US Coast Guard receives 18th fast response cutter

The U.S. Coast Guard has accepted delivery of the 18th fast response cutter, Joseph Tezanos, in Key West, Florida.

USCGC Joseph Tezanos will be the sixth FRC stationed in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and is scheduled for commissioning in August.

The cutter is named after Ensign Joseph Tezanos, who, as a petty officer second class, risked his life to save more than 40 people after an explosion on a landing ship tank caused a chain reaction throughout an armada moored at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, May 21, 1944.

For his bravery aboard the rescue boat, Tezanos received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal and a Coast Guard commendation letter from the commandant.

The Bollinger-built cutters are replacing the 1980s-era 110-foot Island-class patrol boats and are 154 feet (45 meters) long, with a beam of 25 feet. They feature advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment and the ability to launch and recover over-the-horizon cutter boats from astern or via side davits.

Of the 38 FRCs ordered, 17 are in service: six in Miami; six in Key West, Florida; and five in San Juan.