POINT HERRON, 1961 (WPB 82318)

March 16, 2021
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POINT HERRON, 1961

WPB 82318


Builder:  Coast Guard Yard, Curtis Bay, MD 

Commissioned:  14 June 1961 

Decommissioned:  27 July 1991 

Disposition: Transferred to Mexico on 27 July 1991 

Length:  82’10” oa, 78’ bp 

Navigation Draft:  5’11” max (1960) 

Beam:  17’7” max 

Displacement:  69 fl; 60 light (1960) 

Main Engines:  2 Cummins diesel (see class history) 

BHP:  1,600 

Performance, Maximum Sustained:  18.0 kts, 542-mi radius (1,600 hp, 1963)
Performance, Economic:  9.4 kts, 1,500-mi radius (1,600 hp, 1963)

Maximum Speed:  22.9 kts (1963) 

Fuel Capacity:  1,840 gal 

Complement:  8 men (1960), 2 officers, 8 men (1965) 

Electronics:

Radar:  SPN-11, CR-103 (1960), or SPS-64 

Armament: 1 x 20mm (1960), 5 x .50 cal mg, 1 x 81 mm mortar (Vietnam service)


Class history—The 82-foot patrol boats have mild steel hulls and aluminum superstructures. Longitudinally framed construction was used to save weight.

These boats were completed with a variety of power plants. 82301 through 82313, 82315 through 82317, and 82319 through 82331 were powered by two Cummins 600-hp diesels. Boats 82318 and 82332 through 82379 received two Cummins 800-hp diesels. The 82314 was fitted with two 1,000-hp gas turbines and controllable-pitch propellers. The purpose of this installation was to permit the service to evaluate the propulsion equipment. All units were eventually fitted with the 800-hp diesels. Units remaining in 1990 were re-equipped with Caterpillar diesels.

WPB 82301 through 82344 were commissioned without names; at that time the Coast Guard did not name patrol craft shorter than 100 feet. In January 1964 they were assigned names.


Ship's history:

The Point Herron was stationed at Lewes, DE, from 1961 to 1964. She was used for law enforcement and search and rescue operations.

She was stationed at Cape May, NJ, in 1965.

She was stationed at Bay Shore, NY, from 1966 to 1981.

From 1982 on, she was stationed at Babylon, NY.


Sources:

Cutter History File.  USCG Historian's Office, USCG HQ, Washington, D.C.

"The 82-Foot Class Patrol Boat." U.S. Coast Guard Engineer's Digest No. 133 (Mar-Apr 1962), pp. 2-5.

Robert Scheina.  U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft, 1946-1990.  Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1990.