POINT BARROW, 1966
WPB 82348
Builder: J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp., Tacoma, WA
Commissioned: 4 October 1966
Decommissioned: 7 June 1991
Disposition: Transferred to Panama, 7 June 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 Barrow was stationed at San Francisco, CA, from 1966 to 1980. She was used for law enforcement and search and rescue operations. In September 1967, she medevaced a patient from the Norwegian M/V Gausdal near San Francisco Lightship. On 3 June 1970, she helped fight fire on Alcatraz Island. On 23 April 1980, she towed the disabled pleasure craft Solaris 10 miles south of Farallon Island to San Francisco after it had been located by a Coast Guard aircraft.
From 1981 to 1991, she was stationed at Monterey, CA. On 21 March 1983, she assisted following the collapse of an 85-foot jack-up drill rig 5 miles southwest of Point Conception, CA.
Sources:
"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