Bollinger Shipyards on Thursday introduced it has delivered the USCGC Melvin Bell to the U.S. Coast Guard in Key West, Fla. This is the 181st vessel Bollinger has delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard over a 35-year interval and the fifty fifth Fast Response Cutter (FRC) delivered underneath the present program.
“We’re incredibly proud to deliver the USCGC Melvin Bell, the final of six Fast Response Cutters to be homeported in Boston, the birthplace of the U.S. Coast Guard,” mentioned Bollinger president and CEO, Ben Bordelon. “We’re confident that pound for pound, the quality and capabilities of the FRC platform are unmatched and that this vessel will outperform its mission requirements and expectations in the challenging conditions where it will operate in the North Atlantic. Our unique experience building for the Coast Guard is unparalleled and has shown time and time again that we successfully deliver the highest quality vessels on a reliable, aggressive production schedule. We look forward to continuing our historic partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard.”
The USCGC Melvin Bell would be the sixth of six FRCs to be homeported in Sector Boston, which is named “The Birthplace of the Coast Guard.” The sector is answerable for coastal security, safety, and environmental safety from the New Hampshire-Massachusetts border southward to Plymouth, Mass. out to 200nm offshore. Sector Boston directs over 1,500 Active Duty, Reserve, and Auxiliary members whose mission is to guard and safe important infrastructure, rescue mariners in peril at sea, implement federal regulation, keep navigable waterways, and reply to all hazards impacting the maritime transportation system and coastal area.
The Coast Guard’s FY2024 Unfunded Priorities List contains procuring 4 extra FRCs (which might be the 66th via 69th vessels in this system) to supply elevated Coast Guard presence and engagement with allied and companion international locations within the Indo-Pacific area. Earlier this 12 months, Adm. Linda Fagan, the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, mentioned, “The Indo-Pacific is clearly a consequential area for America’s future. The United States Indo-Pacific Strategy identifies an expanded function for the U.S. Coast Guard as a prime Administration precedence as we search to make sure a area that’s free and open. The U.S. Coast Guard will proceed its lengthy historical past of operational presence within the area with further cutter patrols and deployable specialised forces.”
Each FRC is called for an enlisted Coast Guard hero who distinguished themselves within the line of responsibility. Bell, a minority pioneer and Pacific conflict hero was a patriot whose distinguished profession in service of his nation spanned 65 years in army and civil service. During his active-duty profession, Bell held many distinctions. In 1943 he turned the primary Pacific Islander superior to chief petty officer. He later held the excellence of a twin score as Chief Radioman and Chief Electronics Technician. In 1958 he turned the primary minority Master Chief within the historical past of the Coast Guard. His decorations included the Coast Guard Good Conduct Medal (5 awards), Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Unit Commendation, National Defense Service Medal, Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, American Defense Medal, American Campaign Medal and Victory World War II Medal.
The FRC is an operational “game changer,” in line with senior Coast Guard officers. FRCs are persistently being deployed in help of the complete vary of missions inside the United States Coast Guard and different branches of our Armed Services resulting from its distinctive efficiency, expanded operational attain and capabilities, and skill to remodel and adapt to the mission. FRCs have carried out operations so far as the Marshall Islands—a 4,400 nautical mile journey from their homeport. Measuring in at 154 ft, FRCs have a flank velocity of 28 knots, cutting-edge C4ISR suite (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance), and stern launch and restoration ramp for a 26-foot, over-the-horizon interceptor cutter boat.
