The following is the text of a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard:
(PHILADELPHIA) — Adm. Paul F. Zukunft, commandant of the Coast Guard, presided over a ceremony Saturday commissioning the 19th fast response cutter, Rollin Fritch, in Cape May, N.J.
Rollin Fritch is named after Coast Guard Seaman 1st Class Rollin A. Fritch. During a kamikaze attack off of Luzon in the Philippine Islands during World War II, Fritch manned his gun while Japanese airplanes attacked the ship. Fritch remained at his station, firing his weapon to help save his shipmates, until a kamikaze plane collided with his position, ending his life. Fritch was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his selfless actions.
Rollin Fritch and crew are home-ported in Cape May, where they will perform multiple Coast Guard missions along the mid-Atlantic coast such as law enforcement, search and rescue and protecting America's infrastructure spanning from New Jersey to North Carolina and beyond.
