WPB 82' Point Class

The 82' patrol boat is the U.S. Coast Guard's platform for extended offshore search and rescue, law enforcement, military readiness, and pollution response.

The 82-foot Point Class Patrol boats were built in the 1960s and continue to prove themselves efficient and seaworthy vessels. The Point Class is named after coastal geographic Points in the United States and are all-purpose cutters. 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 82378 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.

Produced from 1960 to 1970, twenty-six 82' WPBs were transferred to South Vietnam in 1969-1970. Originally powered by Cummins V-12 diesels, all 82' WPBs now in USCG service were re-engined with Caterpillar V-12s in the late 1980s. Replacements by the new 87' Coastal Patrol Boats will continue through 2001.

Operating with 10 crewmembers, these cutters' major missions are Law Enforcement, Search and Rescue and Defense Operations. Thirty-seven 82-footers have been re-engined to increase their service life to 30 years.

These durable cutters are being replaced by the newly designed 87 foot Coastal Patrol Boats (CPB), the Marine Protector Class