SAN FRANCISCO — The Coast Guard Cutter Robert Ward, the second California-based 154-foot Fast Response Cutter, arrived in the San Francisco Bay, Friday.
The Robert Ward is the second of four FRCs to be homeported at Base Los Angeles-Long Beach. While these ships will be based in Southern California, they will operate throughout the 11th Coast Guard District, which includes all of California and international waters off of Mexico and Central America.
"We are thrilled to welcome the Robert Ward and her crew to the Bay Area," said Capt. Tony Ceraolo, the Coast Guard Sector San Francisco commander and San Francisco Captain of the Port. "This new cutter brings a wealth of capabilities to the California coast, including search and rescue, law enforcement and drug interdiction. We're looking forward to commissioning the cutter right here in San Francisco next week."
FRC’s are 154-foot multi-mission ships designed to conduct: drug and migrant interdictions; ports, waterways and coastal security operations; fisheries and environmental protection patrols; national defense missions; and search and rescue. Each cutter is designed for a crew of 24, has a range of 2,500 miles and is equipped for patrols up to five days. The FRCs are part of the Coast Guard’s overall fleet modernization initiative.
FRCs feature advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment as well as over-the-horizon response boat deployment capability and improved habitability for the crew. The ships can reach speeds of 28 knots and are equipped to coordinate operations with partner agencies and long-range Coast Guard assets such as the Coast Guard’s National Security Cutters.
FRCs are named in honor of Coast Guard enlisted leaders, trailblazers and heroes. The four California-based FRCs are:
Robert Ward (WPC-1130) – Ward operated beach-landing boats during the Normandy invasion. He landed his craft on the Cotentin Peninsula and rescued two stranded boat crews in the face of a heavily fortified enemy assault.
Forrest Rednour (WPC-1129) – Rednour aided in the rescue of 133 people during the sinking of the U.S.A.T. Dorchester, Feb. 3, 1943. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his actions. Rednour lost his life in the sinking of the Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba in June 1943.
Terrell Horne III (WPC-1131) – Horne was murdered by suspected drug smugglers who intentionally rammed the boat he and fellow Coast Guardsmen were aboard during law enforcement operations near Santa Cruz Island off the Southern California coast in December 2012. Horne pushed one of his shipmates out of the way of the oncoming vessel attack and sustained fatal injuries.
Benjamin Bottoms (WPC-1132) – Bottoms was part the Coast Guard aircrew that rescued an Army aircrew from a downed B-17 off the west coast of Greenland in 1942. Bottoms and the pilot conducted the first landing of a cutter plane on an icecap and commenced a two-day rescue over a rugged arctic terrain that required multiple flights. During the second day of rescue operations, radio contact with Bottoms’ plane was lost and he was declared missing in action.
The Coast Guard Cutter Robert Ward, a Sentinel Class Fast Response Cutter (FRC) homeported at Coast Guard Base Los Angeles-Long Beach, transits to Coast Guard Sector San Francisco on Yerba Buena Island, Feb. 22, 2019. The Robert Ward is the second and newest Fast Response Cutter to be stationed in California and will provide additional support to Coast Guard missions. (U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jordan Akiyama)
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