Point - class cutter The United States Coast Guard Point - class cutters were a class of 82 - foot patrol vessels designed to replace the aging 83 - foot wooden hull patrol boat being used at the time . The design utilized a mild steel hull and an aluminum superstructure . The Coast Guard Yard discontinued the building of the 95 - foot Cape - class cutter in order to have the capacity to produce the 82 - foot Point - class patrol boat in 1960 . They served as patrol vessels used in law enforcement and search and rescue along the coasts of the United States and the Caribbean . They were replaced by the 87 - foot Marine Protector - class coastal patrol boat s beginning in the late 1990s . Naming the class . Following the Coast Guard custom in place in 1960 of not naming vessels under 100 feet in length , the first 44 Point - class patrol boats were only identified by their hull number using the scheme of WPB - 823xx , where 82 was the design length of the hull . Beginning in January 1964 , the Coast Guard started naming all vessels 65 feet in length and over ; the 82 - foot patrol boats were all given geographical " Point " names . Design and production . The design of the 82 foot patrol boat actually began in the early 1950s with the introduction of the 95 foot patrol boat , which was introduced to replace the aging wooden gasoline powered 83 foot patrol boats that were produced during World War II . The 95 foot patrol boat was originally developed as a search and rescue boat to replace the less capable 83 foot boat . With the outbreak of the Korean War and the requirement by the Coast Guard to secure port facilities in the United States under the Moss - Magnuson Act , the complete replacement of the 83 foot boat was deferred and the 95 foot boat was used for harbor patrols . With the goal of reducing manning requirements in mind , the Point - class patrol boat was designed to accommodate an 8 man crew , which was a reduction from the 15 man crews of the Cape - class cutter . Production started in early 1960 at the Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay , Maryland and continued through late December 1963 , producing 44 boats . The first 30 boats were powered by two 600 horsepower Cummins diesel engines ; except for 82314 ( later " Point Thatcher " ) which was powered by two 1000 horsepower gas turbine engines with controllable pitch propellers and 82318 ( later " Point Herron " ) which had two 800 horsepower Cummins diesels installed . Beginning in March 1962 with 82331 ( later " Point Marone " ) , all boats were equipped with two 800 horsepower Cummins diesel engines . All were equipped with twin propellers . Eventually all boats were upgraded to the same 800 horsepower main engines used in the later production . In 1966 a contract for the production of 25 additional boats was awarded to J . M . Martinac Shipbuilding Corp . of Tacoma , Washington and all 25 were equipped with the twin 800 horsepower engines of the 1962 and later Yard production . In 1970 , the last 9 boats of the class were produced at the Yard utilizing the 800 horsepower design of the rest of the class . Those boats in service in 1990 were refit with Caterpillar diesel main drive engines . 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 . The design specifications for the 82 foot cutter included a steel hull for durability and an aluminum superstructure 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 . 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 . Berthing spaces were provided for thirteen so that requirements were met for passengers and extra wartime manning needs . 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 . Already part of the design , crews stationed in Vietnam found the air - conditioned interior especially helpful . 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 but for Vietnam service the spaces quartered the commanding officer , the executive officer and chief boatswain ' s mate as well as the chief engineman . 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 which also included three bunks for first class petty officers . 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 . History . Domestic service . A total of 79 Point - class cutters were used for law enforcement and search and rescue patrol boats beginning in 1960 . The cutters were mostly co - located with Coast Guard stations along the Atlantic , Pacific and Gulf coasts . Point - class cutters were phased out in the late 1990s by the introduction of the Marine Protector - class coastal patrol boat with the last Point - class cutter being decommissioned in 2003 . Vietnam service . At the request of the U . S Navy , 26 of the Point - class cutters were transported to Vietnam to serve with Coast Guard crews under U . S . Navy control during Operation Market Time . Coast Guard Squadron One was commissioned at Alameda , California 27 May 1965 and immediately began training and preparation for overseas deployment . All were later given to the South Vietnamese Navy as part of the Vietnamization of the war effort . Replacement . When planning the replacement for the Point - class cutter , designers took into consideration the need for different berthing arrangements that would accommodate a mixed gender crew . Another important feature lacking on the Point class cutter that was desired on a replacement was a stern launch ramp for the rapid deployment of the cutter ' s small boat for use in search and rescue missions and in law enforcement work . Both of these requirements were designed into the Marine Protector - class that began replacing the Point class cutters during the late 1990s . The last Point class cutter was replaced in 2003 . Commissioning , homeport , and disposition information . Legend :