Charles Sexton, underway.
History
United States
NameCharles Sexton
NamesakeCharles W. Sexton
OperatorUnited States Coast Guard
BuilderBollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana
LaunchedDecember 10, 2013
AcquiredDecember 10, 2013[1]
CommissionedMarch 8, 2014[2]
HomeportKey West, Florida
Identification
MottoSacrifice through service
Statusin active service
Badge
General characteristics
Class and typeSentinel-class cutter
Displacement353 long tons (359 t)
Length46.8 m (154 ft)
Beam8.11 m (26.6 ft)
Depth2.9 m (9.5 ft)
Propulsion
  • 2 × 4,300 kW (5,800 shp)
  • 1 × 75 kW (101 shp) bow thruster
Speed28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Range2,500 nautical miles (4,600 km; 2,900 mi)
Endurance5 days
Boats & landing
craft carried		1 × Short Range Prosecutor RHIB
Complement2 officers, 20 crew
Sensors and
processing systems		L-3 C4ISR suite
Armament

USCGC Charles Sexton (WPC-1108) is the eighth Sentinel-class cutter, and the second to be based in Key West, Florida.[3][4] She was delivered to the United States Coast Guard for a final evaluation and shakedown on December 10, 2013,[1] and the vessel was commissioned on March 8, 2014.[2]

Design

The Sentinel-class cutters were designed to replace the shorter 110-foot (34 m) Island-class patrol boats.[5] Charles Sexton is armed with a remote-control 25 mm (0.98 in) Bushmaster autocannon and four crew-served M2HB .50-caliber machine guns. She has a bow thruster for maneuvering in crowded anchorages and channels. She also has small underwater fins for coping with the rolling and pitching caused by large waves. She is equipped with a stern launching ramp, like the Marine Protector-class and the eight failed expanded Island-class cutters. She 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.[6] 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.[7]

Charles Sexton 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). Her draft is 9 feet 6 inches (2.90 m) and she has a maximum speed of over 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph). The Sentinel-class cutters have endurances of five days and a range of 2,950 nautical miles (3,390 mi; 5,460 km).[5]

Operational career

Crew of the USCGC Charles Sexton intercepts undocumented migrants.

On May 21, 2015, the Charles Sexton intercepted 117 undocumented migrants from the Dominican Republic from a dangerously overloaded boat.[8] 93 men and 24 women were repatriated home.

Charles Sexton joined in the search for the freighter El Faro, which disappeared during an October 2015 Hurricane Joaquin.[9]

The cutter intercepted 39 Cuban refugees, for return to Cuba, in November 2015.[10] Three separate refugee craft were intercepted.

In November, 2018, the Charles Sexton, and her sister ship, the William Trump, interdicted 36 Cuban migrants, and repatriated 35 of them to Cabañas, Cuba.[11] One migrant seemed to suffer from respiratory arrest. The onboard EMT treated the victim, who was then sent to a US port for further medical treatment.

Namesake

The vessel is named after Charles W. Sexton, who served as a Machinery Technician in the United States Coast Guard.[12][13][14] Sexton lost his life while rescuing fishermen off the mouth of the Columbia River.

References

  1. 1 2 "Acquisition Update: Eighth Fast Response Cutter Delivered to the Coast Guard" (Press release). United States Coast Guard. 2013-12-10. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
  2. 1 2 "Coast Guard Coast Guard to commission Key West's second fast response cutter". Coast Guard News. 2014-03-07. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
  3. ↑ Jed Lipinski (2013-12-10). "Bollinger delivers eighth Fast-Response Cutter to U.S. Coast Guard". Lockport, Louisiana: New Orleans Times Picayune. Archived from the original on 2013-12-11. Retrieved 2013-12-11. The vessel was delivered to the 7th Coast Guard District in Key West, Fla., where the Coast Guard expects to commission it in March 2014.
  4. ↑ "Coast Guard's Eighth FRC Enters Service". Marine Link. 2014-03-14. Archived from the original on 2014-03-15. Coast Guard Cutter Charles Sexton was commissioned into service March 8 at Coast Guard Sector Key West, Fla. The Sexton is the second of six Fast Response Cutters to be homeported in Key West, and the eighth vessel to be delivered through the Coast Guard's Sentinel-class FRC recapitalization project.
  5. 1 2 "Fast Response Cutter" (PDF). United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "Short Range Prosecutor (SRP)". Integrated Deepwater System Program. Retrieved 2007-09-01.
  7. ↑ "Bollinger awarded potential $1.5 billion FRC contract". Marine Log. 2009-09-26. Archived from the original on 2010-01-04.
  8. ↑ "117 Dominicans rescued by Coast Guard Cutter Charles Sexton". Coast Guard News. 2015-05-21. Retrieved 2018-12-10. Sector San Juan watchstanders diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Charles Sexton who arrived on scene and safely embarked the 117 persons with no reported health concerns. The 93 males and 24 females were repatriated to La Romana Cruise Port, Dominican Republic, at approximately 8 a.m. Thursday.
  9. ↑ "Keys-based Coast Guard cutter joined search for 'El Faro'". Keysnet. 2015-10-10.
  10. ↑ "Cutter Charles Sexton Repatriates 39 Cuban Migrants". Military Daily. 2015-11-19. Retrieved 2015-11-20. This repatriation is a result of three separate interdictions at sea in the south Florida Straits. These were interdictions of Cuban nationals attempting to illegally enter the United States on unseaworthy vessels commonly referred to as "rustics" or "chugs."
  11. ↑ "U.S. Coast Guard Cutter William Trump Crew Interdicted Overloaded Vessel, Repatriates 36 Cuban Migrants". Space Coast Daily. 2018-11-12. Retrieved 2018-11-14. The airplane crew located the migrant vessel and the cutter Charles Sexton crew safely embarked the 29 Cuban males and eight Cuban females.
  12. ↑ Connie Braesch (2010-11-04). "Coast Guard Heroes: Charles Walter David Jr". United States Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 2012-09-03. Many of the Coast Guard's heroes fought in wars abroad or found themselves under enemy fire in foreign countries. But, Charles W. Sexton found himself faced with danger in the course of his everyday duties at Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment. Sexton, a machinery technician, was rescuing four fishermen in peril when the seas tragically took him.
  13. ↑ Stephanie Young (2010-10-27). "Coast Guard Heroes". United States Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 2012-11-27. Retrieved 2012-04-20.
  14. ↑ "Who are some of the heroes of the Coast Guard?". USCG. 2012-12-03. Archived from the original on 2012-12-12. Retrieved 2013-01-10. His award citation stated: "Petty Officer SEXTON is cited for extraordinary heroism on 11 January 1991 while serving as emergency medical technician aboard Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat CG-44381.
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