USCGC Heriberto Hernandez (WPC-1114)

The USCGC Heriberto Hernandez is the 14th Sentinel class cutter delivered to the United States Coast Guard. Like five of her sister ships, her initial assignment will see her based in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Coast Guard decided to design all its new cutters, even its smallest, to be able to accommodate mixed sex crews. The Sentinels, and the smaller Marine Protectors, have berthing areas of various sizes, to make this possible. A Sentinel's complement is 22, and they are armed with a 25 mm Bushmaster autocannon, that can operated remotely, and four crew-served fifty caliber Browning Machine Guns. She is equipped with a sophisticated modern sensor suite, that can share data with other vessels. She is equipped with a stern launching ramp, that can deploy and retrieve the vessel's 7 meter high-speed jet-boat, even when the vessel is underway. Only a single crew-member is required to remain on deck to deploy or retrieve the jet-boat.

The vessel was commissioned in her home port, San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Friday October 16, 2015.

Namesake Heriberto Hernandez
Like all of the cutters of her class she is named after someone who served in the Coast Guard, or one of its three precursor services, the United States Revenue Cutter Service, the United States Lighthouse Service or the United States Lifeboat Service, who was recognized for their heroism.

Heriberto Hernandez lost his life when he was a fireman on board a Point Class cutter, the USCGC Point Cypress. The Point Cypress was patroling a river in South Vietnam, during the War in Vietnam, when he died. He received a posthumous Bronze Star for valor.