| 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 Grace (WPB-82323) |
| Namesake: | Point Grace near Anchorage, Alaska |
| Owner: | United States Coast Guard |
| Builder: | Coast Guard Yard, Curtis Bay, Maryland |
| Commissioned: | 27 September 1961 |
| Decommissioned: | 15 June 1970 |
| Honors and awards: |
Presidential Unit Citation (Navy)[1] Navy Unit Commendation[2] Meritorious Unit Commendation (Navy)[3] Vietnam Service Medal with 2 silver and 1 bronze service stars |
| Fate: | Transferred to Republic of Vietnam Navy as RVNS Hồ Đăng La (HQ-720), 15 June 1970 |
| 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 Grace (WPB-82323) was an 82 foot 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-82323 when commissioned and acquired the name Point Grace in January 1964 when the Coast Guard started naming all cutters longer than 65 feet.[5][6]
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Point Grace was built with a mild steel hull and an aluminum superstructure that could accommodate an 8 man crew.[7] 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][7][8][9]
After delivery in 1961, Point Grace was assigned a homeport of Crisfield, Maryland, where she served as a law enforcement and search and rescue patrol boat.[5]
At the request of the United States Navy, in October 1965, she was alerted for service in Vietnam and assigned to Coast Guard Squadron One in support of Operation Market Time along with 8 other Point class cutters.[10][11] While the crew completed overseas training and weapons qualifications at Coast Guard Island and Camp Parks, California, Point Cypress was loaded onto a merchant ship, and transported to Subic Bay, Philippines arriving in January 1966 where she was refitted for combat service.[5] 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 Oerlikon 20 mm cannon 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.[4][5][12][13] 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.[14]
Point Grace was assigned to Division 13 of Squadron One to be based at Cat Lo Navy Base near Vung Tau, along with Point Cypress, Point Hudson, Point Jefferson, Point Kennedy, Point League, Point Partridge, Point Slocum and Point White. After sea trials, the Division left Subic Bay for Cat Lo on 19 February 1966 in the company of USS Forster (DER-334), their temporary support ship. They arrived at their new duty station on 23 February and began patrolling the coastal waters near the Rung Sat Special Zone.[15][16] Duty consisted of boarding Vietnamese junks to search for contraband weapons and ammunition and check the identification papers of persons on board.
While patrolling the Bo De River in December 1966 Point Grace was hit three times by Viet Cong 57mm recoilless rifle fire; twice in the bow, and once amidships. The two hits in the bow exploded in the crew's head and berthing spaces while the amidships hit entered the engineroom and damaged a lube oil tank and electrical wiring but failed to explode. No crew injuries occurred.[17] She was hit twice with recoilless rifle fire while on patrol near the Long Toan Secret Zone on 17 September 1967 with no injuries to the crew but damage to the deckhouse and crew berthing.[17]
On 1 March 1968 USCGC Winona (WHEC-65), encountered a trawler eight miles off the coast near the mouth of the Bo De River which ignored warnings to stop and be searched. After a warning shot was fired by Winona and fire returned by the trawler, Point Grace assisted in the destruction of the trawler which exploded before sinking fifty yards off the river's mouth in twenty-five feet of water.[18][19]
After the crew of Point Grace trained a Vietnamese replacement crew, she was turned over to the Republic of Vietnam Navy as a part of the Vietnamization Program and recommissioned as RVNS Hồ Đăng La (HQ-720) on 15 June 1970.[5]
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