Cape-class cutter

{{Short description|Type of U.S. Coast Guard cutter}}

{{Other ships|Cape class (disambiguation){{!}}Cape class}}

{{Infobox ship begin |sclass=2}}

{{Infobox ship image

|Ship image=Cape Current WPB-95307 underway 1963.jpg

|Ship caption=Cape Current (WPB-95307), a Type A Cape class patrol boat, in 1963.

}}

{{Infobox ship class overview

|Name=Cape class (after 1964)

|Builders=United States Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Baltimore

|Operators={{coast guard|United States}}

|Class before=83-foot patrol boat

|Class after=Island class cutter

|Subclasses=

|Cost=

|Built range=

|In service range=

|In commission range=

|Total ships building=

|Total ships planned=

|Total ships completed=36

|Total ships cancelled=

|Total ships active=

|Total ships laid up=

|Total ships lost=

|Total ships retired=

|Total ships scrapped=

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}}

{{Infobox ship characteristics

|Hide header=

|Header caption=

|Ship class=Patrol boat

|Ship type=

|Ship tonnage=

|Ship displacement=*Type A, 102 tons fully loaded

  • Type B, 105 tons fully loaded
  • Type C, 98 tons fully loaded Scheina, p 80

|Ship length={{convert|95|ft|abbr=on}}

|Ship beam={{convert|20|ft|abbr=on}} max

|Ship height=

|Ship draft=*Type A, {{convert|6|ft|4|in|abbr=on}}

  • Type B, {{convert|6|ft|5|in|abbr=on}}
  • Type C, as completed

|Ship depth=

|Ship ice class=

|Ship power=*4 Cummins VT-600 diesels (Types A, B, and C), 2200 hp;

  • after renovation, 2 Detroit 16V149 diesels, 2470 hp

|Ship propulsion= twin propellers

|Ship speed=*Types A & B, 20 knots max,

  • Type C, 22 knots max,
  • renovated, 24 knots

|Ship range=*Cruising at 12 knots;

  • Type A,{{convert|1418|mi|km|abbr=on}}
  • Type B, {{convert|1700|mi|km|abbr=on}}
  • Type C,{{convert|1780|mi|km|abbr=on}}

|Ship endurance=

|Ship boats=

|Ship capacity=

|Ship troops=

|Ship complement=15 (1961)

|Ship crew=

|Ship time to activate=

|Ship sensors=SPS-64 radar (1987)

|Ship EW=retractable type sonar (Types A & B only)

|Ship armament=*Type A; 2 mousetrap depth charge racks, 2 20mm twin Oerlikon cannons, 2 .50 cal machine guns

  • Type B; 2 mousetrap depth charge racks, 1 40mm cannon, 2 .50 cal machine guns
  • Type C; 2 .50 cal machine guns, 2 40mm Mk 19 grenade launchers (1987)

|Ship armor=

|Ship aircraft=

|Ship aircraft facilities=

|Ship notes=

}}

The Cape-class patrol boats were {{convert|95|ft|m|adj=on}} steel hull patrol boats with aluminum superstructures of the United States Coast Guard. They were unnamed until 1964, when they acquired names of U.S. capes of land. Originally designed for anti-submarine warfare (ASW), all 36 boats in this class were built at the United States Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland.

History

The Cape class was originally developed as an ASW boat and as a replacement for the aging, World War II vintage, wooden 83-foot patrol boats ({{convert|83|ft|m}} in length) that were used mostly for search and rescue duties. With the outbreak of the Korean War and the requirement tasked to the Coast Guard to secure and patrol port facilities in the United States under the Magnuson Act of 1950, the complete replacement of the 83-foot boat was deferred and the 95-foot boat was used for harbor patrols."Cape Henlopen, 1958 (WPB-95328)", Cutters, Craft & U.S. Coast Guard Manned Army & Navy Vessels, U.S. Coast Guard Historian's OfficeGreen, D.L.; "The 82-foot Class Patrol Boat", The Engineer's Digest, March–April 1962, Number 133, pp 2–5, U.S. Coast GuardJohnson, p 283 The first 95-foot hulls were laid down at the Coast Guard Yard in 1952 and were officially described as "seagoing patrol cutters". Because Coast Guard policy did not provide for naming cutters under {{convert|100|feet|m|}} at the time of their construction they were referred to by their hull number only and gained the Cape-class names in 1964 when the service changed the naming criteria to {{convert|65|feet|m|}}. The class was named for North American geographic capes.Johnson, p 284

