USCGC Point Garnet (WPB-82310) was an 82-foot (25 m) Point class cutter constructed at the Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay, Maryland in 1961 for use as a law enforcement and search and rescue patrol boat. Since the Coast Guard policy in 1961 was not to name cutters under 100-foot (30 m) in length, it was designated as WPB-82310 when commissioned and acquired the name Point Garnet in January 1964 when the Coast Guard started naming all cutters longer than 65-foot (20 m).[4][5]
Point Garnet was built to accommodate an 8-man crew.[6] She was powered by two 600 hp (447 kW) VT600 Cummins diesel main drive engines and had two five-bladed 42 in (1.1 m) propellers. The main drive engines were later replaced by 800 hp (597 kW) VT800 Cummins engines. Water tank capacity was 1,550 U.S. gallons (5,900 L) and fuel tank capacity was 1,840 U.S. gallons (7,000 L) at 95% full.[4][6] Engine exhaust was ported through the transom rather than through a conventional stack and this permitted a 360 degree view from the bridge; a feature that was very useful in search and rescue work as well as a combat environment.[7]
The design specifications for Point Garnet included a steel hull for durability and an aluminum superstructure and longitudinally framed construction was used to save weight. Ease of operation with a small crew size was possible because of the non-manned main drive engine spaces. Controls and alarms located on the bridge allowed one man operation of the cutter thus eliminating a live engineer watch in the engine room.[7] Because of design, four men could operate the cutter; however, the need for resting watchstanders brought the crew size to eight men for normal domestic service.[7] The screws were designed for ease of replacement and could be changed without removing the cutter from the water. A clutch-in idle speed of three knots helped to conserve fuel on lengthy patrols and an eighteen knot maximum speed could get the cutter on scene quickly.[8] Air-conditioned interior spaces were a part of the original design for the Point class cutter. Interior access to the deckhouse was through a watertight door on the starboard side aft of the deckhouse. The deckhouse contained the cabin for the officer-in-charge and the executive petty officer.[8] The deckhouse also included a small arms locker, scuttlebutt, a small desk and head. Access to the lower deck and engine room was down a ladder. At the bottom of the ladder was the galley, mess and recreation deck. A watertight door at the front of the mess bulkhead led to the main crew quarters which was ten feet long and included six bunks that could be stowed, three bunks on each side. Forward of the bunks was the crew's head complete with a compact sink, shower and commode.[8] Accommodations for a 13-man crew were installed for Vietnam service.[4][5][9][10]
Historyedit
After delivery in 1961, Point Garnet was assigned a homeport of Norfolk, Virginia, where she served as a law enforcement and search and rescue patrol boat.[4]
At the request of the United States Navy, in April 1965, she was alerted for service in South Vietnam and assigned to Coast Guard Squadron One in support of Operation Market Time along with 16 other Point class cutters.[11][12] While the crew completed overseas training and weapons qualifications at Coast Guard Island and Camp Parks, California, Point Garnet was loaded onto a merchant ship, and transported to Subic Bay, Philippines arriving in May 1965 where she was refitted for combat service.[4] Shipyard modifications included installation of new single-sideband radio equipment, additional floodlights, small arms lockers, bunks, additional sound-powered phone circuits, and the addition of 4 M2 machine guns. The original Oerlikon 20 mm cannon was replaced with a combination over-under .50 caliber machine gun/81mm trigger fired mortar that had been developed by the Coast Guard for service in Vietnam.[3][4][13][14] For service in Vietnam, two officers were added to the crew complement to add seniority to the crew in the mission of interdicting vessels at sea.[15]
Point Garnet was assigned to Division 11 of Squadron One to be based at An Thoi Naval Base on the southern tip of Phú Quốc island along with USCGC Point Banks, USCGC Point Clear, USCGC Point Comfort, USCGC Point Glover, USCGC Point Grey, USCGC Point Marone, USCGC Point Mast and USCGC Point Young. After sea trials, the Division left Subic Bay for An Thoi on 17 July 1965 in the company of USS Floyd County, their temporary support ship. After almost two weeks at sea, they arrived at their new duty station on 1 August and began patrolling the waters in the Gulf of Thailand near the Cà Mau Peninsula.[16] Duty consisted of boarding Vietnamese junks to search for contraband weapons and ammunition and check the identification papers of persons on board. During September 1965, USS Krishna, a repair ship outfitted for the repair of WPB's relieved the USS Floyd County. Also during this time, the WPB's were directed to paint the hulls and superstructures formula 20 deck gray to cover the stateside white paint. This increased the effectiveness of night patrols.[17]
On 16 May 1969 at Saigon Navy Base, Point Garnet was the second Squadron One cutter that was turned over to the Republic of Vietnam Navy as part of the Vietnamization of the war effort and she was recommissioned as RVNS Lê Văn Ngà (HQ-701).[1]
Cutler, Thomas J. (2000). Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis. ISBN978-1-55750-196-7.
