USCGC ''Forrest Rednour'' (WPC-1129) is the 29th cutter built for the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

. She was the first of the four vessels of her class to be home-ported at USCG Base Los Angeles/Long Beach in

San Pedro, California San Pedro ( ; Spanish: " St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...

. Other

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

s have been based in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

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, and

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

prior to ''Forrest Rednour's'' assignment to Base LA/LB. Sister ships ''Robert Ward (WPC-1130)'', ''Terrell Horne III (WPC-1131)'', and ''Benjamin Bottoms (WPC-1132)'' soon joined her at Base LA/LB.

Design

Like her

s, ''Forrest Rednour'' is designed to perform

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

missions,

port security Port security is part of a broader definition concerning maritime security. It refers to the defense, law and treaty enforcement, and counterterrorism activities that fall within the port and maritime domain. It includes the protection of the sea ...

, and the interception of smugglers. She is armed with a remotely-controlled, gyro-stabilized 25 mm autocannon, four crew served

M2 Browning machine gun The M2 machine gun or Browning .50 caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. Its design is similar to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, w ...

s, 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.

Operational history

''Forrest Rednour'' arrived in Los Angeles on August 13, 2018 and was commissioned at Base LA/LB on November 8, 2018 with LT Graham Sherman serving as her first commanding officer. Executive officer LTJG Dayra Nazario and 20 enlisted crew members also serve as ''Forrest Rednour's'' plankowners. On her first mission, ''Rednour'' apprehended 3 people aboard a 25-foot cuddy cabin boat with 1,000 pounds of marijuana on board, approximately 30 miles south of the US-Mexico maritime border just before midnight on November 27, 2018. On August 8, 2020, ''Rednour'' hailed and approached a suspected smuggler off the coast of San Diego. The smuggler turned their

panga Panga or panga seabream is the common South African name for ''Pterogymnus laniarius'', a small, ocean-dwelling fish, native to the southeast Atlantic Ocean and southwest Indian Ocean. Alternatively called "torpedo scads", they are cold-blood ...

towards ''Rednours'' boarding crew, ramming the cutter boat, much like the incident which killed BMSC

Terrell Horne Terrell Edwin Horne III (1978–2012) was a senior chief petty officer with the United States Coast Guard, who was killed in the line of duty while intercepting smugglers, on December 2, 2012. Horne had fourteen years service in the Coast Guard a ...

in 2012. A high speed chase ensued in which U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air & Marine Operations agents intercepted, shooting the motor of the vessel and forcing the panga to a stop 12 nautical miles west of Oceanside, CA. The combined task force recovered 500 pounds of methamphetamine and arrested the smugglers, the captain eventually earning 194 months in a federal penitentiary on 15 felony charges. ''Forrest Rednour'' returned home after a 32 day patrol of international waters off the coast of Mexico in September 2021, seizing more than 5,000 pounds of cocaine with a street value of $96 million dollars. During the course of the mission, they also met with the similarly classed ARM '' Monte Albán (PC 338)'' of the Mexican Navy, patrolling the same waters. 15 undocumented immigrants were intercepted off the coast of Orange County, CA by ''Forrest Rednour'' on April 20, 2023. The ''Rednour'' spotted an overloaded 36-ft sportfisher with an estimated 8-12 people aboard near San Clemente and coordinated with CBP Air and Marine Operations to apprehend and seize the vessel.

Namesake

FS2 '' Forrest Oren Rednour'' (1923–1943) received the

Navy and Marine Corps Medal The Navy and Marine Corps Medal is the highest non-combat decoration awarded for heroism by the United States Department of the Navy to members of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. The medal was established by an act of Congr ...

posthumously "For heroic conduct while aboard USCGC Escanaba during the rescue of survivors from the torpedoed USAT Dorchester in North Atlantic waters on 3 February 1943...Rednour’s gallant and voluntary action in subjecting himself to pounding seas and bitter cold for nearly four hours contributed to the rescue of 145 persons". One of only two Coast Guardsmen honored by the naming of a U.S. Navy ship, ''Forrest Rednour'' was announced as the namesake of the U.S. Coast Guard's 29th fast response cutter in 2018. All 58 cutters in the Sentinel class are to be named after

enlisted Enlisted may refer to: * Enlisted rank An enlisted rank (also known as an enlisted grade or enlisted rate) is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. The term can be inclusive of non-commissioned officers or ...

sailors in the Coast Guard who were recognized for their heroism. Forrest previously served as the namesake of the U.S. Navy high-speed transport '' USS Rednour (APD-102)''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forrest Rednour (WPC-1129) Sentinel-class cutters Ships of the United States Coast Guard 2018 ships Ships built in Lockport, Louisiana