File:ROU Rio Negro.jpg

The Cape class was replaced by the {{convert|110|ft|m|adj=on}} {{sclass2|Island|cutter|4}} beginning in the late 1980s and many of the decommissioned cutters were transferred to nations of the Caribbean and South America by the Coast Guard.

Design

There were three sub-classes or types that evolved as missions for the boat changed. The Type A was outfitted primarily for ASW. The Type B was fitted more for search and rescue (SAR) with the addition of scramble nets, a towing bitt, and a large searchlight. The Type C vessels were constructed with a deck house aft of the bridge. Sixteen boats were overhauled as part of a renovation program began in the mid-late 1970s.

Units

class="sortable wikitable"
Number

! Type

! Name

! Delivery

! Disposition

95300

|A

|Cape Small

|17 July 1953

|To Marshall Islands 1987 as Ionmeto 2; sold 1992

95301

|A

|Cape Coral

|21 September 1953

|Decommissioned 1987; disposition unknown

95302

|A

|Cape Higgon

|14 October 1953

|To Uruguay 5 January 1990 as Colonia; decommissioned in 2022

95303

|A

|Cape Upright

|2 July 1953

|To Bahamas 10 June 1989 as David Tucker (Hull Number P07); Decommissioned in 1996 and donated and sunk as an artificial reef in 1997 as part of Nassau's artificial reef program. A popular dive spot; it is located along an area known as Clifton Wall

95304

|A

|Cape Gull

|8 June 1953

|Sold at auction to Fort Lauderdale businessman Dale Scutti who renamed her Robert Edmister in memory of a deceased friend; She was scuttled 11 December 1989 by five eight-pound dynamite charges administered by the Broward Sheriff's Office Bomb & Arson Unit. She now forms a part of the Broward County Artificial Reef Program.

95305

|A

|Cape Hatteras

|28 July 1953

|To Mexico 1991 as Cabo Catoche; active

95306

|A

|Cape George

|10 August 1953

|To Palau 10 June 1990

95307

|A

|Cape Current

|24 August 1953

|To Bahamas 30 June 1989 as Austin Smith

95308

|A

|Cape Strait

|10 September 1953

|Sunk 9 September 1993 as an artificial reef off Cape May, New Jersey

95309

|A

|Cape Carter

|7 December 1953

|To Mexico 2 March 1990 as Cabo Corrientes; active

95310

|A

|Cape Wash

|15 December 1953

|To U.S. Navy, 1987 as Olympic Venture, PTB-951, retired c.2010; transferred to Sea Scout ship Intrepid in 2012; transferred to Sea Scout Ship Terrapin in 2022.

95311

|A

|Cape Hedge

|21 December 1953

|To Mexico 27 April 1990 as Cabo Corzo; active

95312

|B

|Cape Knox

|13 June 1955

|Decommissioned 1989; sold to Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in 1991 as Sirenian. Renamed Yoshka in 2006. Currently working for the Galapagos National Park.

95313

|B

|Cape Morgan

|5 July 1955

|To Bahamas 20 October 1989 as Fort Fincastle; struck 1999

95314

|B

|Cape Fairweather

|18 July 1955

|Decommissioned 1985; disposition unknown

95315

|B

|La Crete a Pierrot

|1 August 1955

|To Haiti 1956; disposition unknown

95316

|B

|Cape Fox

|22 August 1955

|To Bahamas 30 June 1989 as San Salvador II; struck 1999

95317

|B

|Cape Jellison

|7 September 1955

|transferred to U.S. Navy; transferred to Boys and Girls Club of South San Francisco in 1993 and Sea Scouts as the Cape Hurricane SSS 906. Transferred to Sea Scouts as ship 145 SSS Challenger [http://ship145.org]

95318

|B

|Cape Newagen

|26 September 1955

|To Mexico 1982; reportedly transferred to U.S. Naval Air Station, Point Mugu, California

95319

|B

|Cape Romain

|11 October 1955

|transferred to U.S. Navy 11 August 1989; transferred to Sea Scouts as ship 51 SSS Intrepid [http://www.sssintrepid.org] in 1993. Scrapped at Lind Marine in Mare Island, Vallejo, California in 2022.

