The third of the Sentinel-class of Fast Response Cutters has been delivered to the Coast Guard with commissioning scheduled to take place in two months, maker Bollinger Shipyards said yesterday.
The William Flores was turned over to the Coast Guard’s Miami sector last month, the Lockport, La.-based shipyard said. It will be commissioned Nov. 3.
The first ship in the Sentinel-class, the Bernard C. Webber, was commissioned earlier this year. The Coast Guard has 12 of the new Fast Response Cutters under contract and can extend the number to 34 under the agreement with Bollinger Shipyards.
The latest ship is named after Seaman Apprentice William Ray “Billy” Flores, who died while trying to save shipmates after a collision between a Coast Guard ship and an oil tanker 1980. He was posthumously awarded the Coast Guard Medal for heroism, Bollinger said.