Bollinger Shipyards has delivered the 154'x25'5"x9'6" Bailey Barco to the Coast Guard, the 22nd fast response cutter (FRC) from the Lockport, La., shipyard. The patrol boat is made of steel with an aluminum superstructure and is ABS classed High-Speed Naval Craft. The new cutter was delivered to Key West, Fla., on Feb. 7, 2017, but will homeport in Ketchikan, Alaska, beginning in June.
For the FRC, Bollinger is using a proven, in-service parent craft design based on the Damen Stan Patrol Boat 4708. Main propulsion comes from twin MTU 20V4000 M93L diesel engines, producing 2,900 hp each. The patrol boat has a flank speed of 28 knots, state of the art command, control, communications and computer technology, and a stern launch system for the vessel’s 26′ cutter boat.
The new cutters have a minimum endurance of five days at sea and a range of 2,950 nautical miles. The FRCs must be capable of underway operations for a minimum of 2,500 hours annually, using the latest technologically advanced command, control, communications and computer technology that are interoperable with other Coast Guard assets.
Each FRC carries a crew of 24 (three officers, 21 enlisted) and is equipped with a stabilized, remotely operated 25mm chain gun and four .50-caliber machine guns.
“We are pleased to announce the delivery of the latest FRC, the … Bailey Barco,” Ben Bordelon, Bollinger’s president and CEO, said in a prepared statement announcing the delivery. “This FRC built by Bollinger Shipyards will join the … John McCormick stationed in the 17th Coast Guard District in Ketchikan, Alaska, and will defend our nation’s interests in the Alaskan maritime region. FRCs already in commission stationed in the mid-Atlantic and the (Southeastern) U.S. have seized multiple tons of narcotics, interdicted thousands of illegal aliens and saved many lives. The FRC program is a model program for government acquisition and has surpassed all historical quality benchmarks for vessels of this type and complexity. The results are the delivery of truly extraordinary Coast Guard cutters that will serve our nation for decades to come. We at Bollinger Shipyards are looking forward to hearing of the heroic exploits of the Bailey Barco as it joins the Coast Guard’s operational fleet.”
The FRCs are named for enlisted Coast Guard heroes who distinguished themselves in the line of duty. This vessel is named after Coast Guard Hero Bailey Barco, who was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal on Oct. 7, 1901, for his heroic and selfless action to rescue the crew of the Jennie Hall, a schooner that had been grounded during a severe winter storm off the coast of Virginia Beach, Va.