The

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, multi ...

wooden-hulled 75-foot patrol boats (also called "Six-Bitters") were built during Prohibition to help interdict alcohol smugglers ("

rum runners Rum-running or bootlegging is the illegal business of smuggling alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law. Smuggling usually takes place to circumvent taxation or prohibition laws within a particular jurisdiction. The te ...

"). Their nickname was derived from the slang term "six bits" meaning 75 U.S. cents.

Design and construction

During Prohibition, the U.S. Coast Guard had a need for picket boats to help intercept smugglers ferrying alcohol from offshore freighters to the mainland. The Coast Guard response was to develop a two-tiered plan. Larger cutters were to be stationed offshore to find "mother ships" and interdict them if they strayed inside U.S. territorial waters (mother ships were in almost all cases of foreign registry and could not be boarded while in international waters) while smaller, faster patrol boats were used as picket ships to intercept high speed boats or "rum-runners" that made the transfer of contraband to the shore. The Coast Guard developed the 75-foot patrol boat to serve the offshore role and the 36-foot picket boat to serve the inshore role. A basic design for these ships was developed by naval architect Alfred Hansen of the Coast Guard Office of Construction and Repair and then the final design was completed in April 1924 by naval architect John Trumpy of the Mathis Yacht Building Company in

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. Trumpy also designed ''Sequoia II'', which later became the official U.S. presidential yacht. ''Sequoia II'' was completed soon after the Mathis Yacht Building Company finished construction of thirty Six-Bitters for the Coast Guard. The patrol vessels were designed to be operated by a crew of eight and were able to carry enough provisions and fuel for up to a week at sea. The frames and 5.75-inch keel were white oak, while the bulwarks and 1.375-inch planking were either fir or yellow pine. To speed construction, the hull contracts were divided between sixteen commercial shipyards (which built 200 boats) and the

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(which built three boats). The hulls were unnamed, but instead assigned numbers from CG-100 through CG-302. Hull prices varied from $18,675 to $26,900 depending on shipyard. The six-cylinder gasoline engines (two per boat) were purchased by the Coast Guard from the Sterling Engine Company of

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for $4,129 each. Although slower than most rumrunners at 15 knots, the class was well-designed, durable, and able to remain on patrol for days. 75ft Coast Guard Patrol Boat

''CG-100'' was completed first and commissioned on 21 October 1924. ''CG-302'' was completed last and commissioned on 18 July 1925. All 203 patrol boats were put into service over a nine-month period, at an average of five per week.

Service history

Twenty-five Six-Bitters were built in West Coast shipyards and deployed along the Pacific Coast. Another twenty-five patrol boats were built in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

and intended for deployment on the Great Lakes. The remaining boats were built in East Coast shipyards and most of these were deployed along the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts. After the end of Prohibition, forty-six of the Six-Bitters were transferred to the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

in 1934. They were redesignated as yard patrol craft and assigned new numbers ranging between YP-5 and YP-67. About fourteen patrol boats were transferred to other federal government agencies. Some were sold and others continued in active service through the end of World War II. The last remaining Six-Bitter in Coast Guard service was sold in 1946. The last remaining patrol boat in Navy service was sold in 1947.

Shipyards

Gallery

Image:U.S._Coast_Guard_75-ft._Patrol_Boat_CG-262_towing_into_San_Francisco_Harbor_seized_tug_ELCISCO_and_barge_REDWOOD_CITY.jpg, ''CG-262'' with seized tug ''Elcisco'' and barge ''Redwood City'' docked in San Francisco Harbor, 1927.

References

Sources

* {{USCG , article = Rum War: The U.S. Coast Guard and Prohibition (Coast Guard Bicentennial Series) , url=https://media.defense.gov/2017/Jul/01/2001772272/-1/-1/0/RUMWAR.PDF

External links

Oh, Mr. Volstead, what have you done?
Ships of the United States Coast Guard Patrol boat classes Yard patrol boats of the United States Navy