Lt. Hayden Carter, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Jeffrey Palazzo; Allen Harker, contracting officer for the Fast Response Cutter Project; and the cutter's crew and guests pose during an acceptance ceremony in Key West, Fla., June 11, 2026. (U.S. Coast Guard)
The U.S. Coast Guard accepted delivery Thursday in Key West, Fla., of its newest fast response cutter, a ship expected to join four other cutters on Guam after its commissioning.
The USCGC Jeffrey Palazzo — the Coast Guard’s 63rd fast response cutter — is expected to be commissioned in New York City in September and then make its way to Guam by late fall, Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam said in a Thursday news release.
The cutter is named for New York City firefighter and U.S. Coast Guard reservist Jeffrey Palazzo, who died responding to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
Jeffrey Palazzo poses while serving in the Coast Guard in this undated photo. (U.S. Coast Guard)
Palazzo, who served eight years of active duty in the Coast Guard, joined the New York City Fire Department in 1996 while maintaining his status as a reservist. He responded to the 9/11 attacks as part of Staten Island’s Rescue Squad 5. He and 10 other members of the squad died that day.
“His actions that day embodied the Coast Guard’s core values of honor, respect, and devotion to duty,” Sector Guam spokeswoman Lt. Sara Muir wrote in the news release.
The cutter will be the fifth homeported on the westernmost U.S. territory. It will join the recently commissioned USCGC Vincent Danz, named for a New York City police officer who also died responding to the 9/11 attacks, and the cutters Frederick Hatch, Myrtle Hazard and Oliver Henry.
The Vincent Danz is slated to arrive sometime this summer, Muir told Stars and Stripes by email May 26.
The cutters replace aging 110-foot patrol boats and are intended to fill a variety of roles, including port and border security, search-and-rescue operations and countering illegal activities at sea.
The Coast Guard is aiming for a fleet of 77 fast response cutters and may allocate a sixth to Guam, Muir said in May.
