USCGC Forrest Rednour (WPC-1129) is the 29th Sentinel-class cutter built for the United States Coast Guard.[3] She was the first of the four vessels of her class to be home-ported at USCG Base Los Angeles/Long Beach in San Pedro, California. Other sister ships have been based in Florida, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, New Jersey, North Carolina, Hawaii, and Alaska prior to Forrest Rednour's assignment to Base LA/LB.[4][5] Sister ships Robert Ward (WPC-1130), Terrell Horne III (WPC-1131), and Benjamin Bottoms (WPC-1132) soon joined her at Base LA/LB.[6][7]
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| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Forrest Rednour |
| Namesake | Forrest Oren Rednour |
| Operator | United States Coast Guard |
| Builder | Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana |
| Launched | June 7, 2018 |
| Acquired | June 7, 2018[1] |
| Commissioned | November 8, 2018[2] |
| Homeport | San Pedro, California |
| Identification |
|
| Motto | Courage in the face of peril |
| Status | in active service |
| Badge | _CoA.jpg) |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Sentinel-class cutter |
| Displacement | 353 long tons (359 t) |
| Length | 46.8 m (154 ft) |
| Beam | 8.11 m (26.6 ft) |
| Depth | 2.9 m (9.5 ft) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) |
| Range | 2,500 nautical miles (4,600 km; 2,900 mi) |
| Endurance | 5 days |
| Boats & landing craft carried | 1 × Cutter Boat - Over the Horizon Interceptor |
| Complement | 4 officers, 20 crew |
| Sensors and processing systems | L-3 C4ISR suite |
| Armament |
|
Design
editLike her sister ships, Forrest Rednour is designed to perform search and rescue missions, port security, and the interception of smugglers.[8] She is armed with a remotely-controlled, gyro-stabilized 25 mm autocannon, four crew served M2 Browning machine guns, and light arms. She is equipped with a stern launching ramp that allows her to launch or retrieve a water-jet propelled high-speed auxiliary boat without first coming to a stop. Her high-speed boat has over-the-horizon capability, and is useful for inspecting other vessels, and deploying boarding parties.
Operational history
edit
Forrest Rednour arrived in Los Angeles on August 13, 2018 and was commissioned at Base LA/LB on November 8, 2018 with LT Graham Sherman serving as her first commanding officer. Executive officer LTJG Dayra Nazario and 20 enlisted crew members also serve as Forrest Rednour's plankowners.[5]
On her first mission, Rednour apprehended 3 people aboard a 25-foot cuddy cabin boat with 1,000 pounds of marijuana on board, approximately 30 miles south of the US-Mexico maritime border just before midnight on November 27, 2018.[9]
On August 8, 2020, Rednour hailed and approached a suspected smuggler off the coast of San Diego. The smuggler turned their panga towards Rednour's boarding crew, ramming the cutter boat, much like the incident which killed BMSC Terrell Horne in 2012. A high speed chase ensued in which U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air & Marine Operations agents intercepted, shooting the motor of the vessel and forcing the panga to a stop 12 nautical miles west of Oceanside, CA. The combined task force recovered 500 pounds of methamphetamine and arrested the smugglers, the captain eventually earning 194 months in a federal penitentiary on 15 felony charges.[10][11]
Forrest Rednour returned home after a 32 day patrol of international waters off the coast of Mexico in September 2021, seizing more than 5,000 pounds of cocaine with a street value of $96 million dollars. During the course of the mission, they also met with the similarly classed ARM Monte Albán (PC 338) of the Mexican Navy, patrolling the same waters.[12]
15 undocumented immigrants were intercepted off the coast of Orange County, CA by Forrest Rednour on April 20, 2023. The Rednour spotted an overloaded 36-ft sportfisher with an estimated 8-12 people aboard near San Clemente and coordinated with CBP Air and Marine Operations to apprehend and seize the vessel.[13]
Namesake
editFS2 Forrest Oren Rednour (1923–1943) received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal posthumously "For heroic conduct while aboard USCGC Escanaba during the rescue of survivors from the torpedoed USAT Dorchester in North Atlantic waters on 3 February 1943...Rednour’s gallant and voluntary action in subjecting himself to pounding seas and bitter cold for nearly four hours contributed to the rescue of 145 persons".[14]
One of only two Coast Guardsmen honored by the naming of a U.S. Navy ship, Forrest Rednour was announced as the namesake of the U.S. Coast Guard's 29th fast response cutter in 2018. All 58 cutters in the Sentinel class are to be named after enlisted sailors in the Coast Guard who were recognized for their heroism.[15][16][17]
Forrest previously served as the namesake of the U.S. Navy high-speed transport USS Rednour (APD-102).
