USCGC Sea Dragon

Last updated
USCGC Sea Dragon, shortly after her arrival at her base in King's Bay, Georgia - 2007-12-08.png
A grey tarpaulin covers the Sea Dragon's advanced remote control mount for its extra machine gun.
History
Ensign of the United States Coast Guard.svgUnited States
NameUSCGC Sea Dragon
Builder Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana
CommissionedJanuary 2008
Homeport Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay
Statusin active service
General characteristics
Class and type Marine Protector-class coastal patrol boat
Displacement91 long tons (92 t)
Length87 ft 0 in (26.5 m)
Beam19 ft 5 in (5.9 m)
Draft5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)
Propulsion2 × MTU diesels
Speed25 knots (46 km/h)
Range900 nmi (1,700 km)
Endurance3 days
Complement10
Armament3 × .50 caliber M2 Browning machine guns

USCGC Sea Dragon (WPB-87367) is a Marine Protector-class cutter, that is assigned to one of two special Maritime Force Protection Units. [1] [2] [3] Each unit is assigned to escort nuclear submarines from one the United States Navy's two main submarine bases. Sea Dragon was assigned to Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay.

Sea Dragon was commissioned in January 2008. [3] She was joined by a sister ship, USCGC Sea Dog, in May, 2009. [4] The unit included an assortment of smaller Coast Guard boats. A similar unit escorts submarines near Bangor, Washington.

Design

Marine Protector-class cutters are 87 feet (27 m) long. [5] [6] Their maximum speed is 25 knots (46 km/h). All the cutters carry a water-jet propelled fast pursuit boat. The boats can be launched or retrieved without bringing the mothership to a complete halt. The standard Marine Protector is armed with a pair of fifty caliber Browning M2 machine gun, that mount on pintles, on the port and starboard rail of the foredeck. But for Sea Dragon, and the other three vessels ordered for the Navy, a third machine gun was added, mounted on a pedestal, in the middle of the foredeck. The third machine gun is equipped with advanced optics, is gyro stabilized, and its gunner uses remote controls - making it much more accurate, at long range, when fired from a heaving deck, at night, or in a fog. [7] [8]

Related Research Articles

Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay

Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay is a base of the United States Navy located adjacent to the city of St. Marys in Camden County, Georgia, on the North River in southeastern Georgia, and 38 miles (61 km) from Jacksonville, Florida. The Submarine Base is the U.S. Atlantic Fleet's home port for U.S. Navy Fleet ballistic missile nuclear submarines capable of being armed with Trident missile nuclear weapons. This submarine base covers about 16,000 acres of land, of which 4,000 acres are protected wetlands.

Marine Protector-class patrol boat

The Marine Protector class is a class of coastal patrol boats of the United States Coast Guard. The 87-foot-long vessels are based on the Stan 2600 design by Damen Group, and were built by Bollinger Shipyards of Lockport, Louisiana. Each boat is named after sea creatures which fly or swim

Island-class patrol boat Class of cutters of the U.S. Coast Guard

The Island-class patrol boat is a class of cutters of the United States Coast Guard. 49 cutters of the class were built, of which 37 remain in commission. Their hull numbers are WPB-1301 through WPB-1349.

USCGC <i>Morgenthau</i> (WHEC-722)

The United States Coast Guard cutter Morgenthau (WHEC-722), was the eighth of twelve 378-foot dual-powered turbine/diesel Hamilton-class high endurance cutters (WHECs) built by Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Coast Guard commissioned the Morgenthau on March 10, 1969. After 48 years of continuous distinguished service the U.S. Coast Guard decommissioned the Morgenthau on April 18, 2017, and the ship was sold to Vietnam. On 27 May 2017 the Vietnam Coast Guard commissioned the former cutter as patrol craft CSB-8020.

