POINT HURON, 1967
WPB 82357
Builder: J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp., Tacoma, WA
Commissioned: 17 February 1967
Decommissioned: 12 April 1999
Disposition: Transferred to Panama
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 Huron was stationed at Norfolk, VA. She was used for law enforcement and search and rescue operations. On 4 December 1967, she assisted after the barge Mohawk hit the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. On 15 June 1969, she refloated the grounded pleasure craft Miss Cindy in Great Machipongo Inlet. On 9 August 1969, she medevaed a crewman from M/V Ciudad de Barquisimet 185 miles east of Cape Henry. On 3 February 1970, she medevaced a crewman from the Polish F/V Kanaryjka to Norfolk. On 5 July 1970, she medevaced crewmen from M/V Clelia Campanella 2 miles off Cape Henry. On 8 July 1970, she towed the yacht Enterprise to Hampton Roads. On 26 July 1970, she medevaced a crewman from M/V Gulf Knight off Cape Henry. On 11 April 1987, she escorted F/V John Wills, which had caught a torpedo in its nets, to a disposal era.
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