(United States)

Notes: Mainstays of the US Coast Guard for much of the 20^th century, the Point class patrol boats were sturdy, versatile, and efficient to operate. They had steel hulls with aluminum superstructures, and were equipped to handle light repairs on other vessels. They could tow ships many times larger than themselves. A seaboat (later RHIB) was carried for law enforcement missions. Besides being used for almost every imaginable patrol and SAR mission, they often found themselves useful in strange roles, for example USCGC Point Barrow was pressed into service as a San Francisco fireboat on 3 June 1970, to put out a fire at the famous Alcatraz prison. USCGC Point Highland served as an escort for Soviet warships visiting Naval Station Norfolk, VA in 1990.

The final unit in USCG service, USCGC Point Brower, decommissioned in 2003. As they decommissioned, they were eagerly snapped up by foreign navies and other users in the US Government: USCGC Point Glass and USCGC Point Monroe transferred to NOAA in 2000-2001. USCGC Point Roberts was renamed Lake Explorer on 1 February 1992 and given to the Environmental Protection Agency. USCGC Point Divide, USCGC Point Brown, and USCGC Point Charles were donated to various universities. USCGC Point Harris was to be scrapped but was in good enough condition that the scrapper refurbished her and sold her to a private owner. USCGC Point Lookout, USCGC Point Thatcher, and USCGC Point Whitethorn were scuttled as artificial reefs. USCGC Point Arena and USCGC Point Swift were placed into long-term mothballs at Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay, MD and will likely be sold abroad or used as reefs.

Many of the USCG’s units served in Vietnam, some seeing combat. USCGC Point Cypress (10 May 1966), USCGC Point Gammon (1 January 1967), and USCGC Point Marone (1 March 1968) each sank North Vietnamese sampans, and USCGC Point Grey sank two SL class freighters while USCGC Point Welcome sank one. USCGC Point Slocum sank a North Vietnamese gunboat on 20 June 1966. USCGC Point Welcome was severely damaged by USAF jets in a 11 August 1966 friendly fire incident. The cutter’s CO was killed and the burning vessel had to be grounded to save itself. Many of the Point class cutters were donated to South Vietnam when their tours were up, in lieu of returning back to the USA.

(Left: for Operation Market Time, a dual 81mm mortar was fitted to the forward gun. A HE shell was available for use against ships or shore, or a WP shell for use against shore targets. Right: The Mekong Delta experienced severe tidal shifts and the Point class units were often stranded for a few hours, as USCGC Point Cypress is here. This did not harm the tough cutters.)

The Point class units were key elements of the 1980s anti-narcotics program. USCGC Point Countess boarded the merchant M/V Eagle 1 on 18 January 1986 and siezed 447 tons of cocaine (more than five times the cutter’s entire displacement) and towed the ship to port. This was, at the time, the largest seaborne drug bust ever. USCGC Point Barnes engaged in a running gun battle with drug smugglers on 16 June 1986, damaging them.

Displacement: 60t standard, 69t full Dimensions: 82’10”x17’7”x5’11” Machinery: Diesel-direct: 2 diesels (original diesels varied, usually a Cummins model. During the 1990s all remaining USCG units were re-engined with Caterpillar 3412 diesels), 2 shafts w/non-CP props (note: USCGC Point Thatcher was powered by 2 Saturn 1.1KH gas turbines and two Solar Aircraft CP props) Max speed: 17kts sprint, 14 ½ kts sustained Range: 2442NM @ 10 ½ kts Complement: 10 (2 officers, 8 enlisted)

Notes: Antigua & Barbuda’s military is one of the smallest on Earth. Hermitage is their largest-ever warship.

Notes: As coast guard vessels, these ships are not prefixed with “ARA”.

Notes: This ship (main photo at top of page) is home ported at Baku. Crew has been reduced to 8 total.

Notes: Active with the Colombian coast guard.

Notes: Split between the Atlantic and Pacific fleets.

Notes: These ships replaced several craft of WWII vintage.

Notes: In service with the Ecuador coast guard. More transfers were expected but never happened.

Notes: In service with the El Salvador navy.

Notes: Donated as part of an increasingly close military friendship between the USA and Georgia. During the early 2000s they squared off several times against Abkhazian naval smallcraft. Loss: Both ships were in port undergoing maintenance when the South Ossetia war began. During the evening of 18 August 2008, a Russian army unit (including at least three T-72 tanks) drove south out of Abkhazia, reaching Poti the next morning. Later that day, Russian troops sank both Point-class ships (along with various other Georgian warships) pierside with demolition charges.

Notes: It does not appear that these ships are in use; they have not been seen at sea for some time and are not listed on the Jamaica Defense Force website.

Notes: Transferred to assist in anti-narcotics patrols.

Notes: Because the Panamanian constitution now forbids a standing military, these ships are officially listed as “public service vessels” during peacetime.

Notes: The ships transferred out of order that they recommissioned. Both are still active.

Notes: A large number of these ships were transferred from the USCG to the South Vietnamese navy under the USCG‘s SCATTOR (Smallcraft Assets: Training/Turnover Of Resources) programme; numerically they made up the largest class of South Vietnam‘s navy. They were used extremely heavily in the harsh tropical climate and by 1972, most were in poor condition and mothballed due to lack of fuel and spares. Ngo Van Quyen was still active and in good condition when South Vietnam fell in 1975, she was absorbed into the unified Vietnamese navy and served for many more years. A few other Point-class ships reportedly also participated in a final defense of Saigon, firing at North Vietnamese troops from the Saigon River in April 1975. Some may have been damaged or sunk in action. Haynh Van Duc made a rendezvous with other surviving South Vietnamese warships off Son Island and fled to the Philippines however the USCG did not want the decrepit ship back and she was scrapped there. The rest of the former South Vietnamese fleet was presumably scrapped by Vietnam in the early 1980s.

Notes: This tiny island nation uses the ship for law enforcement and SAR.

Notes: The Trinidad & Tobogo coast guard cooperates closely with the USCG.

Notes: The name of the ship is uncertain. Ex-Point Jackson sailed on her own power with a mixed USCG/Turkmen crew from Mayport, FL to Turkmenistan via Turkey; finally arriving in 1 June 2001. Because of Turkmenistan’s strict interpretation of neutrality, the ship rarely exercises with other navies.

Notes: In service with the Venezuelan coast guard.