March 22, 2019 —
The 33rd fast response cutter (FRC), Joseph Doyle, arrived in Key West, Florida, prior to its delivery on March 21, 2019. The cutter’s commissioning is scheduled for June; it will be the seventh FRC based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. U.S. Coast Guard photo.
The Coast Guard accepted delivery of the 33rd fast response cutter (FRC), Joseph Doyle, in Key West, Florida, March 21.
It will be the seventh FRC stationed in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and will be commissioned in June.
Joseph Doyle, the cutter’s namesake, was keeper of the Charlotte, New York, Life Saving Station for 17 years. He was known as one of the U.S. Life-Saving Service’s most distinguished surfmen and obtained the appointment of paid crew for the station. For his two heroic rescues in fall 1878, Doyle was awarded the Gold Lifesaving medal the following year.
The FRCs are replacing the 1980s-era 110-foot patrol boats and feature advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment. The cutters feature improved habitability and seakeeping, and over-the-horizon cutter boat launch and recovery from astern or via side davits. Each FRC is 154 feet long, has an endurance of at least five days and can reach a maximum speed of over 28 knots.
Thirty FRCs are in service: 12 in Florida, six in Puerto Rico, two each in Alaska, New Jersey, Mississippi, Hawaii, North Carolina and California. The Coast Guard has ordered 50 of the cutters to date. Future FRC homeports include Galveston, Texas; Santa Rita, Guam; Astoria, Oregon; and Kodiak, Seward and Sitka, Alaska.
For more information: Fast Response Cutter Program page