USCG Coastal Patrol Boat

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USCG Barracuda - at speed. Note the ramp at the stern for the Short Range Prosecutor boarding party launch. The fifty caliber machine guns mount on pintles, port and starboard, just forward of the red stripe. The black smudge in the hull abaft the superstructure is the exhause of the port engine.

The United States Coast Guard has maintained various classes of coastal patrol boats. The USCG currently has fifty-six patrol boats in its Marine Protector class. Their pennant numbers are WPB 87301 through WPB 87356. The 87 ft (26.5 m) Marine Protector class replaced the 82 foot Point class. The Point class had less spacious accommodation, and they had to stop to deploy or retrieve their pursuit boat via a small crane. As of 2004 only two Point class vessels remained in service.

Length	87 ft (26.5 m)
Beam	19 ft 5 in (5.9 m)
Draft	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)
Maximum Range	900 nautical miles (1,700 km)
Endurance	3 days
Crew	10
Armament	2x 0.50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns
Maximum speed	25 knots (46 km/h)

Among their missions are combating smuggling and illegal immigration, and Search and rescue.

Boarding parties can be launched while the vessel is underway, through the cutter's stern launching ramp. The boarding party launch is powered by water jets, and is extremely fast. The initial design has given way to an updated version as several capsized due to lack of floatation in the bow section. The stern launching system requires just a single crewmember to remain on deck to launch or retrieve the boarding party.

The cutter burns approximately 140 gallons of diesel per hour at its max speed of 26 knots.

Like all recent US Coast Guard vessels the Marine Protector class were designed to be able to accommodate crews of mixed gender.

The same class also operate with the Armed Forces of Malta who have operated two examples (P51 & P52) since 2003.