52-foot Motor Lifeboat

Last updated
USCG 52 foot motor lifeboat Intrepid, 2009 11 18.png
The United States Coast Guard operates four 52 foot motor lifeboats in the Pacific Northwest.
Class overview
Name52' MLB
Cost US$ 236,000 (1962)
Active4
General characteristics
Displacement32 tons
Length52 feet (16 m)
Beam14 feet 7 inches (4.45 m)
Draught6 feet 11 inches (2.11 m)
Propulsion2×GM 6-71, 170 hp (130 kW)
Speed11 knots
Range495 nautical miles (917 km)
Capacity35 survivors + crew
Complement5
Sensors and
processing systems		Navigational radar

The United States Coast Guard operates four 52-foot Motor Lifeboats (MLBs), which supplement its fleet of 227 47-foot Motor Lifeboats. [1] These vessels were built in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and displace 32 tons. [2] The four vessels are all stationed in the Pacific Northwest. The vessels are remembered for the many lives they saved over 60 years of service in brutal ocean conditions of the Pacific Northwest.

Contents

By the 2020s the brunt of rescue activities has been taken over by the 47 footers, while the four vessels fate is pending.

Design and history

After World War II, reduced budgets meant the Coast Guard continued to use its two existing wooden 52' MLBs, also known as the Type F lifeboats, Invincible and Triumph. [3] By the late 1950s, the wooden MLBs were starting to wear out and the Coast Guard built a set of steel 52' MLBs at Curtis Bay Yard to replace them, specifically designed for the high surf conditions encountered along the Pacific Northwest coast. The steel 52' MLBs feature an aluminum superstructure and a hull divided into seven watertight compartments; because of their relatively high cost of US$250,000(equivalent to $2,802,000 in 2023) each, only four were built. [4] After entering service, the steering/rudder system was modified by removing the rudder guard, shortening the bilge keels, installing twin rudders, and adding a hydraulic power assist to the steering. [4]

The four 52' MLBs: Invincible, Intrepid, Triumph, and Victory (L-R) All four USCG 52 foot motor lifeboats.jpg
The four 52' MLBs: Invincible, Intrepid, Triumph, and Victory (L-R)
USCG Invincible II heavy weather motor lifeboat Coast Guard 52-Foot Heavy Weather Motor Lifeboat Invincible II (51689483446).jpg
USCG Invincible II heavy weather motor lifeboat

The Coast Guard bills the 52-foot MLBs as "virtually unsinkable", with self-righting and self-bailing capabilities and the ability to tow vessels as large as 750 long tons (760 t) in 30-foot (9.1 m) seas. [5] In comparison, the next-largest 47' MLB has a towing capacity of 150 long tons (150 t). [6] To increase their endurance and capabilities, the 52' MLB is equipped with a complete galley and a fire/salvage pump with 250 US gal/min (16 L/s) capacity. [4]

In the 21st century, the Korean-war era vessels had to use custom built parts to stay operational. [7]


On October 1, 2020, the fleet was placed on restricted status due to maintenance and safety concerns. [8] In November 2021, all 4 boats were towed to Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment and laid-up pending a decision on their future disposition. [9]

As of 2022, without a clear successor, main rescue activities were taken on by the 47 foot rescue boats pending a decisions about the 52 foot boats. [10]

Vessels

The 52' MLBs are the only vessels of the Coast Guard less than 65 feet (20 m) in length to receive names, [11] keeping with the tradition established by their wooden predecessors.

List of 52-foot Motor Lifeboats of the United States Coast Guard [2] [4]
BoatHull no.BuilderLaid downLaunchedCommissionedHomeportStatus
Victory52312 Coast Guard Yard November 29, 1956 Yaquina Bay Laid up
Invincible II [lower-alpha 1] 52313October 11, 1960 Grays Harbor Laid up
Triumph II [lower-alpha 2] 52314April 1, 1961 Cape Disappointment Laid up
Intrepid52315October 11, 1961 Coos Bay Laid up
Notes
  1. ↑ Named for wooden 52' MLB Invincible.
  2. ↑ Named for wooden 52' MLB Triumph.

