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USCGC Point Divide

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Maritime Instructor, ex-Point Divide
History
United States
NamePoint Divide
OwnerUnited States Coast Guard
BuilderCoast Guard Yard, Curtis Bay, Maryland
Commissioned19 September 1962
Decommissioned30 March 1995
FateTransferred to Seattle Maritime Academy
United States
NameMaritime Instructor
OwnerSeattle Maritime Academy
Identification
  • Official number:1033659
  • Radio call sign: WDE6912
General characteristics as built
TypePoint-class patrol boat
Displacement66.1 tons, full load
Length82 ft 10 in (25.25 m)
Beam17 ft 7 in (5.36 m) max
Draft5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Propulsion2 × 800 hp (597 kW) Cummins diesel engines
Speed23.7 knots (43.9 km/h; 27.3 mph)
Complement8 men
Armament1 Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

USCGC Point Divide (WPB-82337) was an 82-foot (25 m) Point-class cutter constructed for the United States Coast Guard. She was built and commissioned in 1962 for use as a law enforcement, harbor patrol, and search and rescue boat. She was stationed in Southern California until 1995 when she was decommissioned.

The cutter was donated to the Seattle Maritime Academy for use as a training vessel in 1995. She was renamed Maritime Instructor, and remains in service with the school.

Construction and characteristics

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Point Divide was constructed at the Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay, Maryland. Her keel was laid on 4 December 1961.[1] Her hull was built of welded steel plates while her superstructure was built of aluminum to save weight. Over the course of Point-class production there were several modifications to the original design. Point Divide was a C-series cutter. As built, her hull was 82 ft 10 in (25.25 m) long overall, with a beam of 17 feet 7 inches (5.36 m), and a full load draft of 5.75 feet (1.75 m). She displaced 66.1 long tons, fully loaded.[2][3]

Point Divide was originally powered by two 12-cylinder Cummins VT-12-M Diesel engines, each of which developed 800 horsepower. These each drove a five-bladed, fixed-pitch propeller which was 3.5 feet (1.1 m) in diameter.[4] This propulsion package gave the cutter a maximum speed of 23.7 knots.[3] The engine exhausts ran through the transom, rather than a conventional stack, giving better all-around visibility on the bridge.[5]

In 1989, the Coast Guard awarded Caterpillar a $5.7 million contract to replace the main engines in 43 of the Point-class cutters, including Point Divide. Two 12-cylinder Caterpillar 3412 engines, each rated at 750 horsepower, were installed. They were each connected to a Twin-Disc 518-M transmission.[6] These engines remain aboard today.[7]

Electrical power on the patrol boat was provided by two 20 Kw Cummins generators.[3]

Her fuel tanks held 1,830 US gallons (6,900 L) of Diesel oil which gave her an unrefueled range of 1584 miles. Her potable water tanks held 1,270 US gallons (4,800 L) of fresh water.[3]

Point Divide's original complement was eight enlisted sailors, led by a chief petty officer.[8]

The main armament of Point Divide was an Oerlikon 20 mm cannon.[1]

Since the Coast Guard policy in 1962 was not to name cutters under 100 feet (30 m) in length she was designated as WPB-82337 when commissioned. She acquired the name Point Divide in 1964 when the Coast Guard named all cutters longer than 65-foot (20 m).[9] The Coast Guard's original intent is not clear today, but the only geographic feature currently recognized as "Point Divide" by the United States Geological Survey is at the entrance to Herendeen Bay on the Alaska Peninsula. It is possible that this is the cutter's namesake.[10]

Coast Guard service history

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Point Divide was placed in commission at the Coast Guard Yard on 19 September 1962.[8] She sailed from there to her homeport of Newport Beach, California on her own bottom, making numerous stops along the way. She transited the Panama Canal on 29 December 1962[11] and reached Los Angeles on 26 January 1963.[12] Point Divide was assigned to Newport Beach, California from 1962 to 1965.[9] In 1965, Point Divide was reassigned to Corona Del Mar, California to replace Point Marone, which was sent to Vietnam.[13]

The large numbers of recreational boaters in Southern California involved Point Divide in a significant number of search and rescue missions. In 1965 she rescued three teenaged boys who set out on an eighteen-foot catamaran to "sail the South Seas".[14] In 1966 she put pumps aboard the sinking sport-fishing boat Valor and towed her back to port.[15] In 1969 two men were rescued from the water after their 24-foot sailboat capsized. Point Divide towed the sailboat back to port along with a 42-foot cabin cruiser that was disabled by engine trouble.[16] In 1971 she pulled a grounded 28-foot motorboat into deeper water.[17] The fishing boat Rappy II was disabled when a line wrapped around her propeller in 1973. Point Divide towed her back to harbor. In 1974, a sixteen-foot skiff with two aboard ran out of gas on a trip from Catalina Island to Long Beach and drifted all night. After they were reported missing, Point Divide located them and sold them enough gas to get back to port.[18] The cutter averaged about fifty search and rescue missions a year.[19]

Point Divide and Point Hubbard were assigned to Presidential Support Duty, alternating patrols off President Nixon's San Clemente retreat whenever he was in residence.[20] Presidential security did not relieve the need to rescue boaters in trouble. The cutter rescued two crew of a Hobie Cat that capsized a quarter mile from Nixon's beach in 1972.[21]

