On Oct. 24 at U.S. Coast Guard Base Seattle, the Guard commissioned the Florence Finch, the agency’s 57th Fast Response Cutter and the second of three planned FRCs expected to be homeported in Astoria, Ore.
Florence Finch crew members are expected to operate mainly in the Pacific Ocean, Puget Sound, Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Columbia River.
This FRC, made for various missions such as search and rescue, patrolling fisheries and other security activities, is named after Filipino-American Florence Ebersole Smith Finch, who was part of the World War II resistance.
During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, she worked to keep fuel away from the enemy, falsified papers so resistance members could get supplies and used her position to facilitate acts of sabotage, according to the Coast Guard.
She was arrested in 1944 and tortured and imprisoned until American forces freed the Philippines in 1945. After the war, Finch returned to the United States and joined the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves.
She received the Medal of Freedom in 1947, and the Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Ribbon.
“Florence Finch is a true Coast Guard and Filipino hero, and we couldn’t be prouder to honor her legacy,” Pacific Area Commander Coast Guard Vice Adm. Andrew Tiongson said, adding that the cutter is the only currently active U.S. military ship named after a Filipino-American.
