USCGC Matagorda

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USCG Matagorda. Note the Short Range Prosecutor launch on the rear launching ramp

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Matagorda, the first 110-foot cutter to be converted to 123-feet, at Integrated Support Command New Orleans March 27, 2004. The crew of the Matagorda made a brief stop in New Orleans on the way to their homeport in Key West, Fla..

The USCGC Matagorda is an United States Coast Guard Island Class Cutter. The Island Class cutters were originally 110 feet long. The Matagorda was the first vessel to complete an extensive refit that added a new superstructure, and a 13 foot extension to her stern, as part of the Deepwater program.

The new superstructure was intended to improved the habitability and endurance of Island Class cutters. It enables the vessels to comply with the Coast Guard's plan to make all vessels capable of housing mixed sex crews.

The new stern extension allowed the Matagorda to launch and retrieve her Short Range Prosecutor at speed.

Shortly after the Matagorda reentered the fleet and arrived in its home port of Key West, Florida, it developed a six-inch crack forward of its superstructure and a buckled hull on the starboard side. Similar problems with other vessels that had undergone this refit resulted in a decision to stop the refits after only 8 of the 49 Island Class cutters had undergone them.^[1]