USCGC Richard Etheridge

USCGC Richard Etheridge is the second of the United States Coast Guard's Sentinel-class cutters. Like most of her sister ships she replaced a 110-foot (34 m) Island-class patrol boat. Richard Etheridge was launched in August 2011.^[3]

Pre-commissioning photo of the future USCGC Richard Etheridge, moving to another mooring as her final equipment is added.
History
United States
Name	USCGC Richard Etheridge
Namesake	Richard Etheridge
Operator	United States Coast Guard
Builder	Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana
Launched	August 18, 2011
Acquired	May 26, 2012[1]
Commissioned	August 3, 2012[2]
Identification	MMSI number: 338926402 Callsign: NJFB Hull number: WPC-1102
Motto	In behalf of humanity
Status	in active service
Badge
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	2 × 4,300 kW (5,800 shp) 1 × 75 kW (101 shp) bow thruster
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 × Short Range Prosecutor RHIB
Complement	2 officers, 20 crew
Sensors and processing systems	L-3 C4ISR suite
Armament	1 × Mk 38 Mod 2 25 mm automatic gun 4 × crew-served Browning M2 machine guns

Sister ship Bernard C. Webber during her sea trials.

The vessel was officially delivered to the Coast Guard on May 26, 2012, at Key West, Florida,^[1] and was commissioned into service in Port Everglades, Florida, on August 3, 2012.^[2][4]

Richard Etheridge, and the first and third vessels in the class, Bernard C. Webber, and William Flores, are all based in Miami, Florida.^[5]

Like the other ships of her class, Richard Etheridge is named after an enlisted member of the Coast Guard.

Operational history

On March 18, 2014, Richard Etheridge landed 1,500 pounds (680 kg) of illicit drugs captured as part of Operation Martillo.^[6]

Namesake

Richard Etheridge is named after Keeper Richard Etheridge of the U.S. Life-Saving Service, the first African-American to command a life-saving station. Etheridge led the Pea Island Lifesaving Station crew of six in a daring rescue operation that saved the entire crew of the schooner E.S. Newman, which had become grounded in a treacherous storm in 1896.

Design

The Sentinel-class cutters were designed to replace the shorter 110 feet (34 m) Island-class patrol boats.^[7] Richard Etheridge is armed with a remote-control 25 mm Bushmaster autocannon and four, crew-served M2HB .50-caliber machine guns. It has a bow thruster for maneuvering in crowded anchorages and channels. It also has small underwater fins for coping with the rolling and pitching caused by large waves. It is equipped with a stern launching ramp, like the Marine Protector class and the eight failed expanded Island-class cutters. It has a complement of twenty-two crew members. Like the Marine Protector class, and the cancelled extended Island-class cutters, the Sentinel-class cutters deploy the Short Range Prosecutor rigid-hulled inflatable (SRP or RHIB) in rescues and interceptions.^[8] According to Marine Log, modifications to the Coast Guard vessels from the Stan 4708 design include an increase in speed from 23 to 28 knots (43 to 52 km/h; 26 to 32 mph), fixed-pitch rather than variable-pitch propellers, stern launch capability, and watertight bulkheads.^[9]

Richard Etheridge has an overall length of 153 feet 6 inches (46.79 m), a beam of 25 feet (7.6 m), and a displacement of 325 long tons (330 t; 364 short tons). Its draft is 9 feet 6 inches (2.90 m) and it has a maximum speed of over 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph). The Sentinel-class cutters have an endurance of five days and a range of 2,950 nautical miles (3,390 mi; 5,460 km).^[7]