CGC RICHARD ETHERIDGE (WPC-1102)
Miami Beach, Florida
CGC RICHARD ETHERIDGE's Motto: IN BEHALF OF HUMANITY:
While stationed in Virginia in 1865, Richard Etheridge drafted a letter protesting the mistreatment of newly freed blacks by the occupying army. The valediction of that letter, ‘IN BEHALF OF HUMANITY’, illustrates his devotion to selfless service. Adopted as the cutter's motto, the words reflect the broad humanitarian and law-enforcement missions that Sentinel-Class cutters were built to perform.
About Sentinel-Class Fast Response Cutters
The Coast Guard was conceived in 1787, when America’s first secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton, wrote
"a few armed vessels, judiciously stationed at entrances to our ports, might at a small expense be made useful
sentinels of our laws."
The Sentinel Class patrol boat project will deliver vital capability to the Coast Guard, helping to meet the service’s
need for additional patrol boats. The current patrol boat gap hinders the Coast Guard’s ability to successfully and
efficiently complete all potential missions, and this critical FRC acquisition will help address these identified needs.
The Sentinel-Class Fast Response Cutter project, including CGC RICHARD ETHERIDGE is a project of the Coast Guard's Acquisitions
Directorate. For more information, see the Coast Guard Acquisition Directorate's Sentinel-Class project
website.
Capabilities
The Sentinel Class patrol boat will be 154 feet long, capable of speeds of 28 plus knots, armed with one stabilized,
remotely-operated 25mm chain gun and four crew-served .50 caliber machine guns, and crew capabilities to hold 25 people.
It will be able to perform independently for a minimum of 5 days at sea, and be underway for 2,500 hours per year.
The C4ISR systems on the Sentinel Class patrol boat will be fully interoperable with not only the Coast Guard’s existing
and future assets, but those of our partners in the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security.
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