Bollinger delivers FRC Rollin Fritch to Coast Guard

Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, LA, has delivered the USCGC Rollin Fritch, the 19th Fast Response Cutter (FRC) to the United States Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard took delivery of the cutter today in Key West, FL, and is scheduled to commission the vessel in Cape May, NJ, in November.

The 154 ft USCGC Rollin Fritch is the 19th vessel in the Coast Guard's Sentinel-class FRC program. All previous cutters have been stationed in the 7th Coast Guard District in Florida or San Juan, PR. The decision to homeport the Rollin Fritch in Cape May, NJ is significant because it expands the footprint of FRC operations beyond the Bahamas and the Caribbean. Eventually FRCs will be stationed in virtually every coastal state.

"We are very pleased to announce the delivery of the USCGC Rollin Fritch to the U.S. Coast Guard, the latest FRC built by Bollinger Shipyards and the first to be stationed in the 5th Coast Guard District at Cape May, NJ," said Bollinger President and CEO Ben Bordelon. "This vessel represents over 30 years of continuous improvement as we have built the Coast Guard's entire patrol boat/patrol cutter fleet. We are very proud of the fact that the FRCs already in commission have seized multiple tons of narcotics, interdicted thousands of illegal aliens and saved many lives."

To build the FRCs, Bollinger uses 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. The FRC has been described as an operational "game changer," by senior Coast Guard officials.

Each FRC is named for an enlisted Coast Guard hero who distinguished him or herself in the line of duty. This vessel is named after Coast Guard Hero Rollin Fritch, who was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his heroic efforts in defending the USS Callaway during Japanese kamikaze attacks in the Philippine Islands in 1945.