Kelley, Michael P. (2002). Where We Were in Vietnam. Hellgate Press, Central Point, OR. ISBN978-1-55571-625-7.
Larzelere, Alex (1997). The Coast Guard at War, Vietnam, 1965-1975. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis. ISBN978-1-55750-529-3.
Scheina, Robert L. (1990). U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft, 1946-1990. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis. ISBN978-0-87021-719-7.
Scotti, Paul C. (2000). Coast Guard Action in Vietnam: Stories of Those Who Served. Hellgate Press, Central Point, OR. ISBN978-1-55571-528-1.
Wells II, William R. (August 1997). "The United States Coast Guard's Piggyback 81mm Mortar/.50 cal. machine gun". Vietnam Magazine. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
External linksedit
The Coast Guard's Vietnam Augusta State University website
March 16, 2024
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USCGC Point Garnet WPB 82310 was an 82 foot 25 m Point class cutter constructed at the Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay Maryland in 1961 for use as a law enforcement and search and rescue patrol boat Since the Coast Guard policy in 1961 was not to name cutters under 100 foot 30 m in length it was designated as WPB 82310 when commissioned and acquired the name Point Garnet in January 1964 when the Coast Guard started naming all cutters longer than 65 foot 20 m 4 5 HistoryUnited StatesNameUSCGC Point Garnet WPB 82310 OwnerUnited States Coast GuardBuilderCoast Guard Yard Curtis Bay MarylandCommissioned15 March 1961Decommissioned16 May 1969Honors andawardsNavy Unit Commendation 2 Vietnam Service Medal with 1 silver and 4 bronze service starsFateTransferred to Republic of Vietnam Navy as RVNS Le Văn Nga HQ 701 16 May 1969 1 General characteristicsTypePatrol Boat WPB Displacement60 tonsLength82 ft 10 in 25 25 m Beam17 ft 7 in 5 36 m maxDraft5 ft 11 in 1 80 m Propulsion2 600 hp 447 kW Cummins diesel enginesSpeed16 8 knots 31 1 km h 19 3 mph Range577 nmi 1 069 km at 14 5 kn 26 9 km h 16 7 mph 1 271 nmi 2 354 km at 10 7 kn 19 8 km h 12 3 mph ComplementDomestic service 8 men Vietnam service 2 officers 8 menArmament1961 1 Oerlikon 20 mm cannon Vietnam service 5 M2 Browning machine guns 1 81 mm M29 mortar 3 Contents 1 Construction and design details 2 History 3 References 4 External linksConstruction and design details editPoint Garnet was built to accommodate an 8 man crew 6 She was powered by two 600 hp 447 kW VT600 Cummins diesel main drive engines and had two five bladed 42 in 1 1 m propellers The main drive engines were later replaced by 800 hp 597 kW VT800 Cummins engines Water tank capacity was 1 550 U S gallons 5 900 L and fuel tank capacity was 1 840 U S gallons 7 000 L at 95 full 4 6 Engine exhaust was ported through the transom rather than through a conventional stack and this permitted a 360 degree view from the bridge a feature that was very useful in search and rescue work as well as a combat environment 7 The design specifications for Point Garnet included a steel hull for durability and an aluminum superstructure and longitudinally framed construction was used to save weight Ease of operation with a small crew size was possible because of the non manned main drive engine spaces Controls and alarms located on the bridge allowed one man operation of the cutter thus eliminating a live engineer watch in the engine room 7 Because of design four men could operate the cutter however the need for resting watchstanders brought the crew size to eight men for normal domestic service 7 The screws were designed for ease of replacement and could be changed without removing the cutter from the water A clutch in idle speed of three knots helped to conserve fuel on lengthy patrols and an eighteen knot maximum speed could get the cutter on scene quickly 8 Air conditioned interior spaces were a part of the original design for the Point class cutter Interior access to the deckhouse was through a watertight door on the starboard side aft of the deckhouse The deckhouse contained the cabin for the officer in charge and the executive petty officer 8 The deckhouse also included a small arms locker scuttlebutt a small desk and head Access to the lower deck and engine room was down a ladder At the bottom of the ladder was the galley mess and recreation deck A watertight door at the front of