Cape-class cutter

The Cape-class patrol boats were 95-foot (29 m) steel hull patrol boats with aluminum superstructures of the United States Coast Guard. They were unnamed until 1964, when they acquired names of U.S. capes of land. Originally designed for anti-submarine warfare (ASW), all 36 boats in this class were built at the United States Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland.

For other ships with the same name, see Cape class.
Cape Current (WPB-95307), a Type A Cape class patrol boat, in 1963.
Class overview
NameCape class (after 1964)
BuildersUnited States Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Baltimore
Operators United States Coast Guard
Preceded by83-foot patrol boat
Succeeded byIsland class cutter
Completed36
General characteristics [1]
Class and typePatrol boat
Displacement
  • Type A, 102 tons fully loaded
  • Type B, 105 tons fully loaded
  • Type C, 98 tons fully loaded [2]
Length95 ft (29 m)
Beam20 ft (6.1 m) max
Draft
  • Type A, 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
  • Type B, 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
  • Type C, as completed
Installed power
  • 4 Cummins VT-600 diesels (Types A, B, and C), 2200 hp;
  • after renovation, 2 Detroit 16V149 diesels, 2470 hp[2]
Propulsiontwin propellers
Speed
  • Types A & B, 20 knots max,
  • Type C, 22 knots max,
  • renovated, 24 knots[2]
Range
  • Cruising at 12 knots;
  • Type A,1,418 mi (2,282 km)
  • Type B, 1,700 mi (2,700 km)
  • Type C,1,780 mi (2,860 km)[2]
Complement15 (1961)
Sensors and
processing systems		SPS-64 radar (1987)
Electronic warfare
& decoys		retractable type sonar (Types A & B only)
Armament
  • Type A; 2 mousetrap depth charge racks, 2 20mm twin Oerlikon cannons, 2 .50 cal machine guns
  • Type B; 2 mousetrap depth charge racks, 1 40mm cannon, 2 .50 cal machine guns
  • Type C; 2 .50 cal machine guns, 2 40mm Mk 19 grenade launchers (1987)[2]

History

The Cape class was originally developed as an ASW boat and as a replacement for the aging, World War II vintage, wooden 83-foot patrol boats (83 feet (25 m) in length) that were used mostly for search and rescue duties.[2] With the outbreak of the Korean War and the requirement tasked to the Coast Guard to secure and patrol port facilities in the United States under the Magnuson Act of 1950, the complete replacement of the 83-foot boat was deferred and the 95-foot boat was used for harbor patrols.[1][3][4] The first 95-foot hulls were laid down at the Coast Guard Yard in 1952 and were officially described as "seagoing patrol cutters". Because Coast Guard policy did not provide for naming cutters under 100 feet (30 m) at the time of their construction they were referred to by their hull number only and gained the Cape-class names in 1964 when the service changed the naming criteria to 65 feet (20 m). The class was named for North American geographic capes.[5]

The Cape class was replaced by the 110-foot (34 m) Island class beginning in the late 1980s and many of the decommissioned cutters were transferred to nations of the Caribbean and South America by the Coast Guard.

Design

There were three sub-classes or types that evolved as missions for the boat changed.[1] The Type A was outfitted primarily for ASW. The Type B was fitted more for search and rescue (SAR) with the addition of scramble nets, a towing bitt, and a large searchlight. The Type C vessels were constructed with a deck house aft of the bridge.[2] Sixteen boats were overhauled as part of a renovation program began in the mid-late 1970s.

