USCGC Joseph Gerczak

USCGC Joseph Gerczak (WPC-1126) is the 26th Sentinel-class cutter built for the United States Coast Guard.[3] She will be the second member of the three members of her class to be homeported in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Joseph Gerczak during her sea trials
History
United States
Name:	Joseph Gerczak
Namesake:	Joseph Gerczak
Operator:	United States Coast Guard
Builder:	Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana
Launched:	November 9, 2017
Acquired:	November 9, 2017[1]
Commissioned:	March 9, 2018[2]
Homeport:	Honolulu, Hawaii
Identification:	MMSI number: 338926426 Callsign: NJOG Hull number: WPC-1126
Motto:	Unrelenting courage
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:	2 × 4,300 kW (5,800 shp) 1 × 75 kW (101 shp) bow thruster
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 × Cutter Boat - Over the Horizon Interceptor
Complement:	4 officers, 20 crew
Sensors and processing systems:	L-3 C4ISR suite
Armament:	1 × Mk 38 Mod 2 25 mm automatic gun 4 × crew-served Browning M2 machine guns

Design

Like her sister ships, Joseph Gerczak is designed to perform search and rescue missions, port security, and the interception of smugglers.[4] She is armed with a remotely controlled, gyrostabilized 25 mm autocannon, four crew-served M2 Browning machine guns, and light arms. She is equipped with a stern launching ramp, that allows her to launch or retrieve a water-jet propelled high-speed auxiliary boat, without first coming to a stop. Her high-speed boat has over-the-horizon capability, and is useful for inspecting other vessels, and deploying boarding parties. She is designed to support her crew of 24 for missions of up to five days, over distances of almost 3,000 nautical miles (5,556 km; 3,452 mi).

Operational history

Prior to commissioning, the cutter's "plankowner" crew was known for their exceptional prowess on the sand volleyball courts of Houma, Louisiana. Like her sister ships, the Joseph Gerczak is designed for missions of five days, in July 2019, while accompanied by the larger USCGC Walnut, she undertook the nine day voyage from Hawaii to American Samoa.[5][6] The Coast Guard vessels met with HMNZS Otago, a Protector-class offshore patrol vessel from New Zealand, to prepare for actual joint missions.[7]

On February 19, 2020, the Coast Guard's Honolulu station described an incident where a scuba diver's report of the loss of his dive-float helped their life-saving efforts.[8] Divers use standardized highly visible dive-floats to indicate to boaters where they are diving, so they can take steps to avoid those areas, which helps keep divers safe from being run over, when they come to the surface, and are hard to see. Coast Guard personnel who encounter an unattended dive-float normally treat it as an emergency, indicating that a diver is in distress, or has drowned. However, since this diver self-reported the loss of his float, when Joseph Gerczak encountered his float, they were aware the owner was safe, and this was not an emergency.

Namesake

In 2010, Charles "Skip" W. Bowen, who was then the United States Coast Guard's most senior non-commissioned officer, proposed that all 58 cutters in the Sentinel class should be named after enlisted sailors in the Coast Guard, or one of its precursor services, who were recognized for their heroism.[9][10] In 2015 the Coast Guard announced that Joseph Gerczak, who coolly shot down two Japanese planes, during World War 2, before he himself was shot, would be the namesake of the 26th cutter.[11]

References

1. "Coast Guard Accepts 26th Fast Response Cutter" (Press release). United States Coast Guard. 2017-11-09. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
2. "Coast Guard commissions Hawaii's second Sentinel-class cutter". Coast Guard News. 2018-03-09. Retrieved 2018-03-10.
3. "US Coast Guard receives 26th fast response cutter 'Joseph Gerczak'". Naval Today. 2017-11-10. Retrieved 2017-12-29.
4. "FRC Plan B: The Sentinel Class". Defense Industry Daily. 2014-05-02. Archived from the original on 2014-07-07. Retrieved 2014-04-03. All of these boats will be named after enlisted Coast Guard heroes, who distinguished themselves in USCG or military service. The first 25 have been named, but only 8 have been commissioned...
5. Sara Muir (2019-08-03). "USCGC Joseph Gerczak (WPC 1126) arrives in American Samoa on patrol". Dvidshub. Pago Pago. Retrieved 2019-08-05. 'It was a good transit, the longest we’ve conducted yet, nine days at sea and we’re proving the capabilities of these new cutters to operate over the horizon throughout the remote Pacific,' said Lt. James Provost, commanding officer of Joseph Gerczak.
6. Sara Muir (2019-08-09). "USCGC Walnut (WLB 205) conducts community engagements in Samoa". Dvidshub.net. Apia, Samoa. Retrieved 2019-08-11. The crew of the USCGC Joseph Gerczak (WPC 1126) is also operating in the region to conduct fisheries and enforce federal law in the American Samoa EEZ. Both cutter crews will also respond to any emergent search and rescue needs in the area and seek out opportunities to work with partner nation assets. The U.S. Coast Guard and partners combat illegal fishing and other maritime threats across the Pacific, including providing support to Pacific Island Forum nations to protect their resource security and maritime sovereignty.
7. "U.S. Coast Guard, Royal New Zealand Navy Conduct Professional Exchanges in Oceania". Homeland Security Today. 2019-08-15. Retrieved 2019-08-17. The commands from USCGC Walnut (WLB 205) and USCGC Joseph Gerczak (WPC 1126) spent time with peers from HMNZ Otago (P148) discussing the mission, challenges and comparing shipboard life in the region.
8. "Help the US Coast Guard help you". Saipan Tribune. Honolulu. 2020-02-19. Archived from the original on 2020-02-19. Retrieved 2020-02-18. Three hours later, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Joseph Gerczak crew came across a dive float while underway, which is usually regarded as an indication of potential distress. The commanding officer of the ship reported the discovery to the command center, who was able to match the description of the dive float to the one reported missing. Because of the diver’s self-reporting actions, the Coast Guard was able to save valuable resources, unneeded search efforts, and return the dive float to its original owner.
9. Susan Schept (2010-03-22). "Enlisted heroes honored". United States Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 2011-12-03. Retrieved 2013-02-01. After the passing of several well-known Coast Guard heroes last year, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Charles "Skip" Bowen mentioned in his blog that the Coast Guard does not do enough to honor its fallen heroes.
10. "U.S. Coast Guard announces name for first Sentinel-class cutter". 2010-03-22. Archived from the original on 2010-03-25. Retrieved 2013-02-01. Previously designated to be named the Coast Guard Cutter Sentinel, the cutter Bernard C. Webber will be the first of the service's new 153-foot patrol cutters. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen approved the change of the cutter's name to allow this class of vessels to be named after outstanding enlisted members who demonstrated exceptional heroism in the line of duty. This will be the first class of cutters to be named exclusively for enlisted members of the Coast Guard and its predecessor services.
11. "Acquisition Update: Coast Guard Reveals Names of FRCs 26-35". US Coast Guard. 2015-02-27. Archived from the original on 2015-03-05. Retrieved 2017-03-25. The Coast Guard recently announced the names of the 26th through 35th Sentinel-class fast response cutters through a series of posts on its official blog, the Coast Guard Compass.