Two U.S. Coast Guard quick response cutters stopped in Alexandria, Egypt, for a scheduled port go to Jan 25, marking their arrival to U.S. fifth Fleet after departing Key West, Florida in November. USCGC Emlen Tunnel (WPC 1145) and USCGC Glen Harris (WPC 1144) are two of the Coast Guard’s latest Sentinel-class quick response cutters slated for forward-deployment to Bahrain the place U.S. fifth Fleet is headquartered. USCGC Emlen Tunnel (WPC 1145) and USCGC Glen Harris (WPC 1144) will substitute two of the Coast Guard’s current Island-class patrol boats at the moment working from Bahrain.
The Sentinel-class cutter, also referred to as Quick Response Cutter on account of its program title, is a part of america Coast Guard’s Deepwater program. At 154 toes (46.8 m) it’s just like, however bigger than the 123-foot (37 m) lengthened Nineteen Eighties-era Island-class patrol boats that it replaces. As much as 58 vessels are to be constructed by the Louisiana-based agency Bollinger Shipyards, utilizing a design from the Netherlands-based Damen Group, with the Sentinel design primarily based on the corporate’s Damen Stan 4708 patrol vessel. Along with 58 vessels to serve the Continental US and an extra six vessels for its portion of Patrol Forces South West Asia.
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The vessels will carry out varied Coast Guard missions which embody however are usually not restricted to PWCS (Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Safety), Protection Operations, Maritime Legislation Enforcement (Drug/migrant interdiction and different Legislation Enforcement), Search and Rescue, Marine Security, and setting safety. The vessels are armed with a remote-control 25 mm Bushmaster autocannon and 4 crew-served .50-caliber (12.7 mm) M2HB heavy machine weapons. The crew’s ingesting water wants are met by way of a desalination unit.[6] The crew mess is supplied with a tv with satellite tv for pc reception.
Modifications to the Coast Guard vessels from the Stan 4708 design embody a rise in velocity from 23 to twenty-eight knots (43 to 52 km/h; 26 to 32 mph), fixed-pitch fairly than variable-pitch propellers, stern launch functionality, and watertight bulkheads. The cutters have a decreased radar cross-section by way of shaping. They’ve a bow thruster for maneuvering in crowded anchorages and channels. Additionally they have small underwater fins, for dealing with the rolling and pitching brought on by giant waves. They’re geared up with a stern launching ramp. The Quick Response Cutter deploys the 26-foot (7.9 m) Cutter Boat – Over the Horizon (OTH-IV) for rescues and interceptions.
