POINT PARTRIDGE, 1960
WPB 82305
A point of land on Whidbey Island, Washington.
Builder: Coast Guard Yard, Curtis Bay, MD
Commissioned: 23 November 1960
Decommissioned: 27 March 1970
Disposition: Transferred to South Vietnam as Bui Viet Thanh on 27 March 1970
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 Partridge was stationed at Beals and West Jonesport, Maine, from 1960 to 1965. She was used for law enforcement and search and rescue operations.
She was assigned to CG Squadron One, Division 13, Vietnam, from February 1966 to March 1970. She was decommissioned and transferred to South Vietnam on 27 March 1970. She was renamed Bui Viet Thanh.
Nicknames:
"War Bird" (given by her crewmen during her Vietnam service).
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