Bollinger Shipyards LLC marked the commissioning of the USCGC Jeffrey Palazzo (WPC-1163) on September 14, 2026. The Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutter entered service during a ceremony at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City. Senior U.S. Coast Guard officials, members of the Palazzo family, and distinguished guests attended the event to witness the vessel’s official entry into the fleet.
What it means
The USCGC Jeffrey Palazzo joins the Coast Guard’s growing inventory of Fast Response Cutters, expanding the service’s capacity for maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, and homeland security missions. The vessel is named for Jeffrey Palazzo, a Machinery Technician 1st Class in the Coast Guard Reserve who served aboard the USCGC Cape Horn out of Station Rockaway. Palazzo was also a firefighter with the New York City Fire Department, working at Ladder Company 109 before transferring to Rescue Squad 5 in spring 2001. He died on September 11, 2001, while assisting civilians during the terrorist attacks.
Bollinger Shipyards has a long-standing relationship with the Coast Guard, having delivered more than 189 vessels over three decades. The shipyard previously honored Palazzo’s legacy through a March 2025 ceremony at its Lockport, Louisiana facility, where it received two pieces of steel from World Trade Center debris. Four retired Coast Guard Port Security Chiefs escorted the material from New York to Louisiana, where the Spirit of Louisiana fire truck transported it to the yard. Bollinger incorporated the steel into memorial plaques installed on both the USCGC Jeffrey Palazzo and the USCGC Vincent Danz (WPC-1162). Ben Bordelon of Bollinger Shipyards said, “It is an incredible honor to have built this vessel in his name.” The commissioning adds another platform to the Coast Guard’s modernization efforts, which include contracts for advanced defense systems such as those awarded to L3Harris for PAC-3 missile propulsion and other sensor production deals.
Key facts
- USCGC Jeffrey Palazzo (WPC-1163) commissioned September 14, 2026
- Ceremony held at Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, New York City
- Vessel is a Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutter
- Named for Coast Guard reservist and FDNY firefighter Jeffrey Palazzo
- Palazzo died September 11, 2001, during terrorist attacks
- Bollinger delivered over 189 vessels to Coast Guard in three decades
- World Trade Center steel incorporated into plaques on USCGC Jeffrey Palazzo and USCGC Vincent Danz (WPC-1162)
- Steel received at Bollinger’s Lockport, Louisiana facility in March 2025
Source: Bollinger Shipyards news release