POINT VERDE, 1961
WPB 82311
Builder: Coast Guard Yard, Curtis Bay, MD
Commissioned: 15 March 1961
Decommissioned: 12 June 1991
Disposition: Transferred to Mexico, 19 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: 1,200
Performance, Maximum Sustained: 14.5 kts, 577-mi radius (1,200 hp, 1960)
Performance, Economic: 10.7 kts, 1,271-mi radius (1,200 hp, 1960)
Maximum Speed: 16.8 kts (1960)
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 Verde was stationed at Venice, LA, from 1961 to 1968. She was used for law enforcement and search and rescue operations. She assisted in cleanup operations in the Gulf of Mexico, following Hurricane Betsy in September 1965. In mid-November 1965, she escorted a raised barge carrying chlorine to a chemical plant. On 15 June 1966, she escorted the Norwegian M/V Sage Sky to Southwest Pass after she had struck a submerged object. On 26 February 1967, she removed two seamen from M/V Ashley Lykes near Southwest Pass following a knife fight. On 2 April 1967, she escorted the disabled F/V Lovie D. to South Pass. On 30 October 1967, she medevaced a passenger from M/V Bashkara Jayanti 380 miles southeast of New Orleans. On 25 December 1967, she assisted in fighting fire on M/V Gulf Supreme at Ostrica, LA. On 30 October 1968, she towed a disabled 19-foot pleasure craft near Mobile Point to Dauphin Island. On 13 January 1969, she sustained a fire while in dry dock at New Orleans. From 1969 to 1979, she was stationed at Dauphin Island, LA.
From 1980 to 1991, she was stationed at Pensacola, FL.
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