USCGC Lawrence Lawson is the 20th to be delivered to the United States Coast Guard. She was built at Bollinger Shipyards, in Lockport, Louisiana, and delivered to the Coast Guard, for her sea trials, on October 20, 2016. She was commissioned on March 18, 2017. She is the second cutter of her class to be the homeported at the Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May, New Jersey, and also the second to be stationed outside of the Caribbean.
Like her sister ships, Lawrence Lawson is primarily devoted to search and rescue, and interception of drug and people smugglers. The vessels are capable of a full speed of at least , and have a range of . The vessels are designed to support a crew of approximately two dozen, for missions of up to five days. The Sentinel-class cutters will replace the slightly smaller s.
Homeported in Cape May
The homeport of Lawrence Lawson and her sister ship, is the Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May. According to the Cape May County Herald local citizens welcome the Coast Guard presence, and its contribution to the local economy.
Operational history
Days after President Donald Trump announced he was making a large cut to the Coast Guard's budget the Coast Guard diverted Lawrence Lawson to Washington DC, where senior members of the military and Congress toured the vessel.
Namesake The vessel is named in honor of Lawrence O. Lawson, who served as the United States Lifesaving Service's stationkeeper in Evanston, Illinois on the shore of Lake Michigan. With the exception of Lawson, the lifesaving station was staffed entirely by students at Northwestern University. Among the many rescues launched from the station, Lawson was most acclaimed for leading a six-man surfboat crew through a blizzard on the night of November 28, 1889 to rescue the crew of the shipwrecked steamer Calumet. The eighteen crewmen aboard Calumet were brought safely ashore in three trips through heavy surf. Lawson and each of his crew of students were awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal.
In 2010, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Charles "Skip" W. Bowen, the U.S. Coast Guard's senior enlisted person at the time, lobbied for the new Sentinel-class cutters to be named after enlisted Coast Guardsmen, or personnel from its precursor services, who had distinguished themselves by their heroism.
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