USCGC Winslow Griesser (WPC-1116) was the sixteenth cutter to be delivered.She is the fourth of six Sentinel-class vessels to be stationed in San Juan, Puerto Rico.Bollinger shipyards delivered her to the United States Coast Guard, in Key West, Florida, on December 23, 2015.After she completed her acceptance trials, she was commissioned on March 11, 2016.
The Winslow Griesser participated in the multi-nation training exercise known as Tradewinds 2017 in June 2017.
On August 8, 2022, the Winslow Griesser collided with the center console boat Desakata off of Dorado, Puerto Rico, causing the death of a fisherman in the smaller boat. The National Transportation Safety Board attributed the crash to neither vessel's crew seeing the other, and found that neither crew was "maintaining a proper lookout." A separate Coast Guard investigation found that the Desakata should have yielded the right of way to the Winslow Griesser, but that the cutter's crew could have prevented the incident if they had maintained a better lookout. As a result of the incident, the Winslow Griesser's commanding officer was relieved of his command.[1] [2]
Like all the vessels in her class, Winslow Griesser is named after an individual from the Coast Guard's past who has been recognized as a hero.Winslow W. Griesser was the keeper of the United States Lifesaving Service's Buffalo Station, in 1900.When he and his crew ventured out in stormy weather to rescue the crew of two scows they saw had overturned, their own surfboat overturned. Nevertheless, Griesser and a companion tried to swim out, with a tow rope, to rescue survivors who were clinging tenuously to a pile. Griesser's companion was injured, and Griesser continued, alone. He reached the pile, and with great difficulty did rescue the sole remaining survivor. Griesser received the Gold Lifesaving Medal to recognize his exceptional bravery in this rescue.