US Coast Guard takes delivery of its new Fast Response Cutter.

The Coast Guard accepted delivery of the 35th fast response cutter (FRC), Angela McShan, in Key West, Florida, Aug. 1, 2019. The cutter will be the third of three FRCs stationed in Cape May, New Jersey.

Angela McShan FRC (Picture source: Bollinger Shipyards)

Angela McShan, the cutter’s namesake, was the first African-American woman to be promoted to master chief petty officer. She served as a storekeeper before transitioning over to yeoman, a civil rights counselor, and an “A” School instructor, ending her career as the senior instructor on the Chief Petty Officers Academy staff in New London, Connecticut. She not only touched and inspired the many she trained, but she left a positive and lasting impression on everyone who knew her. The Master Chief Angela M. McShan Inspirational Leadership Award was established in her memory.

The FRCs are replacing the 1980s-era 110-foot patrol boats and feature advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment. The cutters feature improved habitability and seakeeping, and over-the-horizon cutter boat launch and recovery from astern or via side davits. Each FRC is 154 feet long, has an endurance of at least five days and can reach a maximum speed of over 28 knots.

Thirty-three are in service: 12 in Florida; six in Puerto Rico; four in California; three in Hawaii and two each in Alaska, New Jersey, Mississippi and North Carolina. The Coast Guard has ordered 50 FRCs to date. Future FRC homeports include Galveston, Texas; Santa Rita, Guam; Astoria, Oregon; and Kodiak, Seward and Sitka, Alaska.