the mess bulkhead led to the main crew quarters which was ten feet long and included six bunks that could be stowed three bunks on each side Forward of the bunks was the crew s head complete with a compact sink shower and commode 8 Accommodations for a 13 man crew were installed for Vietnam service 4 5 9 10 History editAfter delivery in 1961 Point Garnet was assigned a homeport of Norfolk Virginia where she served as a law enforcement and search and rescue patrol boat 4 At the request of the United States Navy in April 1965 she was alerted for service in South Vietnam and assigned to Coast Guard Squadron One in support of Operation Market Time along with 16 other Point class cutters 11 12 While the crew completed overseas training and weapons qualifications at Coast Guard Island and Camp Parks California Point Garnet was loaded onto a merchant ship and transported to Subic Bay Philippines arriving in May 1965 where she was refitted for combat service 4 Shipyard modifications included installation of new single sideband radio equipment additional floodlights small arms lockers bunks additional sound powered phone circuits and the addition of 4 M2 machine guns The original Oerlikon 20 mm cannon was replaced with a combination over under 50 caliber machine gun 81mm trigger fired mortar that had been developed by the Coast Guard for service in Vietnam 3 4 13 14 For service in Vietnam two officers were added to the crew complement to add seniority to the crew in the mission of interdicting vessels at sea 15 Point Garnet was assigned to Division 11 of Squadron One to be based at An Thoi Naval Base on the southern tip of Phu Quốc island along with USCGC Point Banks USCGC Point Clear USCGC Point Comfort USCGC Point Glover USCGC Point Grey USCGC Point Marone USCGC Point Mast and USCGC Point Young After sea trials the Division left Subic Bay for An Thoi on 17 July 1965 in the company of USS Floyd County their temporary support ship After almost two weeks at sea they arrived at their new duty station on 1 August and began patrolling the waters in the Gulf of Thailand near the Ca Mau Peninsula 16 Duty consisted of boarding Vietnamese junks to search for contraband weapons and ammunition and check the identification papers of persons on board During September 1965 USS Krishna a repair ship outfitted for the repair of WPB s relieved the USS Floyd County Also during this time the WPB s were directed to paint the hulls and superstructures formula 20 deck gray to cover the stateside white paint This increased the effectiveness of night patrols 17 On 16 May 1969 at Saigon Navy Base Point Garnet was the second Squadron One cutter that was turned over to the Republic of Vietnam Navy as part of the Vietnamization of the war effort and she was recommissioned as RVNS Le Văn Nga HQ 701 1 References editNotes a b Scotti p187 Navy Unit Commendation Mobile Riverine Force Association Archived from the original on 22 January 2002 Retrieved 16 May 2011 a b William R Wells II The United States Coast Guard s Piggyback 81mm Mortar 50 cal machine gun Vietnam Magazine August 1997 a b c d e f Coast Guard Historian website a b Scheina p 72 a b Scheina p 71 a b c Scotti p 165 a b c Scotti p 166 Scotti p 10 Scotti p 219 Larzelere p 72 Cutler p 84 Larzelere p 21 Cutler p 82 Larzelere p 15 Larzelere50 p50 Larzelere54 p54 BibliographyCutler Thomas J 2000 Brown Water Black Berets Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam Naval Institute Press Annapolis ISBN 978 1 55750 196 7 Kelley Michael P 2002 Where We Were in Vietnam Hellgate Press Central Point OR ISBN 978 1 55571 625 7 Larzelere Alex 1997 The Coast Guard at War Vietnam 1965 1975 Naval Institute Press Annapolis ISBN 978 1 55750 529 3 Scheina Robert L 1990 U S Coast Guard Cutters amp Craft 1946 1990 Naval Institute Press Annapolis ISBN 978 0 87021 719 7 Scotti Paul C 2000 Coast Guard Action in Vietnam Stories of Those Who Served Hellgate Press Central Point OR ISBN 978 1 55571 528 1 Wells II William R August 1997 The United States Coast Guard s Piggyback 81mm Mortar 50 cal machine gun Vietnam Magazine Retrieved 8 October 2010 External links editThe Coast Guard s Vietnam Augusta State University website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title USCGC Point Garnet amp oldid 1172766308, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
