| 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 White (WPB-82308) |
| Owner: | United States Coast Guard |
| Builder: | Coast Guard Yard, Curtis Bay, Maryland |
| Commissioned: | 18 February 1961[1] |
| Decommissioned: | 12 January 1970 |
| Honors and awards: |
Presidential Unit Citation (Navy)[2] Navy Unit Commendation[3] Meritorious Unit Commendation (Navy)[4] Vietnam Service Medal with 2 silver service stars |
| Fate: | Transferred to Republic of Vietnam Navy as RVNS Lê Đình Hùng (HQ-708), 12 January 1970[5] |
| 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[6] |
USCGC Point White (WPB-82308) 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 (30 m) in length, it was designated as WPB-82308 when commissioned and acquired the name Point White in January 1964 when the Coast Guard started naming all cutters longer than 65 feet (20 m).[7][8]
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Point White was built with a mild steel hull and an aluminum superstructure that could accommodate an 8 man crew.[9] 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 1,550 US gallons (5,900 L) and fuel tank capacity was 1,840 US gallons (7,000 L) at 95% full. Frozen food storage was 23 cubic feet (0.65 m3). Accommodations for a 13 man crew were installed for Vietnam service.[7][9][10][11]
After delivery in 1961, Point White was assigned a homeport of New London, Connecticut, where she served as a law enforcement and search and rescue patrol boat.[7]
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.[12][13] While the crew completed overseas training and weapons qualifications at Coast Guard Island and Camp Parks, California, Point White was loaded onto a merchant ship, and transported to Subic Bay, Philippines arriving in January 1966 where she was refit for combat service.[7] 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.[6][7][14][15] 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.[16]
Point White was assigned to Division 13 of Squadron One to be based at Cat Lo Navy Base near Vung Tau, along with Point Cypress, Point Grace, Point Hudson, Point Jefferson, Point Kennedy, Point League, Point Partridge and Point Slocum. 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.[17] Duty consisted of boarding Vietnamese junks to search for contraband weapons and ammunition and check the identification papers of persons on board.[18]
On the night of 9 March 1966 Point White was patrolling the Soài Rạp River in the Rung Sat Special Zone and surprised a Viet Cong junk crossing the river. Upon receiving machine gun fire from the junk, Point White returned fire and rammed the junk, causing it to explode and partially sinking it. After rescuing four of the Viet Cong crew from drowning, it was determined that one of the survivors was the commanding officer of the local training camp.[19][20] After recovering from extensive burns the man later provided valuable intelligence about Viet Cong operations in the Rung Sat.[21]
While assisting with the refloating of two Navy Swift boats (PCF) that were aground near Hà Tiên , the crew of Point White repaired an evaporator used for the fresh water supply at the Navy base at Hà Tiên[22][23]
As a part of the Vietnamization Program South Vietnamese Navy crewmen were assigned to the cutter for training purposes beginning in February 1969. After the crew of Point White 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 Lê Đình Hùng (HQ-708), 12 January 1970.[5]
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