Units
Number Type Name Delivery Disposition
95300 A Cape Small 17 July 1953 To Marshall Islands 1987 as Ionmeto 2; sold 1992
95301 A Cape Coral 21 September 1953 Decommissioned 1987; disposition unknown
95302 A Cape Higgon 14 October 1953 To Uruguay 5 January 1990 as Colonia; decommissioned in 2022
95303 A Cape Upright 2 July 1953 To Bahamas 10 June 1989 as David Tucker (Hull Number P07); Decommissioned in 1996 and donated and sunk as an artificial reef in 1997 as part of Nassau's artificial reef program. A popular dive spot; it is located along an area known as Clifton Wall
95304 A Cape Gull 8 June 1953 Sold at auction to Fort Lauderdale businessman Dale Scutti who renamed her Robert Edmister in memory of a deceased friend; She was scuttled 11 December 1989 by five eight-pound dynamite charges administered by the Broward Sheriff's Office Bomb & Arson Unit. She now forms a part of the Broward County Artificial Reef Program.
95305 A Cape Hatteras 28 July 1953 To Mexico 1991 as Cabo Catoche; active
95306 A Cape George 10 August 1953 To Palau 10 June 1990
95307 A Cape Current 24 August 1953 To Bahamas 30 June 1989 as Austin Smith
95308 A Cape Strait 10 September 1953 Sunk 9 September 1993 as an artificial reef off Cape May, New Jersey
95309 A Cape Carter 7 December 1953 To Mexico 2 March 1990 as Cabo Corrientes; active
95310 A Cape Wash 15 December 1953 To US Navy, 1987 as Olympic Venture, PTB-951, retired c.2010; transferred to Sea Scout ship Intrepid in 2012
95311 A Cape Hedge 21 December 1953 To Mexico 27 April 1990 as Cabo Corzo; active
95312 B Cape Knox 13 June 1955 Decommissioned 1989; sold to Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in 1991 as Sirenian. Renamed Yoshka in 2006. Currently working for the Galapagos National Park.
95313 B Cape Morgan 5 July 1955 To Bahamas 20 October 1989 as Fort Fincastle; struck 1999
95314 B Cape Fairweather 18 July 1955 Decommissioned 1985; disposition unknown
95315 B La Crete a Pierrot 1 August 1955 To Haiti 1956; disposition unknown
95316 B Cape Fox 22 August 1955 To Bahamas 30 June 1989 as San Salvador II; struck 1999
95317 B Cape Jellison 7 September 1955 transferred to U.S. Navy; transferred to Boys and Girls Club of South San Francisco in 1993 and Sea Scouts as the Cape Hurricane SSS 906. Transferred to Sea Scouts as ship 145 SSS Challenger
95318 B Cape Newagen 26 September 1955 To Mexico 1982; reportedly transferred to US Naval Air Station, Point Mugu, California
95319 B Cape Romain 11 October 1955 transferred to US Navy 11 August 1989; transferred to Sea Scouts as ship 51 SSS Intrepid in 1993
95320 B Cape Starr 15 August 1956 Decommissioned 1987, active (pilot launch Toucan ) at Punta Arenas (Strait of Magellan); Chile; acquired by Transbordadora Austral Broom S.A. in 1995, Rebuild 2010.
95321 C Cape Cross 20 August 1958 To Micronesia 30 March 1990 as Paluwlap (FSM 03); active
95322 C Cape Horn 3 September 1958 To Uruguay January 1990 as Rio Negro; active
95323 C Cape Darby 3 October 1958 To South Korea 24 March 1969 as PB 11; struck 1984
95324 C Cape Shoalwater 9 December 1958 To Bahamas 30 June 1989 as Fenrick Stirrup, struck
95325 C Cape Florida 28 October 1958 To South Korea 13 November 1968 as PB 7; struck 1971
95326 C Cape Corwin 14 November 1958 To Micronesia 30 September 1990 as Constitution (FSM 04); active
95327 C Cape Porpoise 21 November 1958 To South Korea 13 November 1968 as PB 8; struck 1984
95328 C Cape Henlopen 5 December 1958 To Costa Rica 28 September 1989 as Astronauta Franklin Chang (SP 951); decommissioned 2006; sunk as an artificial reef the same year
95329 C Cape Kiwanda 28 April 1959 To South Korea 24 March 1969 as PB 12; struck 1984
95330 C Cape Falcon 12 May 1959 To South Korea 13 November 1968 as PB 9; struck 1984
95331 C Cape Trinity 26 May 1959 To South Korea 24 September 1968 as PB 10; struck 1984
95332 C Cape York 9 June 1959 To Bahamas 30 June 1989 as Edward Williams; struck ????; sunk as artificial reef Bahamas
95333 C Cape Rosier 23 June 1959 To South Korea 24 September 1968 as PB 3; struck 1984
95334 C Cape Sable 7 July 1959 To South Korea 24 September 1968 as PB 5; struck 1984
95335 C Cape Providence 21 July 1959 To South Korea 24 September 1968 as PB 6; struck 1984

See also

Notes
Footnotes
    Citations
    1. "Cape Henlopen, 1958 (WPB-95328)", Cutters, Craft & U.S. Coast Guard Manned Army & Navy Vessels, U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office
    2. Scheina, p 80
    3. Green, D.L.; "The 82-foot Class Patrol Boat", The Engineer's Digest, March–April 1962, Number 133, pp 2–5, U.S. Coast Guard
    4. Johnson, p 283
    5. Johnson, p 284

    References cited
    • Coast Guard Historian's official website. "Cape-Class 95-foot WPBs". U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
    • Green, LT D.L. (March–April 1962). "The 82-foot Class Patrol Boat". The Engineer's Digest. Number 133: 2–5. U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office.
    • Johnson, Robert Irwin (1987). Guardians of the Sea, History of the United States Coast Guard, 1915 to the Present. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis. ISBN 978-0-87021-720-3.
    • Scheina, Robert L. (1990). U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft, 1946-1990. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis. ISBN 978-0-87021-719-7.
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