52-foot Motor Lifeboat
{{Short description|Boat used by the U.S. Coast Guard}}
{{for|the wooden-hulled vessels (1935–1967)|52-foot Motor Lifeboat (Type F)}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=USCG 52 foot motor lifeboat Intrepid, 2009 11 18.png |Ship caption=The United States Coast Guard operates four 52 foot motor lifeboats in the Pacific Northwest. }} {{Infobox ship class overview |Name= 52' MLB |Builders= |Operators= |Class before= 52' MLB (Type F) |Class after= |Subclasses= |Cost= {{ShipCost|USA|236000|year=1962}} |Built range= 1956–1961 |In service range= 1956–2021 |In commission range= |Total ships building= |Total ships planned= |Total ships completed= 4 |Total ships active= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship displacement= 32 tons |Ship length={{convert|52|ft|m}} |Ship beam={{convert|14|ft|7|in|m}} |Ship draught={{convert|6|ft|11|in|m}} |Ship propulsion=2×GM 6-71, {{convert|170|hp|kW|abbr=on}} |Ship speed= 11 knots |Ship range= {{convert|495|nmi|km}} |Ship capacity=35 survivors + crew |Ship complement=5 |Ship sensors=Navigational radar |Ship EW= |Ship armament= |Ship notes= }} |
The United States Coast Guard operated four 52-foot Motor Lifeboats (MLBs), also known as "special purpose craft — heavy weather" (SPC-HWX), from 1956 until 2021. The 52' MLBs supplemented its fleet of 227 47-foot Motor Lifeboats.
{{cite news
| url = http://www.nxtbook.com/faircount/CoastGuardOutlook/USCG11/index.php?startid=190#/178
| title = America's Maritime Guardian
| publisher = "Coast Guard Outlook"
| date = 2011
| access-date = 2013-01-27
}}
These motor lifeboats were built in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and each displaces 32 tons.
{{cite news
| url = http://www.uscg.mil/d13/docs/factsheets/52.pdf
| title = 52-foot Motor Life Boat (MLB)
| publisher = United States Coast Guard
| access-date = 2012-11-10
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304105639/https://www.uscg.mil/d13/docs/factsheets/52.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead
}}
The four vessels were all stationed within the Graveyard of the Pacific in the Pacific Northwest. The vessels are remembered for the many lives they saved over 60 years of service in brutal ocean conditions. They were withdrawn from service in 2021 and laid up due to the difficulty of maintenance; procurement started in 2024 for their planned replacements (SPC-HWX II), which according to preliminary designs will be 64 feet long, overall.
Design and history
File:52-ft MLB line drawing.png
After World War II, reduced budgets meant the Coast Guard continued to use its two existing wooden 52' MLBs (Type F), which had been completed in 1935.{{cite web |url=https://www.uscg.mil/history/cutters/boats/docs/52FootWoodenHulledMLB.pdf |title=52-Foot Wooden-Hulled Motor Lifeboat |publisher=U.S. Coast Guard History Program |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921145220/https://www.uscg.mil/history/cutters/boats/docs/52FootWoodenHulledMLB.pdf |archive-date=September 21, 2015 |url-status=dead}} By the late 1950s, the wooden MLBs were starting to wear out and the Coast Guard built a set of steel 52' MLBs at Curtis Bay Yard to replace them, specifically designed for the high surf conditions encountered in the area known as the Graveyard of the Pacific, off the coast of the Pacific Northwest (Oregon and Washington state). The steel 52' MLBs feature an aluminum superstructure and a hull divided into seven watertight compartments; because of their relatively high cost of {{USD|250000|1956|round=-3}} each, only four were built. After entering service, the steering/rudder system was modified by removing the rudder guard, shortening the bilge keels, installing twin rudders, and adding a hydraulic power assist to the steering.
File:All four USCG 52 foot motor lifeboats.jpg
The Coast Guard bills the 52-foot MLBs, officially designated "special purpose craft – heavy weather" (SPC-HWX), as "virtually unsinkable", with self-righting and self-bailing capabilities and the ability to tow vessels as large as {{convert|750|LT}} in {{convert|30|ft|adj=on}} seas.{{cite web |url=https://www.pacificarea.uscg.mil/Portals/8/District_13/lib/doc/factsheet/station_yaquina_bay.pdf?ver=2017-06-15-151554-313 |title=Factsheet: Station Yaquina Bay |publisher=United States Coast Guard District 13 |access-date=24 October 2019}} In comparison, the next-largest 47' MLB has a towing capacity of {{convert|150|LT}}.{{cite news |url=https://coastguardnews.com/triumph-tows-disabled-dragger-through-deep-draft-bar/2017/12/10/ |title=Triumph tows disabled dragger through deep draft bar |date=December 10, 2017 |work=Coast Guard News |access-date=24 October 2019}} To increase their endurance and capabilities, the 52' MLB is equipped with a complete galley and a fire/salvage pump with {{convert|250|gal/min|abbr=on}} capacity.
