the U.S. Gulf of Mexic