 Delivering Winslow Griesser | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USCGC Winslow Griesser |
| Namesake | Winslow W. Griesser |
| Operator | United States Coast Guard |
| Builder | Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana |
| Launched | December 23, 2015 |
| Acquired | December 23, 2015[1] |
| Commissioned | March 11, 2016[2] |
| Homeport | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Identification |
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| Motto |
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| Status | in active service |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Sentinel-class cutter |
| Displacement | 353 long tons (359 t) |
| Length | 46.8 m (154 ft) |
| Beam | 8.11 m (26.6 ft) |
| Depth | 2.9 m (9.5 ft) |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) |
| Range | 2,500 nautical miles (4,600 km; 2,900 mi) |
| Endurance | 5 days |
| Boats & landing craft carried | 1 × Short Range Prosecutor RHIB |
| Complement | 2 officers, 20 crew |
| Sensors and processing systems | L-3 C4ISR suite |
| Armament |
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USCGC Winslow Griesser (WPC-1116) was the sixteenth Sentinel-class cutter to be delivered.[3][4] She is the fourth of six Sentinel-class vessels to be stationed in San Juan, Puerto Rico.[5] Bollinger shipyards delivered her to the United States Coast Guard, in Key West, Florida, on December 23, 2015.[1] After she completed her acceptance trials, she was commissioned on March 11, 2016.[2]
The Winslow Griesser participated in the multi-nation training exercise known as Tradewinds 2017 in June 2017.[6][7]
On August 8, 2022, the Winslow Griesser collided with the center console boat Desakata off of Dorado, Puerto Rico, causing the death of a fisherman in the smaller boat. The National Transportation Safety Board attributed the crash to neither vessel's crew seeing the other, and found that neither crew was "maintaining a proper lookout." A separate Coast Guard investigation found that the Desakata should have yielded the right of way to the Winslow Griesser, but that the cutter's crew could have prevented the incident if they had maintained a better lookout. As a result of the incident, the Winslow Griesser's commanding officer was relieved of his command.[8][9]
Like all the vessels in her class, Winslow Griesser is named after an individual from the Coast Guard's past who has been recognized as a hero.[10][11] Winslow W. Griesser was the keeper of the United States Lifesaving Service's Buffalo Station, in 1900.[12] When he and his crew ventured out in stormy weather to rescue the crew of two scows they saw had overturned, their own surfboat overturned.[13] Nevertheless, Griesser and a companion tried to swim out, with a tow rope, to rescue survivors who were clinging tenuously to a pile. Griesser's companion was injured, and Griesser continued, alone. He reached the pile, and with great difficulty did rescue the sole remaining survivor. Griesser received the Gold Lifesaving Medal to recognize his exceptional bravery in this rescue.
The 154 foot patrol craft WINSLOW GRIESSER is the 16th vessel in the Coast Guard's Sentinel-class FRC program.
The Coast Guard is acquiring 58 FRCs to replace the 110-foot Island-class patrol boats. The FRCs are designed for missions including drug and migrant interdiction; ports, waterways and coastal security; search and rescue; and national defense.
Fourteen FRCs are in service: six in Miami; six in Key West, Florida; and two in San Juan. The 15th FRC, the Joseph Napier, was delivered in October and is scheduled for commissioning in San Juan in January 2016.
Seaman Mia Mauro and Petty Officer 2nd Class John Leo, both stationed aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Winslow Griesser, prepare for a joint gunnery exercise during Tradewinds 2017 off the coast of Bridgetown, Barbados, June 8, 2017.
Seaman Mia Mauro and Petty Officer 2nd Class John Leo, both stationed aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Winslow Griesser, prepare for a joint gunnery exercise during Tradewinds 2017 off the coast of Bridgetown, Barbados, June 8, 2017.
The Coast Guard recently announced the names of 10 Sentinel-Class Fast Response Cutters (WPCs 1116-1125) through a series of posts on its official blog, the Coast Guard Compass. Like the first 15 ships in the class, each ship will honor a Coast Guard enlisted hero.
Winslow W. Griesser, Keeper of the Buffalo Life-Saving Station in New York, was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal on February 23, 1901 for his heroic actions during a dramatic rescue on November 21, 1900.
Once on the beach Griesser saw that a man from one of the scows was hanging onto a pile. As use of a boat was impracticable, Griesser decided to swim out with a line accompanied by a surfman.