Sentinel-class cutter United States Coast Guard cutter class

The Sentinel-class cutter, also known as Fast Response Cutter due to its program name, is part of the United States Coast Guard's Deepwater program. At 154 feet (46.8 m) it is similar to, but larger than the 123-foot (37 m) lengthened 1980s-era Island-class patrol boats that it replaces. Up to 58 vessels are to be built by the Louisiana-based firm Bollinger Shipyards, using a design from the Netherlands-based Damen Group, with the Sentinel design based on the company's Damen Stan 4708 patrol vessel. The Department of Homeland Security's budget proposal to Congress, for the Coast Guard, for 2021, stated that, in addition to 58 vessels to serve the Continental US, they requested an additional six vessels for its portion of Patrol Forces South West Asia.

Bollinger Shipyards is an American constructor of ships, workboats and patrol vessels. Its thirteen shipyards and forty drydocks are located in Louisiana and Texas. Its drydocks range in capacity from vessels of 100 tons displacement to 22,000 tons displacement. The firm was founded in 1946.

Damen Stan Patrol 2606

The Damen Stan 2600 is a line of patrol vessels built or designed by Netherlands shipbuilding firm the Damen Group.

USCGC <i>Dorado</i> United States Coast Guard Marine Protector-class patrol boat

USCGC Dorado (WPB-87306) was the sixth cutter of the Marine Protector-class patrol boats. Dorado was built at Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, Louisiana and commissioned in April 1999 and decommissioned on 10 March 2021. Dorado's home port was in Crescent City, California and served under Coast Guard Group Humboldt Bay in the Eleventh Coast Guard District.

USCGC <i>Margaret Norvell</i>

USCGC Margaret Norvell (WPC-1105) is the fifth Sentinel-class cutter , based at Miami, Florida after commissioning. She was launched on January 13, 2012, and delivered to the Coast Guard on March 21, 2013. She was commissioned on June 1, 2013. She was commissioned at Mardi Gras World in New Orleans, near where her namesake staffed her lighthouse for decades.

Naval Support Activity Charleston

Naval Support Activity Charleston, originally designated Naval Weapons Station Charleston, is a base of the United States Navy located on the west bank of the Cooper River, in the cities of Goose Creek and Hanahan South Carolina. The base encompasses more than 17,000 acres (69 km²) of land with 10,000 acres (40 km²) of forest and wetlands, 16-plus miles of waterfront, four deep-water piers, 38.2 miles (61.5 km) of railroad and 292 miles (470 km) of road. The current workforce numbers more than 11,000 with an additional 3,600 people in on-base family housing.

USCGC <i>Charles David Jr.</i>

USCGC Charles David Jr is the seventh Sentinel-class cutter. Upon her commissioning she was assigned to serve in Key West, Florida, the first of six vessels to be based there. She was delivered to the Coast Guard, for testing, on August 17, 2013. She was officially commissioned on November 16, 2013.

USCGC <i>Charles Sexton</i>

USCGC Charles Sexton (WPC-1108) is the eighth Sentinel-class cutter, and the second to be based in Key West, Florida. She was delivered to the United States Coast Guard for a final evaluation and shakedown on December 10, 2013, and the vessel was commissioned on March 8, 2014.

USCGC <i>Halibut</i>

USCGC Halibut is a United States Coast Guard Marine Protector-class coastal patrol boat based in Marina del Rey, California. Her patrol area is the 300 miles (480 km) from Morro Bay to Dana Point, California, and several important offshore islands.

USCGC <i>Raymond Evans</i>

USCGC Raymond Evans is the tenth vessel in the United States Coast Guard's Sentinel-class cutter. All the vessels are named after members of the Coast Guard, or its precursor services, who are remembered for their heroism. Names had already been assigned for the first fourteen vessels, when Commander Raymond Evans died, and the USCG Commandant announced that the next Sentinel class cutter would be named after him. Joseph Napier, who was originally scheduled to be the namesake of the tenth vessel, had his name moved to the beginning of the second list of heroes names, and will now be the namesake of the fifteenth vessel.

