![USCG Sailfish Roosevelt Is jeh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/USCG_Sailfish_Roosevelt_Is_jeh.jpg)
The Marine Protector class is a class of coastal
patrol boats
A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and the ...
of 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, mult ...
.
The 87-foot-long vessels are based on the
Stan 2600 design by
Damen Group
The Damen Group is a Dutch defence, shipbuilding, and engineering conglomerate company based in Gorinchem, Netherlands.
Though it is a major international group doing business in 120 countries, it remains a private family-owned company.
Dame ...
, and were built by
Bollinger Shipyards of
Lockport, Louisiana
Lockport is a town on Bayou Lafourche in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,490 in 2020. It is part of the Houma– Bayou Cane–Thibodaux metropolitan statistical area.
History
Lockport, founded in 1835, ...
. Each boat is named after sea creatures which fly or swim
[
The Coast Guard placed its original order in 1999 for 50 boats, which were delivered by mid-2002.][
]
Several additional orders brought the class to a total of 74 ships, with the last, , being completed in October 2009.[
]
Four additional vessels were built for Foreign Military Sales
The United States Department of Defense's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program facilitates sales of U.S. arms, defense equipment, defense services, and military training to foreign governments. The purchaser does not deal directly with the defens ...
, with two each going to Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
and Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
.[
]
In May 2021, The United States announced that it would be sending three ships to the Lebanese Navy
The Marine Protector class replaced the 82-foot . These older boats had one small and one large berthing area, and they had to stop for five or more minutes to deploy or retrieve their pursuit inflatable boat via a small crane. The last Point-class cutter was decommissioned in 2003.[
In 2020 the Department of Homeland Security proposed a budget for the Coast Guard for 2021 where 8 Marine Protector cutters would be decommissioned, as their missions could be taken by new Sentinel class cutters.][
]
General characteristics
Missions include combating drug smuggling, illegal immigration, marine fisheries enforcement and search and rescue
Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...
support. Since the September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
many have a homeland security
Homeland security is an American national security term for "the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive" t ...
mission in the form of ports waterways and coastal security (PWCS) patrols.[
Boarding parties can be launched while the vessel is underway, through the cutter's ]stern launching ramp
Some modern patrol vessels are equipped with a stern launching ramp, for deploying smaller rescue or pursuit boats without requiring the parent ship to first come to a halt.
Typically the smaller craft are powered by water-jets, and can dri ...
.[ The attached rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB) has been upgraded since the initial inception of this class of cutter, in an effort to increase speed and sea state sustainability for boarding parties and rescue and assistance teams. The stern launching system requires just a single crewmember to remain on deck to launch or retrieve the boarding party.
Their high-speed pursuit boat uses the same diesel fuel as the cutters.][
The cutters consume approximately 165 gallons of diesel per hour at their maximum speed of .
Like all new U.S. Coast Guard vessels, the Marine Protector class are designed to accommodate crews of mixed gender with five separate small berthing spaces accommodating standard crews of ten with maximum berthing for 12.][
and assigned to guard a ]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 ...
submarine base in Kings Bay, Georgia
Kings Bay Base is a census-designated place (CDP) in Camden County, Georgia, United States; it is home to the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base. The population was 1,777 at the 2010 census.
Geography
Kings Bay Base is located in southeastern Camden ...
, and and guard another submarine base in Bangor, Washington
Bangor Base is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kitsap County, Washington, within U.S. Naval Base Kitsap on the Kitsap Peninsula. Its population was 6,054 at the 2010 census.
Geography
Bangor is located north of the center of Kitsap County ...
, mount an additional machine gun, one operated by remote control.[
]
Boats in class
References
External links
Globalsecurity.org
- WPB 87' Marine Protector Class
U.S. Coast Guard: 87-foot Coastal Patrol Boat (WPB) - Marine Protector Class
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marine Protector class
Marine Protector-class coastal patrol boats,
Patrol vessels of the United States