US Coast Guard commissions USCGC Robert Goldman WPC 1142 FRC Fast Response Cutter

According to information published by the U.S. Department of Defense on March 12, 2021, the United States Coast Guard has commissioned the USCGC Robert Goldman (WPC 1142), Patrol Forces Southwest Asia's second Sentinel-class cutter at Coast Guard Sector Key West.


According to information published by the U.S. Department of Defense on March 12, 2021, the United States Coast Guard has commissioned the USCGC Robert Goldman (WPC 1142), Patrol Forces Southwest Asia's second Sentinel-class cutter at Coast Guard Sector Key West.
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Russian Vyborg Shipyard laid the Purga ice class coastguard ship of project 23550 925 001 The USCGC Robert Goldman (WPC 1142) crew mans the rail on March 12, 2021, in Key West, Fla. The Robert Goldman was officially commissioned into service and will now transit to Bahrain for service as part of Patrol Forces Southwest Asia. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Senior Chief Petty Officer Sara Muir)


The Robert Goldman is the second of six FRCs (Fast Response Cutters) to be homeported in Manama, Bahrain, which will replace the aging 110-foot Island Class Patrol Boats built 30 years ago. Stationing FRCs in Bahrain supports PATFORSWA, the Coast Guard's largest unit outside of the U.S., and its mission to train, organize, equip, support and deploy combat-ready Coast Guard forces in support of Central Command and national security objectives.

The Coast Guard took delivery of Robert Goldman on Dec. 21, 2020, in Key West. They will transit to Bahrain later this year with their sister ship, the Charles Moulthrope (WPC 1141), delivered on Oct. 22, 2020, and commissioned on Jan. 21, in Portsmouth, Virginia.

The Coast Guard has ordered 64 FRCs to date. Over forty are now in service: Charles Moulthrope and Robert Goldman, 12 in Florida, seven in Puerto Rico; four in California; three each in Hawaii, Texas, and New Jersey, and two each in Alaska, Mississippi, and North Carolina. Two FRCs arrived in their homeport of Apra Harbor, Guam, in 2020, with one more to come.

The fast response cutters are designed to patrol coastal regions and are operating in an increasingly expeditionary manner. They feature advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance equipment and launch and recover standardized small boats from the stern.

The FRC also known as Sentinel-class cutter, is the latest generation of ships that entered service with the U.S. Coast Guard. The ship is built by the Louisiana-based firm Bollinger Shipyards, using a design from the Netherlands-based Damen Group, with the Sentinel design based on the company's Damen Stan 4708 patrol vessel.

The Sentinel-class cutter is powered by two 4,300 kW (5,800 shp) MTU diesel engines and can reach a maximum speed of 28+ knots with a cruising range of 2,500 nautical miles (4,600 km). She has a crew of 24 people with an endurance of five days. 

The FRC has a length of 46.8 m, a beam of 8.11 m (26.6 ft), and a depth of 2.9 m. She is armed with one Mk 38 Mod 2 25 mm automatic cannon and four crew-served Browning M2 heavy machine guns.