On October 1, 2020, the fleet was placed on restricted status due to maintenance and safety concerns.{{Cite news |date=November 16, 2021 |title=Coast Guard to move Motor Lifeboat Invincible out of Grays Harbor |work=KXRO News Radio |url=https://www.kxro.com/coast-guard-to-move-motor-lifeboat-invincible-out-of-grays-harbor/ |access-date=January 13, 2023}} By that time, the 52-ft MLBs, each more than 60 years old, relied on custom built parts to stay operational. In November 2021, all four boats were towed to Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment and laid-up pending a decision on their future disposition.{{Cite news |last=Lipp |first=Kenneth |date=November 19, 2021 |title=Victory’s last voyage |work=Newport News Times |url=https://www.newportnewstimes.com/news/victory-s-last-voyage/article_9893acd8-48b8-11ec-ab73-cf36288f1fd9.html |access-date=January 13, 2023}} Their rescue duties were assumed by the smaller, newer 47-foot motor lifeboats.{{Cite web |last=Lockett |first=Michael S. |date=2022-12-28 |title=Coast Guard Funded for Replacing Motor Lifeboats, New Icebreaker |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/coast-guard-funded-for-replacing-motor-lifeboats-new-icebreaker,305950 |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=The Daily Chronicle |language=en}}
In December 2024, the Coast Guard released a Request for Proposal for the design and production of up to six "special purpose craft – heavy weather generation II" (SPC-HWX II) to replace the four 52-foot MLBs, and began planning for their retirement and decommisioning due to the difficulty of maintenance.{{cite press release |url=https://www.dcms.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/Assistant-Commandant-for-Acquisitions-CG-9/Newsroom/Latest-Acquisition-News/Article/3994745/coast-guard-issues-request-for-proposal-for-special-purpose-craft-heavy-weather/ |title=Coast Guard issues request for proposal for special purpose craft – heavy weather II |date=December 11, 2024 |publisher=Acquisition Directorate, United States Coast Guard}}
Vessels
File:Coast Guard 52-Foot Heavy Weather Motor Lifeboat Invincible II (51689483446).jpg
The 52' MLBs are the only vessels of the Coast Guard less than {{convert|65|ft}} in length to receive names,{{cite news |url=https://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-member-to-receive-national-recognition-for-at-sea-rescue/2017/08/10/ |title=Coast Guard member to receive national recognition for at sea rescue |date=August 10, 2017 |work=Coast Guard News |access-date=24 October 2019}} keeping with the tradition established by their wooden predecessors.
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;Notes
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See also
References
=Bibliography=
- {{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_u-s-coast-guard-magazine_1956-09_29_11/page/32/mode/2up |title=Yaquina Bay LBS Gets New 52-Foot Lifeboat |date=September 1956 |magazine=U. S. Coast Guard Magazine |volume=29 |issue=11 |pages=32–33}}
- {{cite journal |title=The New 52-Foot Motor Lifeboat |author=Clark, Malcolm E. |publisher=U.S. Coast Guard |journal=The Engineer's Digest |number=94 |date=September–October 1955 |pages=25–26 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b2892073&seq=305}}
- {{cite book |doi=10.5744/florida/978813033341.001.0001 |author=Wilkinson, William D. |title=American Coastal Rescue Craft: A Design History of Coastal Rescue Craft Used by the United States Life-Saving Service and the United States Coast Guard |date=2009 |isbn=9780813033341 |publisher=University of Florida Press |location=Gainesville, Florida}}
=Individual boats=
- {{cite web |url=http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Victory_52312.pdf |title=Victory, 1956: CG-52312 |publisher=United States Coast Guard |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110626142535/http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Victory_52312.pdf |archive-date=June 26, 2011 |url-status=dead}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Invincible_52313.pdf |title=Invincible II, 1960: CG-52313 |publisher=United States Coast Guard |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927171607/http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Invincible_52313.pdf |archive-date=September 27, 2012 |url-status=dead}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Triumph_52314.pdf |title=Triumph II, 1961: CG-52314 |publisher=United States Coast Guard |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927193219/http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Triumph_52314.pdf |archive-date=September 27, 2012 |url-status=dead}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Intrepid_52315.pdf |title=Intrepid, 1963: CG-52315 |publisher=United States Coast Guard |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927185326/http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Intrepid_52315.pdf |archive-date=September 27, 2012 |url-status=dead}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- {{cite web |url=https://www.44mlb.com/52-mlb.htm |title=52ft Motor Lifeboats |author=Lawford, Clive |website=44ft Motor Lifeboats}}
- {{cite web |url=http://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/public/coastguardyard.htm |title=U. S. Coast Guard Yard, Baltimore MD |date=May 21, 2011 |website=Shipbuilding History}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.trdring.com/motor-lifeboat-52ft.html |title=Motor Lifeboat (52ft.) |author=Dring, Tim R. |website=U.S. Life-Saving Service and U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Craft History}}