Hammerheads in Bimini
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Coast Guard Cutter Margaret Norvell anchored off the coast of Bimini, known as the “Gateway to the Bahamas.” U.S. Coast Guard photo
Norvell is one of a planned 58 Sentinel–class “Fast Response Cutters”, all named after USCG enlisted heroes. These 154-foot ships, built from a Dutch design, will replace the 40~ aging (and much smaller) Island-class 110-foot patrol boats, and bridge the gap on the final retirement of the 1960s era 210-foot Reliance-class cutters in coming years. They cost about 12 times as much as the smaller 87-foot Marine Protector class patrol boats, but are still a bargain at about $40 mill a pop. They can float in 10 feet of water, hit 28-knots if needed, can stay at sea for a week or 2950-nm whichever comes first, and have a much larger 24-man crew than the 110s they are replacing. This allows for more boardings and ashore details if required. The ship carries a 25mm chaingun for a hood ornament, four M2 heavy machine-guns and can mount other M2/Mk19/M240 guns as required.