HOUMA, LA (AP) — Louisiana-based Bollinger Shipyards has delivered the Richard Dixon, the 13th Fast Response Cutter, to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Courier’s Mike Hill reports Bollinger used a design based on the Damen Stan Patrol Boat 4708 to build the 154-foot craft. It has a flank speed of 28 knots; state-of-the-art command, control, communications and computer technology; and a stern launch system. Senior Coast Guard officials have described the vessel as an operational "game changer."
Bollinger says the Coast Guard took delivery Tuesday in Key West, Florida, and is scheduled to commission the vessel in Tampa, Florida, in June.
Each Fast Response Cutter is named for an enlisted Coast Guard hero who distinguished him or herself in the line of duty.
Dixon, a first class boatswains mate stationed at Tillamook Bay in Oregon, was awarded two Coast Guard medals for his actions on the July Fourth weekend in 1980 when a series of storms swept across the Pacific Northwest and two boating incidents could have ended in disaster.
Dixon and his crew courageously performed two separate rescues that weekend in the treacherous storm conditions.