References
edit- ^ "Coast Guard Accepts 29th Fast Response Cutter" (Press release). United States Coast Guard. 2018-06-07. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
- ^ "Coast Guard Cutter Forrest Rednour commissioned in San Pedro". Coast Guard News. 2018-11-08. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
- ^
"USCGC Forrest Rednour Delivered to U.S. Coast Guard". Maritime Executive. 2018-06-07. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
This will be the first of four FRC's to be stationed in San Pedro, CA.
- ^ a b
Gidget Fuentes (2018-08-13). "First in a Quartet of New Coast Guard Cutters Arrive in Los Angeles". US Naval Institute. Retrieved 2018-08-13.
The Coast Guard plans to homeport three more fast response cutters at the base, located on Terminal Island in San Pedro, and each will be commissioned into service by next summer. The cutters will operate throughout the 11th Coast Guard District, which covers California and the international waters off Mexico and Central America.
- ^ U.S. Coast Guard 11th District PA Detachment LA/LB (30 July 2018). "Four new Coast Guard cutters bound for California duty". State of California.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Littlejohn, Donna (11 March 2019). "Fast-response Coast Guard cutters arriving in Los Angeles-Long Beach ports". Daily Breeze.
- ^
"FRC Plan B: The Sentinel Class". Defense Industry Daily. 2014-05-02. Archived from the original on 2014-07-07. Retrieved 2014-04-03.
All of these boats will be named after enlisted Coast Guard heroes, who distinguished themselves in USCG or military service. The first 25 have been named, but only 8 have been commissioned...
- ^ "FRC Forrest Rednour returns to homeport following 1st drug bust". Naval Today. Navingo. 11 December 2018.
- ^ City News Service (11 August 2020). "Border agents seize 528 pounds of meth in San Diego drug busts". Fox 5 San Diego.
- ^ "Captain of Methamphetamine-Filled Boat that Rammed Coast Guard Vessel, Injuring Officers, Sentenced to 16 Years". justice.gov. U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of California. 5 August 2022.
- ^ "Coast Guard Cutter Forrest Rednour returns from drug patrol". U.S. Southern Command. U.S. Coast Guard. 27 September 2021.
- ^ Kiszla, Cameron (21 April 2023). "Coast Guard apprehends 15 on overloaded boat off Orange County coast". KTLA.
- ^ Thiesen, William H. (20 January 2023). "The Long Blue Line: Forrest Rednour—World War II rescue swimmer and FRC namesake". mycg.uscg.mil. U.S. Coast Guard.
- ^
"Acquisition Update: Coast Guard Reveals Names of FRCs 26-35". US Coast Guard. 2015-02-27. Archived from the original on 2015-03-05. Retrieved 2017-03-25.
The Coast Guard recently announced the names of the 26th through 35th Sentinel-class fast response cutters through a series of posts on its official blog, the Coast Guard Compass.
- ^
Susan Schept (2010-03-22). "Enlisted heroes honored". United States Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 2011-12-03. Retrieved 2013-02-01.
After the passing of several well-known Coast Guard heroes last year, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Charles "Skip" Bowen mentioned in his blog that the Coast Guard does not do enough to honor its fallen heroes.
- ^
"U.S. Coast Guard announces name for first Sentinel-class cutter". 2010-03-22. Archived from the original on 2010-03-25. Retrieved 2013-02-01.
Previously designated to be named the Coast Guard Cutter Sentinel, the cutter Bernard C. Webber will be the first of the service's new 153-foot patrol cutters. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen approved the change of the cutter's name to allow this class of vessels to be named after outstanding enlisted members who demonstrated exceptional heroism in the line of duty. This will be the first class of cutters to be named exclusively for enlisted members of the Coast Guard and its predecessor services.