Point Divide was also called upon to execute a wide variety of other missions. In July 1970, she towed a dead gray whale off Salt Creek Beach so that it could sink in deep water.[22] She hosted tours aboard as a form of public outreach.[23][24] In 1984, Point Divide seized a full-size replica of HMS Bounty which was used in the film, The Bounty. The U.S. Customs Service alleged that it failed to properly clear customs on arrival in the United States.[25] The fishing vessel Ocean Joy smuggled 415 burlap bags containing $22 million of marijuna into Los Angeles Harbor in May 1985. While officers on land seized the drugs, Point Divide chased the vessel as she returned to sea. She fired warning shots from a .50-caliber machine gun when the smugglers refused to obey verbal orders to stop. Once boarded, Point Divide's crew found that the smugglers had opened seacocks to flood and sink Ocean Joy. The flooding was stopped with assistance from USS Kincaid,[26] the four crewmen were detained, and Ocean Joy was towed back to port.[27]

Point Divide was decommissioned at a ceremony in Corona Del Mar on 30 March 1995.[28] She was replaced in Corona Del Mar by Point Stuart.[29] Ex-Point Divide was donated to the Maritime Training Center of Seattle Community College through the U.S. Maritime Administration.[30]

Maritime Instructor escorts USCGC Eagle into Seattle as part of the Coast Guard heritage fleet on 1 July 2008

Honors and awards

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Point Divide earned two Meritorious Unit Commendations.[31]

Seattle Maritime Academy

[edit]

Point Divide was renamed Maritime Instructor by her new owners at Seattle Community College. The school, reorganized as the Seattle Maritime Academy in 1997,[32] is a unit of Seattle Central College which offers a vocational training program to prepare students for jobs in the maritime sector. Maritime Instructor is used to give students on-the-water training during their course of study.[30]

References

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  1. ^ a b Scheina, Robert L. (1990). U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft, 1946-1990. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-719-4.
  2. ^ Polmar, Norman (1997). Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet (16th ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. p. 514. ISBN 1-55750-686-8.
  3. ^ a b c d Coe, Thomas J.; Young, Ryan R. (April 1985). COMPARATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF UNITED STATES COAST GUARD 95' AND 82' CLASS PATROL BOATS (WPB) (PDF). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Coast Guard, Office of Research and Development.
  4. ^ Wood, James L. (9 March 2005). Evaluation of USCG Cutter Point Francis Propeller Strike on Right Whale Calf (PDF).
  5. ^ Sherwood, John Darrell (2015). War In The Shallows (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Naval History and Heritage Command.
  6. ^ "U.S. Coast Guard Patrol Boats To Be Repowered With Cat Engines". Maritime Reporter and Engineering News. 51 (12): 34. December 1989.
  7. ^ "Real–world Training at Sea | Maritime Programs". maritime.seattlecentral.edu. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
  8. ^ a b Log/Quartermasters' Bridge Book, WPB 82337, Month of September 1962. U.S. Coast Guard. September 1962.
  9. ^ a b "Point Divide, 1962 (WPB 82337)". United States Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 11 March 2025. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  10. ^ Orth, Donald J. Orth (1967). Dictionary of Alaska Place Names. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 275.
  11. ^ Log/Quatermasters' Bridge Book, WPB 82337, Month of December 1962. U.S. Coast Guard. December 1962.
  12. ^ Log/Quatermasters' Bridge Book, WPB 82337, Month of January 1963.
  13. ^ "Replacement Sought for Cutters Ordered to Vietnam". Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet. 13 May 1965. p. 10.
  14. ^ "Coast Guard Halts Voyage". Rialto Record. 15 February 1965. p. 1.
  15. ^ "Boating mishaps keep Coast Guardsmen busy". News-Pilot. 14 July 1966. p. 1.
  16. ^ "Two Rescued After Sailboat Overturns". Los Angeles Times. 28 November 1969. p. 2.
  17. ^ "3 Unhurt in Crystal Cove Boating Mishap". Los Angeles Times. 1 February 1971. p. 2.
  18. ^ "Coast Guard saves boat - with gas". Press-Telegram. 18 February 1974. p. 16.
  19. ^ Sipchen, Bob (22 May 1986). "ATTACK: "Bad Guys" Simulate Coast Attack". Los Angeles Times. p. 6.
  20. ^ Coast Guard Historian website
  21. ^ "Nixon's Cutter Helps 'Sailors'". Sun Post News. 10 July 1972. p. 1.
  22. ^ "Heavy Tow". Los Angeles Times. 17 July 1970. p. 3.
  23. ^ "USCG Cutter Open House Set At Dana Harbor". Sun Post News. 21 March 1973. p. 1.
  24. ^ "Point Divide". Valley Tribune. 21 March 1979. p. 12.
  25. ^ Davies, John (7 August 1984). "Bounty seized by U.S. agents". News-Pilot. p. 1.
  26. ^ Drug Trafficking and Abuse Along the Southwest Border (San Diego): Hearing Before the Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control, House of Representatives, Ninety-ninth Congress, Second Session, January 16, 1986. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1986.
  27. ^ Decker, Cathleen (31 May 1985). "11 Drug-Smuggling Arrests at Harbor Called Major Victory". Los Angeles Times. p. 47.
  28. ^ "Honored cutter makes last voyage". Press Democrat. 1 April 1995. p. 17.
  29. ^ "CUTTER: Crew members swap stories of ship". Los Angeles Times. 31 March 1995. pp. B9.
  30. ^ a b "Real–world Training at Sea | Maritime Programs". maritime.seattlecentral.edu. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  31. ^ Coast Guard Military Medals and Awards Manual (PDF). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Coast Guard. 15 August 2016. p. 30.
  32. ^ "Seattle community college opens maritime academy". Kitsap Sun. 30 September 1997. p. 6.


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