Marine Protector-class patrol boat
The class leader USCGC Barracuda underway. Note the boat launching ramp at the stern. The fifty caliber machine guns mount on pintles, port and starboard, just forward of the red stripe. The black smudge in the hull abaft the superstructure is the exhaust of the port engine.
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Class overview | |
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Name | Marine Protector-class |
Builders | Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana |
Operators | United States Coast Guard |
In commission | 1998-present[1] |
Active | 73 |
General characteristics | |
Displacement | 91 lt |
Length | 87 ft (27 m) |
Beam | 19 ft 5 in (5.92 m) |
Draft | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) |
Propulsion | 2 x MTU diesels |
Speed | 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)+ |
Range | 900 nmi (1,700 km) |
Endurance | 5 days |
Complement | 10 |
Sensors and processing systems | 1 x AN/SPS-73 surface search radar |
Armament | 2 × .50 caliber M2 Browning machine guns |
Notes | [2] |
The Marine Protector-class is a class of coastal patrol boats of the United States Coast Guard. The 87-foot-long vessels are based on the Stan 2600 design by Damen Group, and were built by Bollinger Shipyards of Lockport, Louisiana. Each boat is named after a marine predator.
The Coast Guard placed its original order in 1999 for 50 boats, which were delivered by mid-2002.[3] Several additional orders brought the class to a total of 73 ships, with the last, USCGC Sea Fox, being completed in October 2009. [4][5] Four additional vessels were built for Foreign Military Sales, with two each going to Malta and Yemen.[6]
The Marine Protector class replaced the 82-foot Point class. These older boats had one small and one large berthing area, and they had to stop for five or more minutes to deploy or retrieve their pursuit inflatable boat via a small crane. The last Point-class cutter was decommissioned in 2003.[7][8]
General characteristics
Missions include combating drug smuggling, illegal immigration, marine fisheries enforcement and search and rescue support. Since the September 11, 2001 attacks many have a homeland security mission in the form of ports waterways and coastal security (PWCS) patrols.[9]
Boarding parties can be launched while the vessel is underway, through the cutter's stern launching ramp. The attached rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB) has been upgraded since the initial inception of this class of cutter, in an effort to increase speed and sea state sustainability for boarding parties and rescue and assistance teams. The stern launching system requires just a single crewmember to remain on deck to launch or retrieve the boarding party.
The cutters consume approximately 165 gallons of diesel per hour at their maximum speed of 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph).
Like all new US Coast Guard vessels the Marine Protector class are designed to accommodate crews of mixed gender with five separate small berthing spaces accommodating standard crews of ten with maximum berthing for 12.
Boats in class
References
- ^ Globalsecurity.org
- ^ "Coastal Patrol Boat" (PDF). USCG Acquisition Directorate. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
- ^ "Patrol Boat". Marine Talk. 1999-10-18. Archived from the original on 2009-10-10.
- ^
Keyon K. Jeff (2009-10-11). "Bollinger Shipyards delivers final Marine Protector-class CPB". Tri-Parish Times. Archived from the original on 2009-10-11.
We're very sad to see the Sea Fox leave. This contract was supposed to end at 51 vessels, and now we're at 75," said Christopher Bollinger, executive vice president of new construction. "We're excited to see the workmanship continue as we start the next contract for 36 boats.
- ^
"USCG Contract for Bollinger". Marine News. 2007-07. p. 8. Archived from the original on 2014-07-18. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
The Bollinger built CPBs are based on the Damen STAN 2600 design developed for the Hong Kong police.
{{cite news}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ "International Acquisition Programs". United States Coast Guard. 2009-12-15. Archived from the original on 2009-12-28.
- ^ "87-foot Coastal Patrol Boat (WPB) - Marine Protector Class". Marine Protector Class datasheet. US Coast Guard Historian's Office. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
- ^ “Last of the Class”, USCGC Point Brower Press release 28 March 2003, R/V Transquest.com website
- ^ http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg532/pwcs.asp
External links
- Globalsecurity.org - WPB 87' Marine Protector Class
- U.S. Coast Guard: 87-foot Coastal Patrol Boat (WPB) - Marine Protector Class