See also

Related Research Articles

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CCGS <i>Cape Sutil</i>

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Cape-class motor lifeboat

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47-foot Motor Lifeboat Standard lifeboat of the United States Coast Guard

The 47-foot MLB is the standard lifeboat of the United States Coast Guard (USCG). The 47′ MLB is the successor to the 44′ MLB.

CCGS <i>Cap Percé</i>

CCGS Cap Percé is one of the Canadian Coast Guard's 36 Cape-class motor lifeboats. She was scheduled to be stationed at a new Coast Guard station in Kegaska, Quebec, on the Gulf of St Lawrence. Like her sister ships she will be staffed by a crew of four, two of whom will be search and rescue technicians.

CCGS <i>Cape Hearne</i>

CCGS Cape Hearne is one of the Canadian Coast Guard's 36 Cape-class motor lifeboats. She as christened in 2005, at the Canadian Coast Guard station at Kingston, Ontario.

CCGS <i>Cape Discovery</i> Canadian Coast Guard lifeboat

CCGS Cape Discovery is one of the Canadian Coast Guard's 36 Cape-class motor lifeboats.` She is stationed at Goderich, Ontario. At the vessel's official christening, on June 10, 2006, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Loyola Hearn, said: "Having this state-of-the-art vessel for our personnel provides them with greater safety, as they aid those in distress -- very often in conditions that put their own lives at risk. With the cutter Cape Discovery, we are well positioned to respond to emergency calls, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week."

CCGS <i>Thunder Cape</i>

CCGS Thunder Cape is one of the Canadian Coast Guard's 36 Cape-class motor lifeboats. She was built in Kingston, Ontario, in 2000, by MetalCraft Marine and MIL Systems and was moved to Goderich, Ontario, in October 2005. Assigned to the Central and Arctic Region, the lifeboat serves the Lake Erie area. The boat is backed up by search and rescue operations from 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron. The Thunder Cape was damaged in a collision with the breakwater at the outlet of the Mission River in Thunder Bay.

CCGS <i>Cape Edensaw</i>

CCGS Cape Edensaw is one of the Canadian Coast Guard's 36 Cape-class motor lifeboats. Cape Edensaw was built at the Victoria Shipyards in Vancouver, and was dedicated at Victoria, British Columbia in June 2005.

CCGS <i>Cap Breton</i>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">30' surf rescue boat</span> Lifeboat used by the USCG

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44-foot motor lifeboat Standard boat of the U.S. Coast Guard

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CCGS <i>Cape Dauphin</i>

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36-foot motor lifeboat

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">USCGC Triumph</span>

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CCGS <i>Cape Spry</i>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wooden boats of World War II</span> United States wooden boats used in World War II

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References

  1. ↑ "America's Maritime Guardian". "Coast Guard Outlook". 2011. Retrieved 2013-01-27.
  2. 1 2 "52-foot Motor Life Boat (MLB)" (PDF). United States Coast Guard. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
  3. ↑ "52-Foot Wooden-Hulled Motor Lifeboat" (PDF). U.S. Coast Guard History Program. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 21, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "52-Foot Steel-Hulled Motor Lifeboat" (PDF). U.S. Coast Guard History Program. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 26, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Factsheet: Station Yaquina Bay" (PDF). United States Coast Guard District 13. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  6. ↑ "Triumph tows disabled dragger through deep draft bar". Coast Guard News. December 10, 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  7. ↑ Lipp, Kenneth (2021-11-19). "Victory's last voyage". The Lincoln County Leader. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
  8. ↑ "Coast Guard to move Motor Lifeboat Invincible out of Grays Harbor". KXRO News Radio. November 16, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  9. ↑ Lipp, Kenneth (November 19, 2021). "Victory's last voyage". Newport News Times. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  10. ↑ World, Michael S. Lockett / The Daily (2022-12-28). "Coast Guard Funded for Replacing Motor Lifeboats, New Icebreaker". The Daily Chronicle. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
  11. ↑ "Coast Guard member to receive national recognition for at sea rescue". Coast Guard News. August 10, 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2019.

Bibliography

Individual boats

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