| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Coast Guard Yard 1960-63, 1970; J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp. 1966-67 |
| Operators: | United States Coast Guard |
| Preceded by: | Cape class 95' patrol boat |
| Succeeded by: | Marine Protector class 87' patrol boat |
| Built: | 1960-1970 |
| In commission: | 1960-2003 |
| Completed: | 79 |
| Retired: | 79 |
| Career (USA) | |
| Name: | USCGC Point Arden (WPB-82309) |
| Owner: | United States Coast Guard |
| Builder: | Coast Guard Yard, Curtis Bay, Maryland |
| Commissioned: | 1 February 1961 |
| Decommissioned: | 14 February 1970 |
| Honors and awards: |
Navy Unit Commendation[1] Meritorious Unit Commendation (Navy)[2] Vietnam Service Medal with 2 silver and 1 bronze service stars |
| Fate: | Transferred to Republic of Vietnam Navy as RVNS Phạm Ngọc Châu (HQ-710), 14 February 1970[3] |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Patrol Boat (WPB) |
| Displacement: | 60 tons |
| Length: | 82 ft 10 in (25.25 m) |
| Beam: | 17 ft 7 in (5.36 m) max |
| Draft: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × 600 hp (447 kW) Cummins diesel engines |
| Speed: | 16.8 knots (31.1 km/h; 19.3 mph) |
| Range: | 577 nmi (1,069 km) at 14.5 kn (26.9 km/h; 16.7 mph) 1,271 nmi (2,354 km) at 10.7 kn (19.8 km/h; 12.3 mph) |
| Complement: | Domestic service : 8 men Vietnam service : 2 officers, 8 men |
| Armament: | 1961 • 1 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon Vietnam service • 5 × M2 Browning machine guns • 1 × 81 mm M29 mortar[4] |
USCGC Point Arden (WPB-82309) was an 82 foot USCG Point class cutter constructed at the Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay, Maryland in 1961 for use as a law enforcement and search and rescue patrol boat. Since the Coast Guard policy in 1961 was not to name cutters under 100 feet in length, it was designated as WPB-82309 when commissioned and acquired the name Point Caution in January 1964 when the Coast Guard started naming all cutters longer than 65 feet.[5][6]
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Point Arden was built with a mild steel hull and an aluminum superstructure that could accommodate an 8 man crew. She was powered by two 600 horsepower VT600 Cummins diesel main drive engines and had two five bladed 42 inch propellers. The main drive engines were later replaced by 800 horsepower VT800 Cummins engines. Longitudinally framed construction was used to save weight. Water tank capacity was 1550 gallons and fuel tank capacity was 1840 gallons at 95% full. Frozen food storage was 23 cubic feet. Accommodations for a 13 man crew were installed for Vietnam service.[5][6][7]
After delivery in 1961, Point Arden was assigned a homeport of Point Pleasant, New Jersey, where she served as a law enforcement and search and rescue patrol boat.[5]
At the request of the United States Navy, in April 1965, she was alerted for service in Vietnam and assigned to Coast Guard Squadron One in support of Operation Market Time along with 16 other Point class cutters.[8][9] While the crew completed overseas training and weapons qualifications at Coast Guard Island and Camp Parks, California, Point Arden was loaded onto a merchant ship, and transported to Subic Bay, Philippines in May 1965 where she was refit for combat service.[10] Shipyard modifications included installation of new single-sideband radio equipment, additional floodlights, small arms lockers, bunks, additional sound-powered phone circuits, and the addition of 4 M-2 machine guns. The original bow mounted machine gun was replaced with a combination over-under 50 caliber machine gun/81mm trigger fired mortar that had been developed by the Coast Guard for service in Vietnam.[8][9][10] For service in Vietnam, two officers were added to the crew complement to add seniority to the crew in the mission of interdicting vessels at sea.[8]
Point Arden was assigned to Division 12 of Squadron One to be based at Danang, along with Point Caution, Point Dume, Point Ellis, Point Gammon, Point Lomas, Point Orient, and Point Welcome. After sea trials, the Division left Subic Bay for Danang on 16 July 1965 in the company of USS Snohomish County (LST-1125), their temporary support ship. After almost two weeks at sea, they arrived at their new duty station on 20 July and began patrolling the coastal waters near Danang[8] Duty consisted of boarding Vietnamese junks to search for contraband weapons and ammunition and check the identification papers of persons on board. Permanent engineering and logistic support of Division 12 was provided by a U.S. Navy non-self-propelled floating workshop, YR-71. During this time, the WPB's were directed to paint the hulls and superstructures formula 20 deck gray to cover the stateside white paint. This increased the effectiveness of night patrols.[8]
On 10 March 1968, Point Arden was refueling from the U.S. Navy oiler USS Patapsco (AOG-1) just south of the mouth of the Cua Viet River when Viet Cong mortar fire ignited some ammunition and flares on the ramp or the Naval Support Activity Detachment (NSAD). The commanding officer of Point Arden directed his crew to offload firefighting gear to the shore to assist in the containment of the fire and he then went to the other side of the ramp with the cutter and the crew used fire hoses to help suppress the fire. Several large explosions occurred during the firefighting and one explosion shattered all the glass on the bridge of the cutter and injured several of the crew. The crew of the Point Arden were commended by the commander of Navy Task Group 115.1 for their firefighting efforts.[8]
On 9 August 1969, during a harassment and interdiction mission using the cutter's mortar the Executive Officer, LTJG Michael W. Kirkpatrick, and an engineer, EN1 Michael H. Painter were killed by a misfired round in the mortar.[7][11][12] They were two of seven Coast Guardsmen killed in action during the Vietnam War.[5]
On 14 February 1970, Point Arden was turned over to the Republic of Vietnam Navy as part of the Vietnamization of the war effort and recommissioned as RVNS Phạm Ngọc Châu (HQ-710).[5][3]
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