(LOCKPORT, La.) – Bollinger Shipyards has delivered USCGC William Sparling to the U.S. Coast Guard in Key West, Fla. This is the 180th vessel Bollinger has delivered to the Coast Guard over a 35-year period and the 54th fast response cutter (FRC) delivered under the current program.
“We’re incredibly proud to deliver another fast response cutter to be home-ported in Boston, the birthplace of the U.S. Coast Guard,” said Bollinger President and CEO Ben Bordelon. “We’re confident that pound for pound, the quality and capabilities of the FRC platform is unmatched, and that this vessel will outperform its mission requirements and expectations in the challenging conditions where it will operate in the North Atlantic.”
USCGC William Sparling will be the fifth of six FRCs to be home-ported in Sector Boston, which is known as the birthplace of the Coast Guard. The sector is responsible for coastal safety, security and environmental protection from the New Hampshire-Massachusetts border southward to Plymouth, Mass., out to 200 nautical miles offshore.
Sector Boston directs over 1,500 active duty, reserve and auxiliary members whose mission is to protect and secure vital infrastructure, rescue mariners in peril at sea, enforce federal law, maintain navigable waterways, and respond to all hazards impacting the maritime transportation system and coastal region.
The Coast Guard’s fiscal year 2024 unfunded priorities list includes, as one of its items, an unfunded priority for procuring four more FRCs (which would be the 66th through 69th in the program) to provide increased Coast Guard presence and engagement with allied and partner countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
Each FRC is named for an enlisted Coast Guard hero who distinguished themselves in the line of duty. Coxswain William Sparling was awarded a Silver Star by Adm. Chester Nimitz for his combat actions during the invasion of Guadalcanal. Forming part of the initial assault wave, Sparling landed his embarked troops, and then made three return trips in the face of heavy enemy fire to land equipment, ammunition and supplies.
– Bollinger Shipyards
