The US Coast Guard has commissioned USCGC Robert Ward, a new fast response cutter (FRC).
The vessel is the 30th Sentinel-class FRC and the second of four ships in its class to be homeported at Coast Guard Base Los Angeles-Long Beach.
While Robert Ward and its sisters 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.
FRCs are 46-metre multi-mission ships designed to conduct: drug and migrant interdictions; port, waterway, and coastal security operations; fisheries and environmental protection patrols; national defence missions; and search and rescue (SAR).
Each of the Coast Guard's FRCs has a crew of 24, a range of 2,172 nautical miles, and speeds in excess of 28 knots.
Robert Ward was named after a US Coast Guard enlisted landing craft coxswain who served in World War II and was decorated for rescuing two injured members of his crew during the June 6, 1944, Normandy invasion.
