CAPE MAY – According to Ben Bordelon, president and chief executive officer of Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport. La., the U.S. Coast Guard, will receive delivery of the USCGC Rollin Fritch which is the latest in a series of Fast Response Cutters (FRC) built by his company.
The company’s release indicated the vessel will also be the first to be stationed in the 5th Coast Guard District at Cape May.
This new class of cutter features an overall length of 154 feet and is equipped with the latest in electronic surveillance and intelligence equipment.
The cutter is named for Seaman 1st Class Rollin A. Fritch, U.S.C.G. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his selfless and heroic action in defense of his ship and crewmembers while under heavy enemy fire during a Japanese kamikaze attack on transport ship USS Callaway off the coast of Luzon, the Philippines in 1945.
Fritch manned anti-aircraft guns on the deck of Callaway fending off continuous attacks and saving the lives of many crewmen.
The Sentinel-class cutter is designed to stay at sea for five days, and can reach speeds of 28 knots (32 mph).
The cutter will also be armed with a remote-control 25mm Bushmaster auto-cannon and four Browning M-2 50 cal. machine guns.
The new cutters will replace the aging fleet of 110-foot cutters that have been in continuous service since the 1980s.
The USCGC Rollin Fritch will be commissioned in Cape May sometime this November; this event will return blue-water capability to Station Cape May since the cutters Dependable and Vigorous were transferred.
To contact Jim McCarty, email jmccarty@cmcherald.com.
Wildwood – So Liberals here on spout off, here's a REAL question for you.
Do you think it's appropriate for BLM to call for "Burning down the city" and "Black Vigilantes" because…
