POINT KNOLL, 1967
WPB 82367
Builder: J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp., Tacoma, WA
Commissioned: 27 June 1967
Decommissioned: 11 September 1991
Disposition: Transferred to Venezuela, 20 December 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 Knoll was stationed at New London, CT, from 1967 to 1991. She was used for law enforcement and search and rescue operations. In late November 1969, she monitored an oil spill from the Liberian tanker Hilda at New Haven, CT, and near Block Island.
She rescued three persons from the disabled P/C Kelly Girl after it reported being disabled and lost in the fog east of Fishers Island on 12 May 1979. The cutter, then under the command of LTJG Robert Ayers, hosted a visit by the Commandant, ADM John B. Hayes, and the Secretary of Transportation Drew Lewis in September of 1981. A Point Knoll boarding party boarded the 85-foot Colombian shrimp boat Presidente Olaya Herrera in September, 1981, arresting the crew and confiscating 15 tons of marijuana.
She participated in patrolling security zones during the launching and commissioning of US Navy submarines, including the 11 November 1981 commissioning of USS Ohio (SSBN-726) and the launching of USS Florida (SSBN-728) on 14 November that same year. She patrolled the 1983 America’s Cup as well as Statue of Liberty Centennial celebration and Operation Sail 1986 from 2 to 6 July 1986.
She served as the on-scene commander after the Barge E-24 dumped 840,000 gallons of oil off Fishers Island in November, 1985.
She was decommissioned on 11 September 1991 and was transferred to Venezuela.
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