47- Foot Motor Lifeboat
Number: Approx. 100
Completed: 1991
Remarks:
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Cost: N/A
Hull
Displacement (lbs): 40,000
Length: 47’ (oa)
Beam: 14’ max
Draft: 4’ max
Machinery
Main Engines: N/A
BHP: N/A
Propellers: N/A
Performance
Max Sustained: 23 knots (1989)
Logistics
Fuel Oil (95%): N/A
Complement: 4 plus 5 survivors
Electronics
Radar: N/A
Design
The 47-foot MLB was designed to replace the aging 44-foot MLB as the primary inshore and surf and bar rescue craft under the worst environmental conditions. The craft is self-righting, designed to be operated in 20-foot seas and 20-foot surf.
The hull and the superstructure of the craft are made of aluminum. The hull form is a single chine, deep-V planning hull. The size was determined by existing station moorings, haulout facilities, and manning levels. The primary improvements over the 44-footer are increased speed, greater crew protection, and improved sea-keeping.
The production process called for the construction of a proto-type, five pre-production boats, and approximately 100 production models.
Images
Sources
Boat Files, U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office.
Scheina, Robert L. U.S. Coast Guard Cutters and Craft, 1946-1990. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1990.
Wilkinson, William D., and Timothy R. Dring. American Coastal Rescue Craft: A Design History of Coastal Rescue Craft Used by the United States Life-Saving Service and the United States Coast Guard. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2009.