95320

|B

|Cape Starr

|15 August 1956

|Decommissioned 1987, active (pilot launch Toucan [https://web.archive.org/web/20100216083018/http://www.tabsa.cl/Eng/Html/Pilots.php]) at Punta Arenas (Strait of Magellan); Chile; acquired by Transbordadora Austral Broom S.A. in 1995, Rebuild 2010.

95321

|C

|Cape Cross

|20 August 1958

|To Micronesia 30 March 1990 as Paluwlap (FSM 03); active

95322

|C

|Cape Horn

|3 September 1958

|To Uruguay January 1990 as Rio Negro; active

95323

|C

|Cape Darby

|3 October 1958

|To South Korea 24 March 1969 as PB 11; struck 1984

95324

|C

|Cape Shoalwater

|9 December 1958

|To Bahamas 30 June 1989 as Fenrick Stirrup, struck

95325

|C

|Cape Florida

|28 October 1958

|To South Korea 13 November 1968 as PB 7; struck 1971

95326

|C

|Cape Corwin

|14 November 1958

|To Micronesia 30 September 1990 as Constitution (FSM 04); active

95327

|C

|Cape Porpoise

|21 November 1958

|To South Korea 13 November 1968 as PB 8; struck 1984

95328

|C

|Cape Henlopen

|5 December 1958

|To Costa Rica 28 September 1989 as Astronauta Franklin Chang (SP 951); decommissioned 2006; sunk as an artificial reef the same year

95329

|C

|Cape Kiwanda

|28 April 1959

|To South Korea 24 March 1969 as PB 12; struck 1984

95330

|C

|Cape Falcon

|12 May 1959

|To South Korea 13 November 1968 as PB 9; struck 1984

95331

|C

|Cape Trinity

|26 May 1959

|To South Korea 24 September 1968 as PB 10; struck 1984

95332

|C

|Cape York

|9 June 1959

|To Bahamas 30 June 1989 as Edward Williams; struck ????; sunk as artificial reef Bahamas [https://web.archive.org/web/20110728035429/http://www.skin-diver.com/bahamas01/diving.html]

95333

|C

|Cape Rosier

|23 June 1959

|To South Korea 24 September 1968 as PB 3; struck 1984

95334

|C

|Cape Sable

|7 July 1959

|To South Korea 24 September 1968 as PB 5; struck 1984

95335

|C

|Cape Providence

|21 July 1959

|To South Korea 24 September 1968 as PB 6; struck 1984

See also

Notes

;Footnotes

{{reflist|group=Note}}

;Citations

{{Reflist|2}}

References cited

{{refbegin}}

  • {{cite web |last=Coast Guard Historian's official website |title=Cape-Class 95-foot WPBs |publisher=U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office |url=http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/CapeClassWPBIndex.asp |accessdate=8 September 2012}}
  • {{cite journal |last=Green |first=LT D.L. |title=The 82-foot Class Patrol Boat |journal=The Engineer's Digest |date=March–April 1962 |volume=133 |pages=2–5}} U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office.
  • {{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Robert Irwin |year=1987 |title=Guardians of the Sea, History of the United States Coast Guard, 1915 to the Present |publisher=Naval Institute Press, Annapolis |isbn=978-0-87021-720-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/guardiansofseahi00john}}
  • {{cite book |last=Scheina |first=Robert L. |year=1990 |title=U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft, 1946-1990 |publisher=Naval Institute Press, Annapolis |isbn=978-0-87021-719-7}}

{{refend}}