Response Boat – Medium

The Response Boat – Medium (RB-M) is a 45-foot (14 m) utility boat used by the United States Coast Guard. It is a replacement for the Coast Guard's retired fleet of 41-foot (12 m) utility boats (UTB), which had been in use by the Coast Guard since the 1970s. On June 21, 2006 the USCG awarded the RB-M contract to Marinette Marine of Marinette, Wisconsin and Kvichak Marine Industries of Seattle, Washington. The RB-M was designed by Camarc Design in the UK. Between June of 2006 and March of 2015 Marinette, in Green Bay Wisconsin and Kvichak in Kent, Washington partnered to build and deliver 174 RB-Ms to the USCG. Kvichak developed and delivered several police boat variants to several cities including Seattle and New York.

A US Coast Guard RB-M underway off Yorktown, Virginia
Class overview
Builders
Operators
Preceded by41-foot Utility Boat, Large
Planned170
Completed174
General characteristics
Displacement16.3 ton
Length44 ft 9 in (13.64 m)
Beam14 ft 7.75 in (4.4641 m)
Draft3 ft 4 in (1.02 m)
Installed power2 × MTU Detroit Diesel turbocharged Series 60 engines, 825 hp (615 kW) total
Propulsion2 × Rolls-Royce FF-Series waterjets
Speed
  • 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) (cruise)
  • 42.5 knots (78.7 km/h; 48.9 mph) (max)
Range250 nmi (460 km; 290 mi) at 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement4
Armament2 × M240B general-purpose machine guns
The USCG Response Boat Medium (RBM) has replaced a fleet of 41-foot utility boats (UTBs) that averaged over 30-years of service[1]

In the summer of 2017, the Canadian Coast Guard purchased a used 45 RBM from the United States Coast Guard. It is based in Vancouver British Columbia under the name CCGS Laredo Sound.

According to the US Coast Guard, "While primarily a search and rescue asset when the 41' UTB was first fielded, the evolution of missions has increased the requirement to perform many missions including recreational boating safety, marine environmental protection, enforcement of laws and treaties, ports, waterways, and coastal security, and defense operations, including those traditional missions associated with Homeland Security."[2]

On March 17, 2015, the U.S. Coast Guard received the 174th and final RB-M into service.[3]

General characteristics

The boat has a deep-V, double chine hull, which provides a balance of performance and stability. The vessel is self-righting if it capsizes in rough seas. Below the pilot house are six compartments:

(Sources:[4][5])

Electronics

Hull numbering

In keeping with standard USCG practice, boats of this size have hull numbers and are not named. This type of boat has a hull number beginning with the length of the boat (45′) and then a sequential number. In the case of the RB-M boats, the hull numbers begin with 601. Thus the first boat will be RB-M 45601.

Boats
45602 underway at Cape Disappointment, Washington. August 7, 2008
USCG RB-M 45604 patrolling Lake Michigan at Gary, Indiana, during an airshow
Birds-eye view of a RB-M
BoatStationDelivery date
45601Little Creek, VirginiaMarch 2008
45602Cape Disappointment, WashingtonAugust 2008
45603Key West, FloridaOctober 2008
45604Milwaukee, WisconsinOctober 2008
45605Staten Island, New YorkDecember 2008
45606Port Aransas, TexasJanuary 2009
45607Yorktown, VirginiaFebruary 2009
45608Boston, MassachusettsMarch 2009
45609San Juan, Puerto RicoMay 2009
45610Staten Island, New YorkJuly 2009
45611Port Aransas, TexasJuly 2009
45612Staten Island, New YorkAugust 2009
45613Maui, HawaiiSeptember 2009
45614Staten Island, New YorkAugust 2009
45615Little Creek, VirginiaNovember 2009
45616Staten Island, New YorkDecember 2009
45617Cortez, FloridaNovember 2009
45618Galveston, TexasJanuary 2010
45619Honolulu, HawaiiMarch 2010
45620Castle Hill, Rhode IslandNovember 2009
45621Panama City, FloridaJanuary 2010
45622Staten Island, New YorkDecember 2009
45623St. Petersburg, FloridaJune 2010
45624Cleveland Harbor, OhioApril 2010
45625Lake Worth Inlet, FloridaJuly 2010
45626Belle Isle, MichiganApril 2010
45627Honolulu, HawaiiAugust 2010
45628Duluth, MinnesotaMay 2010
45629Castle Hill, Rhode IslandJune 2010
45630Galveston, TexasJune 2010
45631Fort Lauderdale, FloridaJuly 2010
45632Belle Isle, MichiganAugust 2010
45633Panama City, FloridaAugust 2010
45634Fort Pierce, FloridaSeptember 2010
45635Calumet Harbor, IllinoisSeptember 2010
45636New Orleans, LouisianaSeptember 2010
45640Annapolis, MarylandNovember 2010
45641Curtis Bay, MarylandNovember 2010
45643Los Angeles/Long Beach, CaliforniaDecember 2010
45645 Seattle, Washington January 2010
45651Los Angeles/Long Beach, CaliforniaMarch 2011
45652Los Angeles/Long Beach, CaliforniaMarch 2011
45664 Seattle, Washington June 2011
45658 Seattle, Washington August 2011
45690 Buffalo, New York May 2012
45703Essexville, MichiganOctober 2012
45723Youngstown, New YorkMay 2013
45745Hudgins, VirginiaFebruary 2014
45742Crisfield, Maryland
45749 Port Angeles, Washington
45754St. Joseph, MichiganMay 2014
45771Destin, Florida2015
45772Charleston, South Carolina2015
45773New Orleans, Louisiana2015
45774St. Petersburg, Florida2015

Sources:[6][7]

Media

RB-M 45771 at Station Destin, Florida was featured at Smarter Every Day channel [8]

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to USCG Response Boat-Medium.

References
  1. "Homeland Security Budget-in-Brief Fiscal Year 2009" (PDF). United States Department of Homeland Security. 2009. p. 60. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  2. "Response Boat – Medium Major Acquisition Project". United States Coast Guard.
  3. "Acquisition Update: U.S. Coast Guard Commemorates Final Response Boat-Medium Delivery". United States Coast Guard. March 18, 2015.
  4. "Response Boat-Medium: Project Profile". Acquisition Directorate. United States Coast Guard. 19 September 2013.
  5. "Response Boat-Medium Acquisition Project". Responseboat Project. Archived from the original on 2009-03-09.
  6. "RB-M: Acquisition Project History". United States Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 2010-03-10. Retrieved 2010-02-14.
  7. "Production Update". Responseboat Project. Archived from the original on 2009-03-10. Retrieved 2010-02-14.
  8. Why Jet Boats are AWESOME
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