USCGC William Flores

USCGC *William Flores* (WPC-1103)
	Launch of William Flores
History
United States
Name	USCGC William Flores
Namesake	William Flores
Builder	Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana
Launched	29 November 2011
Acquired	15 August 2012
Commissioned	3 November 2012
Identification	MMSI number: 338926403; Callsign: NILB; Hull number: WPC-1103;
Motto	Courage in adversity
Status	in active service
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Sentinel-class cutter
Displacement	353 long tons (359 t)
Length	46.8 m (154 ft)
Beam	8.11 m (26.6 ft)
Depth	2.9 m (9.5 ft)
Propulsion	2 × 4,300 kW (5,800 shp); 1 × 75 kW (101 shp) bow thruster;
Speed	28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Range	2,500 nmi (4,600 km; 2,900 mi)
Endurance	5 days
Boats & landing ; craft carried	1 × Cutter Boat - Over the Horizon OTH-IV
Complement	4 officers, 20 crew
Sensors and ; processing systems	L-3 C4ISR suite
Armament	1 × Mk 38 Mod 2 25 mm automatic gun; 4 × Browning M2 .50 cal machine guns; Various small arms;

USCGC William Flores (WPC-1103) is a Sentinel-class cutter homeported in Coast Guard District 7, Miami, Florida.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Design

Like her sister ships, she is equipped for coastal security patrols, interdiction of drug and people smugglers, and search and rescue. Like the smaller Marine Protector class she is equipped with a stern launching ramp.^[4] The ramp allows the deployment and retrieval of her high speed water-jet powered pursuit boat without first coming to a stop. She is capable of more than 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) and armed with a remote controlled 25 millimetres (0.98 in) M242 Bushmaster autocannon; and four crew-served Browning M2 machine guns.

Operational history

On 1 April 2016, William Flores intercepted a small boat with twelve Cuban refugees on board.^[6] The refugees had gone off course, and had entered Bahamas territory.^{[citation needed]}

Namesake

She is named after Seaman Apprentice William Ray Flores who died during the sinking of USCGC Blackthorn. At the cost of his own life Flores stayed aboard the capsizing cutter and used his belt to tie open a life jacket locker door. This action allowed life jackets to float on to the water as the cutter went down. He further distributed life jackets to shipmates in the water.^[7] In November 2011 Flores was honored by having the third Coast Guard Sentinel-class cutter named after him.^[8]^[9]^[10]