Sentinel - class cutter The Sentinel - class cutter , previously known as the Fast Response Cutter , is part of the United States Coast Guard ' s Deepwater program . At it is similar to , but larger than the extended s , like the . 24 to 58 vessels are to be built by the Louisiana based firm Bollinger shipyards , using a design from the Netherlands - based Damen Group , with the Sentinel design based on the company ' s Damen Stan 4708 patrol vessel . Planning and acquisition . On March 14 , 2007 , Commandant Thad Allen announced that they had withdrawn from a contract for the construction of the vessels , but had not entirely cancelled the program . The new program would focus more on " off - the - shelf " technology . On September 26 , 2008 , Bollinger Shipyards was awarded US $ 88 million to build a prototype . The cutter will be the first of a series of 24 - 34 cutters built to a design largely based on the Stan 4708 patrol vessel s from the Netherlands firm the Damen Group . The South African government employs similar vessels for environmental and fishery patrol . The first cutter will be named , and all future Sentinel class will be named after enlisted Coast Guard heroes . " Bernard C . Webber " will be stationed in Miami . " Bernard C . Webber " was launched on Thursday , April 21 , 2011 , and commissioned on Saturday , April 14 , 2012 at the Port of Miami . On September 26 , 2013 " Marine Link " reported that the Coast Guard had placed orders for additional cutters , bringing the number of cutters ordered so far to thirty . Design and construction . The vessels are armed with a remote - control 25 mm Bushmaster autocannon and four , crew - served M2HB . 50 - caliber machine guns . They have a bow thruster for maneuvering in crowded anchorages and channels . They also have small underwater fins , for coping with the rolling and pitching caused by large waves . They are equipped with a stern launching ramp , like the and the eight failed expanded Island - class cutters . They are manned by a crew of 22 . Like the Marine Protector class , and the cancelled extended Island - class cutters , the Fast Response Cutter would deploy the Short Range Prosecutor Rigid - hulled inflatable ( SRP or RHIB ) for rescues and interceptions . According to " Marine Log " , modifications to the Coast Guard vessels from the Stan 4708 design include an increase in speed from , fixed pitch rather than variable pitch propellers , stern launch capability , and watertight bulkheads . On February 7 , 2013 , the Department of Homeland Security requested tenders from third party firms to independently inspect the cutters , during their construction , and their performance trials . Ships . On October 27 , the Coast Guard released the names of the first 14 Coast Guard enlisted heroes for whom the Sentinel - class FRCs will be named . Six vessel are budgeted to be procured in 2013 . Namesakes . Charles " Skip " W . Bowen , who was then the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard , is credited with leading the initiative of naming the vessels after enlisted individuals who served heroically in the Coast Guard , or one of its precursor services . Originally the first vessel of the class was to be named the USCGC " Sentinel " . In October 2010 the Coast Guard named the first fourteen individuals the vessel will be named after , and has provided biographies of them . They are : Bernard C . Webber , Richard Etheridge , William Flores , Robert Yered , Margaret Norvell , Paul Clark , Charles David , Charles Sexton , Kathleen Moore , Joseph Napier , William Trump , Isaac Mayo , Richard Dixon , Heriberto Hernandez .