USCGC <i>Heriberto Hernandez</i>

USCGC Heriberto Hernandez is the 14th Sentinel-class cutter delivered to the United States Coast Guard. Like five of her sister ships, her initial assignment will see her based in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

USCGC <i>Sea Fox</i>

USCGC Sea Fox was the last Marine Protector-class coastal patrol boat to be built. Her home port is Bangor, Washington.

USCGC <i>Sea Otter</i>

USCGC Sea Otter (WPB-87362) is the 61st cutter in the United States Coast Guard's successful Marine Protector class.

USCGC <i>Sea Devil</i>

USCGC Sea Devil is the 68th Marine Protector-class coastal patrol boat to be built, and the first of four to be paid for by the US Navy. It is operated by the U.S. Coast Guard. Her home port is Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor in Silverdale, Washington, where she and her sister ship Sea Fox are assigned to one of two Maritime Force Protection Units. Their sole mission is to escort the Navy's largest submarines, the nuclear-armed Ohio class, while in and near their moorings in Puget Sound. USCGC Sea Dragon and USCGC Sea Dog guard the submarine base in Kings Bay, Georgia, on the Atlantic Ocean.

USCGC <i>Benjamin B. Dailey</i>

USCGC Benjamin Dailey (WPC-1123) is the United States Coast Guard's 23rd Sentinel-class cutter. She is the first cutter of her class stationed in the Coast Guard's Eight District, with a homeport in Pascagoula, MS.

USCGC <i>Terrapin</i> United States Coast Guard ship

USCGC Terrapin (WPB-87366) is a United States Coast Guard ship of the Marine Protector class. She is assigned to Coast Guard District 13 and is home-ported at Bellingham, Washington. Her main areas of responsibility are the San Juan Islands, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and Puget Sound. Her missions include search and rescue, law enforcement, and homeland security.

References

  1. "Coast Guard commissions Sea Dragon: Cutter designed to protect submarines coming into or out of Kings Bay" (PDF). Periscope magazine . 2008-01-24. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2018-10-01.
  2. "Kings Bay Now..." (PDF). Periscope magazine . 2008-07-31. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
  3. 1 2 "Coast Guard to Commission Cutter Sea Dragon". Coast Guard News . 2008-01-11. Archived from the original on 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  4. "Coast Guard Cutter Sea Dog to arrive in Kings Bay". Coast Guard News . 2009-05-22. Archived from the original on 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  5. Chuck Hill (2012-10-29). "Coast Guard Maritime Force Protection Units". Chuck Hill's blog . Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2018-10-02. The units are perhaps unique in that they have only a single mission, and they are funded by the Navy. They protect Fleet Ballistic Missile submarines while they transit on the surface, to and from their homeports. The possibility of a USS Cole style attack motivated their creation. Each unit consist of approximately 200 Coasties and is commanded by an O-5. Having CG crews and carrying CG colors and markings allows them to enforce a security zone around the subs. Both units stood up in July 2007.
  6. HMC James T. Flynn Jr., USNR(ret) (2014-06-23). "U. S. Coast Guard: Small Cutters and Patrol Boats 1915 - 2012" (PDF). US Coast Guard. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-05-10. Retrieved 2018-10-03. The four boats which are stationed at Kitsap, WA and Kings Bay, GA submarine bases have an extra remotely operated 50 cal. m.g.
  7. Ed Friedrich (2008-06-20), Enlisting a Coast Guard Cutter to Protect Navy Subs, Kitsap Sun, archived from the original on 2016-10-02, A second 87-foot cutter, the Sea Fox, is being built and will be added next year.
  8. "Bollinger Shipyards delivers final Marine Protector-class CPB". Industry News. 2009-05-13. Archived from the original on 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2018-10-03. We're very sad to see the Sea Fox leave. This contract was supposed to end at 51 vessels, and now we're at 75," said Christopher Bollinger, executive vice president of new construction. "We're excited to see the workmanship continue as we start the next contract for 36 boats.