The Coast Guard's newest fast-response cutter, the USCGC Vincent Danz, moors in Key West, Fla., Feb. 26, 2026. (U.S. Coast Guard)
The Coast Guard’s newest fast-response cutter, named for a reserve petty officer who died on 9/11, is expected to join three others on Guam this summer, the service announced Friday.
The 62nd Sentinel-class cutter, the USCGC Vincent Danz, was delivered to the Coast Guard on Thursday in Key West, Fla., according to a news release from Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam.
The date the Vincent Danz is scheduled to arrive on Guam will be announced later, Sector Guam spokeswoman Chief Warrant Officer 2 Sara Muir said by email Friday.
The Coast Guard is also expecting a fifth cutter, USCGC Jeffrey Palazzo, on Guam later this year, and a sixth was included in the Coast Guard’s budget request but has not yet been funded, Muir wrote.
“This growth significantly expands the Coast Guard’s ability to project presence and respond to emergencies across one of the world’s most expansive maritime regions that remains vitally relevant to the nation,” she said.
On Guam, the Vincent Danz will join the Myrtle Hazard, Oliver Henry and Frederick Hatch, which were commissioned in 2021.
A Coast Guard chaplain blesses a piece of World Trade Center steel dedicated to Vincent Danz in a ceremony at Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, La., March 27, 2025. (Cheyenne Basurto/U.S. Coast Guard)
The new cutter’s delivery “demonstrates the Coast Guard’s enduring commitment to the security of our Nation, the Pacific, and our partners throughout Oceania,” Capt. Jessica Worst, commander of Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam, said in the release.
The Sentinel-class cutters are replacing the Coast Guard’s fleet of aging Island-class, 110-foot patrol boats, according to a Coast Guard fact sheet. The 154-foot-long cutters have a minimum top speed of 28 knots and a range of 2,500 nautical miles.
They are armed with a stabilized 25 mm machine gun mount and four .50-caliber machine guns, according to the fact sheet. The service will eventually have 77 of the cutters.
The new cutter is named for New York City police officer, Marine Corps veteran and Coast Guard Reserve Port Security Specialist 2nd Class Vincent Danz, who was killed on Sept. 11, 2001, while responding to the World Trade Center attacks.
Two pieces of steel recovered from the World Trade Center site were incorporated into the Vincent Danz and the Jeffrey Palazzo, according to a March 27, 2025, news release from Bolinger Shipyards, which built both vessels.
Each fast-response cutter costs about $65 million to build, according to a 2023 report by the Congressional Research Service.
“This cutter will honor his legacy by protecting lives, combating illicit activity, and ensuring maritime security of our coasts, across Micronesia and beyond,” Worst said in the release.
Since 2021, the Guam cutters have responded to rescue missions, provided humanitarian relief and patrolled the Western Pacific.
The Myrtle Hazard was the first to carry out joint patrols with Papua New Guinea in 2023, Muir wrote. The Oliver Henry saved mariners in the Federated States of Micronesia, delivered humanitarian assistance during the ongoing Yap drought, and rescued 11 people after towing the 500-ton yacht Black Pearl to Palau in 2024.
The Frederick Hatch conducted bilateral patrols with Palau and was the first fast-response cutter to visit Tacloban, Philippines, for the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Muir said.
