USCGC Point Comfort (WPB-82317) was an 82-foot (25 m)
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-foot (30 m) in length, it was designated as WPB-82317 when commissioned and acquired the name Point Comfort in January 1964 when the Coast Guard started naming all cutters longer than 65-foot (20 m).[5][6]
Construction and design details
Point Comfort was built to accommodate an 8-man crew.[7] She was powered by two 600 hp (447 kW) VT600 Cummins diesel main drive engines and had two five-bladed 42 in (1.1 m) propellers. The main drive engines were later replaced by 800 hp (597 kW) VT800 Cummins engines. Water tank capacity was 1,550 U.S. gallons (5,900 L) and fuel tank capacity was 1,840 U.S. gallons (7,000 L) at 95% full.[5][7] Engine exhaust was ported through the transom rather than through a conventional stack and this permitted a 360 degree view from the bridge; a feature that was very useful in search and rescue work as well as a combat environment.[8]
The design specifications for Point Comfort included a steel hull for durability and an aluminum superstructure and longitudinally framed construction was used to save weight. Ease of operation with a small crew size was possible because of the non-manned main drive engine spaces. Controls and alarms located on the
deckhouse. The deckhouse contained the cabin for the officer-in-charge and the executive petty officer.[9] The deckhouse also included a small arms locker, scuttlebutt, a small desk and head. Access to the lower deck and engine room was down a ladder. At the bottom of the ladder was the galley, mess and recreation deck. A watertight door at the front of the mess bulkhead led to the main crew quarters which was ten feet long and included six bunks that could be stowed, three bunks on each side. Forward of the bunks was the crew's head complete with a compact sink, shower and commode.[9] Accommodations for a 13-man crew were installed for Vietnam service.[5][6][10][11]
History
After delivery in 1961, Point Comfort was assigned a homeport of Benicia, California, where she served as a law enforcement and search and rescue patrol boat.[5]
At the request of the
M2 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.[4][5][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 Comfort was assigned to Division 11 of Squadron One to be based at
L-19 spotter plane attempted to warn Point Comfort of a Viet Cong (VC) machine gun nest near their position along the shoreline, but had no way to communicate with her except by flares dropped from the aircraft. The cutter crew didn't understand what was happening until they came under fire from the VC gun position. Radio communications procedures were improved after this incident.[18] During September 1965, USS Krishna, a repair ship outfitted for the repair of WPB's relieved the USS Floyd County. Also 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.[19]
Point Comfort along with Point Grey assisted
Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) personnel in a raid of Hon Mot Island on 27 September 1965 providing transportation and medical evacuation for the raiding party.[20]