Bollinger delivers FRC Joseph Napier
The delivery of the 154 ft patrol craft came just four days after the commissioning of the 14th FRC, Heriberto Hernandez, in a ceremony in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The FRC is designed to patrol coastal zones and conduct missions such as drug and migrant interdiction; ports, waterways and coastal security; fishery patrols; search and rescue; and national defense. The 154-foot FRCs have a flank speed of 28 knots, a range of 2,950 nautical miles and feature stern cutter boat launch; advanced command, control, communication, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment; and improved seakeeping and habitability. They are replacing the service’s 110-foot patrol boats, which entered service in the 1980s.
Bollinger is building the ships using 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 vessel’s 26 foot cutter boat.
Each FRC is named for an enlisted Coast Guard hero who distinguished him or herself in the line of duty. The fifteenth vessel is named after Coast Guard Hero Joseph Napier.
Joseph Napier, Keeper of St. Joseph Life-Saving Station 6, showed his true heroism and courage as he risked his life and led his crew into gale-force winds to rescue the men of the wrecked schooner, the D.G. Williams in October 1877. Napier demonstrated his courage during multiple rescues as a career lifesaver of the Great Lakes.
“We are very pleased to announce the delivery of the latest FRC built by Bollinger Shipyards, the Joseph Napier, to the 7th Coast Guard District in Puerto Rico. We are looking forward to honoring and celebrating the heroic acts of Joseph Napier at the vessel’s commissioning,” said Bollinger’s President & CEO, Ben Bordelon
