Lockport-based Bollinger Shipyards delivered the USCGC Joseph Doyle fast response cutter to the the Coast Guard on March 21 in Key West, Florida.
The patrol boat is part of the 58 boats Bollinger has a contract for with the Coast Guard. The contract is expected to keep 800 people employed into 2020. This is the 33rd one Bollinger has delivered.
“This will be the seventh cutter stationed in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The vessel’s commissioning is scheduled for June,” Bollinger President and C.E.O. Ben Bordelon said in a news release.
Previous cutters have been stationed around the nation, including Alaska and Hawaii.
“FRCs already in commission have protected our country by seizing multiple tons of narcotics, interdicted thousands of illegal aliens and saved hundreds of lives,” the company said.
The 154-foot Sentinel-class fast response cutter has a flank speed over 28 knots; state-of-the-art command, control, communications and computer technology; and a stern launch system for the vessel’s 26-foot cutter boat.
Each cutter is named for an enlisted Coast Guard hero who distinguished him or herself in the line of duty.
This vessel is named after Coast Guard hero Joseph Doyle, who was appointed keeper of the Charlotte, New York, Life-Saving Station in July 1878, Bollinger said.
As keeper, Doyle became known as one of the most distinguished surfmen of the U.S. Life-Saving Service. During 1878, he made two rescues and was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal on Aug. 2, 1879.
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© 2019 The Houma Courier, La.
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