The following is the text of a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard:
(KEY WEST, Fla.) — The Coast Guard cutter William Trump was commissioned during a ceremony Saturday at Coast Guard Sector Key West. It is the 11th fast response cutter (FRC) in the Coast Guard fleet and the fifth home-ported in Key West.
Each fast response cutter is named for an enlisted Coast Guard hero who distinguished him or herself in the line of duty. This vessel is named after U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class William Trump, who earned a Silver Star for valor in action during the assault phase of the landing at Normandy during World War II.
Trump served aboard Landing Craft Infantry 90 and volunteered to set the anchor line ashore on Omaha Beach to give the troops that his vessel was carrying a route for them to follow into the fight. He successfully accomplished his mission and narrowly escaped death when an enemy bullet dented his helmet.
Trump retired from the Coast Guard in 1965 and went on to work aboard oil tankers.
Coast Guard cutter William Trump is 154 feet long, has a beam of 25 feet, and a maximum sustained speed of more than 28 knots. William Trump is armed with a stabilized 25mm machine-gun mount and four crew-served .50-caliber machine guns.
The Key West Navy League Commissioning Committee is supporting the commissioning through funding of activities traditionally associated with a commissioning, separate and apart from the U.S. Coast Guard.
