FRC Bailey Barco Delivered to the USCG
The U.S. Coast Guard has taken delivery of USCGC Bailey Barco on February 7, 2017 in Key West, Fla. The vessel is scheduled to be commissioned in Ketchikan, Alaska in June, 2017.
USCGC Bailey Barco is the 22nd vessel in the Coast Guard's Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutter (FRC), built by Bollinger Shipyards using an in-service parent craft design based on the Damen Stan Patrol Boat 4708. The 154-foot patrol 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.
“This FRC built by Bollinger Shipyards will join the USCGC John McCormick stationed in the 17th Coast Guard District in Ketchikan, Alaska and will defend our Nation’s interests in the Alaskan maritime region,” said Ben Bordelon, Bollinger President & CEO.
Two FRC’s will now be stationed at the 17th Coast Guard District in Ketchikan, Alaska. Previous cutters have been stationed in the 7th Coast Guard District in Florida or San Juan, P.R., and two have been stationed in the 5th Coast Guard District in Cape May, N.J.
Bordelon continued, “FRCs already in commission stationed in the mid-Atlantic and the South Eastern U.S. have seized multiple tons of narcotics, interdicted thousands of illegal aliens and saved many lives. The FRC program is a model program for government acquisition and has surpassed all historical quality benchmarks for vessels of this type and complexity. The results are the delivery of truly extraordinary Coast Guard cutters that will serve our Nation for decades to come.”
Each FRC is named for an enlisted Coast Guard hero who distinguished him or herself in the line of duty. This latest vessel is named after Coast Guard Hero Bailey Barco, who was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal on October 7, 1901 for his heroic and selfless action to rescue the crew of the Jennie Hall, a schooner that had been grounded during a severe winter storm off the coast of Virginia Beach, Va.