Name USCGC Margaret Norvell Acquired March 21, 2013 Homeport Miami, Florida Length 47 m Endurance 5 days 0 hours | Namesake Margaret Norvell Commissioned June 1, 2013 Launched 13 January 2013 Range 4.63 million m | |
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Operator United States Coast Guard Builder Bollinger Shipyards, L.L.C. | ||
The USCGC Margaret Norvell (WPC-1105) is the fifth Sentinel-class cutter , based at Miami, Florida after commissioning. She was launched on January 13, 2012, and delivered to the Coast Guard on March 21, 2013. She was commissioned on June 1, 2013. She was commissioned at Mardi Gras World in New Orleans, near where her namesake staffed her lighthouse for decades.
Contents
The Key News reported that Margaret Norvell was in Key West on April 2, 2013, finishing her outfitting.
Design
The Sentinel-class cutters were designed to replace the shorter 110-foot (34 m) Island-class patrol boats. Margaret Norvell is armed with a remote-control 25 mm Bushmaster autocannon and four crew-served M2HB .50-caliber machine guns. It has a bow thruster for maneuvering in crowded anchorages and channels. It also has small underwater fins for coping with the rolling and pitching caused by large waves. It is equipped with a stern launching ramp, like the Marine Protector class and the eight failed expanded Island-class cutters. It has a complement of twenty-two crew members. Like the Marine Protector class and the cancelled extended Island-class cutters, the Sentinel-class cutters deploy the Short Range Prosecutor rigid-hulled inflatable (SRP or RHIB) in rescues and interceptions. According to Marine Log, modifications to the Coast Guard vessels from the Stan 4708 design include an increase in speed from 23 to 28 knots (43 to 52 km/h; 26 to 32 mph), fixed-pitch rather than variable-pitch propellers, stern launch capability, and watertight bulkheads.
Margaret Norvell has an overall length of 153 feet 6 inches (46.79 m), a beam of 25 feet (7.6 m), and a displacement of 325 long tons (330 t; 364 short tons). Its draft is 9 feet 6 inches (2.90 m) and it has a maximum speed of over 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph). The Sentinel-class cutters have an endurance of five days and a range of 2,950 nautical miles (3,390 mi; 5,460 km).
Operational history
In October 2013, while her crew were undergoing training in Key West, Margaret Norvell intercepted two individuals who were using jet-skis, out in the Gulf Stream, whose craft was equipped with GPS navigation devices, extra water and extra fuel. The operators were stopped after a 45 minute chase, and were charged with "failure to heave to." The men were first seen heading south, and it was believed they were headed towards Cuba.
On December 6, 2015, the barge Columbia Elizabeth was proceeding to Puerto Rico with a cargo of shipping containers, when crew members noticed some were missing. She was diverted to the Port of Palm Beach where it was determined 25 shipping containers were missing. Margaret Norvell, and other elements of the Coast Guard, were assigned to look for the missing containers.
Namesake
The vessel is named after Margaret Norvell, who served as a lighthouse keeper for the United States Lighthouse Service, from 1891 to 1932.