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POINT NOWELL, 1967 (WPB 82363)

March 17, 2021
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POINT NOWELL, 1967

WPB 82363


Builder:  J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp., Tacoma, WA 

Commissioned:  13 June 1967 

Decommissioned:  15 October 1999 

Disposition:  Transferred to Jamaica, 15 October 1999 

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 Nowell was stationed at Port Isabel, TX, from 1967 on. She was used for law enforcement and search and rescue operations. On 4 September 1967, she towed the distressed F/V Guppy from 30 miles south of Port Isabel to that port. On 25 May 1968, she towed the disabled F/V Girtie L 58 miles south of Port Aransas, TX, to Port Isabel. On 25 February 1970, she towed the disabled M/V Sally 120 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, TX, to safety.


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