Response Boat – Medium

A US Coast Guard RB-M underway off Yorktown, Virginia
Class overview
Builders: Kvichak Marine Industries
Marinette Marine Corporation
Operators: United States Coast Guard
Planned: 170
General characteristics
Displacement:16.3 ton
Length:44 ft 9 in (13.64 m)
Beam:14 ft 7.75 in (4.4641 m)
Draft:3 ft 4 in (1.02 m)
Installed power:2 × MTU Detroit Diesel turbocharged Series 60 engines, 825 hp (615 kW) total
Propulsion:2 × Rolls-Royce FF-Series waterjets
Speed:30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) (cruise)
42.5 knots (78.7 km/h; 48.9 mph) (max)
Range:250 nmi (460 km; 290 mi) at 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement:4
Armament:2 × M240B general-purpose machine guns
M16 rifle
Remington 870 shotgun
Santa Cruz Gun Lock Universal Gun Lock Systems
The USCG Response Boat Medium (RBM) has replaced a fleet of 41-foot utility boats (UTBs) that averaged over 30-years of service[1]

The Response Boat – Medium (RB-M) is a 45-foot (14 m) utility boat used by the United States Coast Guard. It is a replacement for the Coast Guard's retired fleet of 41-foot (12 m) utility boats (UTB), which had been in use by the Coast Guard since the 1970s. The Coast Guard plans to acquire 170[2] of these RB-Ms over a 6–10 year period.[3] The boats will be built by Kvichak Marine Industries of Kent, Washington and Marinette Marine Corporation of Marinette, Wisconsin.[4]

According to the US Coast Guard, "While primarily a Search and Rescue (SAR) asset when the 41' UTB was first fielded, the evolution of missions has increased the requirement to perform many missions including Recreational Boating Safety (RBS), Marine Environmental Protection (MEP), Enforcement of Laws and Treaties (ELT), Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security (PWCS) and Defense Operations (DO), including those traditional missions associated with Homeland Security."[5]

General characteristics

The boat has a deep-V, double chine hull, which provides a balance of performance and stability. The vessel is self-righting if it capsizes in rough seas. Below the pilot house are six compartments:

(Sources:[6][7])

Electronics

Hull numbering

In keeping with standard USCG practice, boats of this size have hull numbers and are not named. This type of boat has a hull number beginning with the length of the boat (45′) and then a sequential number. In the case of the RB-M boats, the hull numbers begin with 601. Thus the first boat will be RB-M 45601.

Boats

45602 underway at Cape Disappointment, Washington. August 7, 2008
Boat Station Delivery Date
45601 Little Creek, Virginia March 2008
45602 Cape Disappointment, Washington August 2008
45603 Key West, Florida October 2008
45604 Milwaukee, Wisconsin October 2008
45605 Staten Island, New York December 2008
45606 Port Aransas, Texas January 2009
45607 Yorktown, Virginia February 2009
45608 Boston, Massachusetts March 2009
45609 San Juan, Puerto Rico May 2009
45610 Staten Island, New York July 2009
45611 Port Aransas, Texas July 2009
45612 Staten Island, New York August 2009
45613 Maui, Hawaii September 2009
45614 Staten Island, New York August 2009
45615 Little Creek, Virginia November 2009
45616 Staten Island, New York December 2009
45617 Port Canaveral, Florida November 2009
45618 Galveston, Texas January 2010
45619 Honolulu, Hawaii March 2010
45620 Castle Hill, Rhode Island November 2009
45621 Panama City, Florida January 2010
45622 Staten Island, New York December 2009
45623 St. Petersburg, Florida June 2010
45624 Cleveland Harbor, Ohio April 2010
45625 Lake Worth Inlet, Florida July 2010
45626 Belle Isle, Michigan April 2010
45627 Honolulu, Hawaii August 2010
45628 Duluth, Minnesota May 2010
45629 Castle Hill, Rhode Island June 2010
45630 Galveston, Texas June 2010
45631 Fort Lauderdale, Florida July 2010
45632 Belle Isle, Michigan August 2010
45633 Panama City, Florida August 2010
45634 Fort Pierce, Florida September 2010
45635 Duluth, Minnesota September 2010
45636 New Orleans, Louisiana September 2010
45640 Annapolis, Maryland November 2010
45643 Los Angeles/Long Beach, California December 2010
45651 Los Angeles/Long Beach, California March 2011
45652 Los Angeles/Long Beach, California March 2011
45703 Essexville, MichiganOctober 2012
45745 Hudgins, VirginiaFebruary 2014
45757 Erie, PennsylvaniaMay 2014

Sources:[8][9]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to USCG Response Boat-Medium.

References

  1. "Homeland Security Budget-in-Brief Fiscal Year 2009" (PDF). United States Department of Homeland Security. 2009. p. 60. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  2. "Response Boat – Medium" (PDF). Acquisition Directorate. United States Coast Guard. February 2013.
  3. "Response Boat – Medium". Acquisition Directorate. United States Coast Guard. 19 September 2013.
  4. "Title unknown" (Press release). United States Coast Guard. 28 June 2007. (subscription required (help)).
  5. "Response Boat - Medium Major Acquisition Project". United States Coast Guard.
  6. "Response Boat-Medium: Project Profile". Acquisition Directorate. United States Coast Guard. 19 September 2013.
  7. "Response Boat-Medium Acquisition Project". Responseboat Project. Archived from the original on 2009-03-09.
  8. "RB-M: Acquisition Project History". United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 2010-02-14.
  9. "Production Update". Responseboat Project. Archived from the original on 2009-03-10. Retrieved 2010-02-14.

External links