USCGC Heriberto Hernandez (WPC-1114)

USCGC Heriberto Hernandez is the 14th Sentinel-class cutter delivered to the United States Coast Guard.[3] Like five of her sister ships, her initial assignment will see her based in San Juan, Puerto Rico.[4]

USCGC Heriberto Hernandez (WPC-1114)
Heriberto Hernandez was commissioned in San Juan on 16 October 2015
History
United States
Namesake: Heriberto Hernandez
Builder: Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana
Launched: July 30, 2015
Acquired: July 30, 2015[1]
Commissioned: October 16, 2015[2]
Homeport: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Identification:
Motto: Valor sin temor (Valor without fear)
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)
Endurance:
  • 5 days, 2,500 nmi (4,600 km; 2,900 mi)
  • Designed to be on patrol 2,500 hours per year
Boats & landing
craft carried:		 1 × Short Range Prosecutor RHIB
Complement: 2 officers, 20 crew
Sensors and
processing systems:		 L-3 C4ISR suite
Armament:

The Coast Guard decided to design all its new cutters, even its smallest, to be able to accommodate mixed sex crews. The Sentinels, and the smaller Marine Protectors, have berthing areas of various sizes, to make this possible. A Sentinel's complement is 22, and they are armed with a 25 mm Bushmaster autocannon, that can operated remotely, and four crew-served fifty caliber Browning machine guns. The cutters are equipped with a sophisticated modern sensor suite, that can share data with other vessels. The Sentinel class is equipped with a stern launching ramp, that can deploy and retrieve the vessel's 7-meter high-speed jet-boat, even when the vessels are underway. Only a single crewmember is required to remain on deck to deploy or retrieve the jet-boat.

Heriberto Hernandez was commissioned in her home port, San Juan, Puerto Rico, on October 16, 2015.[2][5]

Operational career
One of the complement of this unregistered vessel, apprehended by the Heriberto Hernandez, turned out to have an outstanding arrest warrant for murder.

In January, 2019, the Heriberto Hernandez apprehended a small vessel with 35 people aboard they determined were intending to illegally enter the United States.[6] Near the vessel they also found a floating backpack containing $3.6 million dollars worth of heroin. 27 of the vessel's occupants were turned over to the Dominican Republic, while the remaining 8 were turned over to the US Justice Department.

On January 5, 2021, while patrolling the Mona Passage, the Heriberto Hernandez sighted a suspicious vessel.[7][8] The unregistered vessel, which seemed to be home-built, which had three men aboard, was found north of Desecheo Island. The crew of the Heriberto Hernandez deemed it unseaworthy, and took the men aboard.[9][10] Biometric scans determined one of the men had an arrest warrant for a double murder in San Juan. The cutter rendevoused with a vessel from the Dominican Navy, to pass over the other two men, who claimed to be Dominican citizens, and then handed over custody of the suspect to officials of the US Marshall Service in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.

Namesake

Like all of the cutters of her class she is named after someone who served in the Coast Guard, or one of its three precursor services, the United States Revenue Cutter Service, the United States Lighthouse Service or the United States Lifeboat Service, who was recognized for their heroism.[4][3]

Heriberto Hernandez lost his life when he was a fireman on board a Point-class cutter, USCGC Point Cypress.[3] Point Cypress was patrolling a river in South Vietnam, during the Vietnam War, when he died. He received a posthumous Bronze Star for valor.

References
  1. "Acquisition Update: 14th Fast Response Cutter Delivered To Coast Guard" (Press release). United States Coast Guard. 2015-07-31. Retrieved 2015-07-31.
  2. "Coast Guard Cutter Heriberto Hernandez commissioned in San Juan". Coast Guard News. 2015-10-16. Retrieved 2015-10-16.
  3. "Bollinger delivers FRC Heriberto Hernandez". Marine Log. 2015-07-30. Retrieved 2015-08-05. The Coast Guard took delivery on July 30, 2015 in Key West, FL, and is scheduled to commission the vessel in Puerto Rico during October, 2015.
  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. Sig Christenson (2015-10-16). "Coast Guard's newest cutter named for Kennedy High School hero". San Antonio Express News. Retrieved 2015-10-16.
  6. David J. Neal (2019-01-10). "The boat caught by the Coast Guard had people. Did it also have $3 million in drugs?". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 2020-11-08. Retrieved 2021-01-12. But the Coast Guard said the crew also found a backpack with four kilos of heroin floating near the boat. That didn’t seem to be a coincidence, especially as four kilos exceeds any reasonable personal use.
  7. "Coast Guard Captures Alleged Murderer; Transfers Custody to U.S. Marshals". Seapower magazine. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2021-01-11. Archived from the original on 2021-01-11. Retrieved 2021-01-12. Gustavo Guerrero-Reyes, 37, was arrested on an outstanding Puerto Rico state warrant, following his apprehension while traveling aboard a makeshift boat with two other men, whom all claimed to be Dominican Republic Nationals.
  8. "Coast Guard transfers custody of wanted fugitive to U.S. Marshals agents in Puerto Rico, following interdiction of makeshift boat in the Mona Passage". US Coast Guard (Press release). San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2021-01-11. Archived from the original on 2021-01-11. Retrieved 2021-01-12. Coast Guard watchstanders in Sector San Juan received a call Tuesday afternoon from a CBP Air and Marine Operations (AMO) agent, who reported the crew of an AMO maritime patrol aircraft detected a suspect vessel approximately 37 nautical miles north of Desecheo Island, Puerto Rico. Coast Guard watchstanders diverted the cutter Heriberto Hernandez to assess the situation.
  9. "U.S. Coast Guard Catches Wanted Fugitive in High Seas Intercept". Maritime Executive. 2021-01-11. Archived from the original on 2021-01-12. Retrieved 2021-01-12. On Tuesday afternoon, a Customs and Border Patrol aircraft spotted a suspect vessel about 40 nautical miles to the north of Desecheo Island, outside of U.S. territorial seas. Desecheo is an uninhabited wildlife refuge located near the midpoint of the Mona Channel, the strait between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic - an area known for smuggling activity.
  10. "Detienen a puertorriqueño buscado por asesinato en barco al oeste de Puerto Rico" [They arrest a Puerto Rican wanted for murder on a boat in western Puerto Rico]. El Expresso (in Spanish). San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2021-01-11. Archived from the original on 2021-01-12. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
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