USCGC Point Banks (WPB-82327) was an 82 feet (25 m) USCG

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

  constructed at the Coast Guard Yard at 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 feet (30.5 m) in length it was designated as WPB-82327 when commissioned and acquired the name Point Banks in January 1964 when the Coast Guard started naming all cutters longer than 65 feet (19.8 m).

Construction details

Point Banks was built with a mild steel hull and an aluminum superstructure that could accommodate an 8 man crew. She was powered by two 600 horsepower VT600 Cummins diesel main drive engines and had two five bladed 42 inch propellers. The main drive engines were later replaced by 800 horsepower VT800 Cummins engines. Longitudinally framed construction was used to save weight. Water tank capacity was 1550 gallons and fuel tank capacity was 1840 gallons at 95% full. Frozen food storage was 23 cubic foot (0.651287481 m³). Accommodations for a 13 man crew were installed for Vietnam service.

History

After delivery in 1961, Point Banks was assigned a homeport of Woods Hole, Massachusetts

Woods Hole, Massachusetts

Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands...

, where she served as a law enforcement and search and rescue patrol boat. In March and April 1965, she escorted USS Atka (AGB-3)

USCGC Southwind (WAGB-280)

USCGC Southwind was a Wind-class icebreaker that served in the United States Coast Guard as USCGC Southwind , the Soviet Navy as the Admiral Makarov, the United States Navy as USS Atka and again in the U.S...

, which was taking on water off New Bedford, Massachusetts

New Bedford, Massachusetts

New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and about east of Fall River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 95,072, making it the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts...

.

At the request of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

, in April 1965, she was alerted for service in Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 and assigned to Coast Guard Squadron One in support of Operation Market Time

Operation Market Time

Operation Market Time was the United States Navy’s effort to stop troops and supplies from flowing by sea from North Vietnam to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War...

 along with 16 other Point class cutters. While the crew completed overseas training and weapons qualifications at Coast Guard Island

Coast Guard Island

Coast Guard Island is in the Oakland Estuary between Oakland and Alameda, California. The island is situated in the historic Brooklyn Basin, now known as Embarcadero Cove. It is within the Alameda city limits, but is accessible, by car, only via a bridge to Dennison Street in Oakland.The Island...

 and Camp Parks, California

Parks Reserve Forces Training Area

Parks Reserve Forces Training Area is a United States Army facility located in Dublin, California that is currently a semi-active mobilization and training center for Army Reserve Component personnel to be used in case of war or natural disaster....

, Point Banks was loaded onto a merchant ship, and transported to Subic Bay

Subic Bay

Subic Bay is a bay forming part of Luzon Sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon in Zambales, Philippines, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. Its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility named U.S...

, Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 in May 1965 where she was refit for combat service. Shipyard modifications included installation of new single-sideband radio equipment, additional floodlights, small arms lockers, additional sound-powered phone circuits, and the addition of four M-2 machine guns. The original bow mounted machine gun was replaced with a combination over-under .50 caliber machine gun/81 mm trigger fired mortar that had been developed by the Coast Guard for service in Vietnam. 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.

Point Banks was assigned to Division 11 of Squadron One to be based at An Thoi, a small fishing village on the southern tip of Phu Quoc Island along with , , , , , , and , . After sea trials, the Division left Subic Bay for Phú Quốc on 17 July 1965 in the company of , their temporary support ship. Point Banks was the only cutter to experience an engine casualty during the transit to Vietnam. Repairs were made underway to one of the main drive engines and the division was not delayed in route. After almost two weeks at sea, they arrived at their new duty station on 1 August and began patrolling the waters in the Gulf of Thailand

Gulf of Thailand

The Gulf of Thailand , also known in to Malays as Teluk Siam literally meant Gulf of Siam, is a shallow arm of the South China Sea.-Geography:...

 near the Cà Mau Peninsula

Ca Mau Peninsula

peninsula makes up the southern tip of Vietnam. It is in Ca Mau province, and lies between the Gulf of Thailand to the west and the South China Sea to the east....

. Duty consisted of boarding Vietnamese junks to search for contraband weapons and ammunition and check the identification papers of persons on board. During September 1965, , 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.

On the night of 21 January 1969 while on patrol south of Cam Ranh Bay

Cam Ranh Bay

Cam Ranh Bay is a deep-water bay in Vietnam in the province of Khánh Hòa. It is located at an inlet of the South China Sea situated on the southeastern coast of Vietnam, between Phan Rang and Nha Trang, approximately 290 kilometers / 180 miles northeast of Hồ Chí Minh City / Saigon.Cam Ranh is...

, Point Banks intercepted radio transmissions from the shore requesting assistance in evacuating several ARVN troops that were surrounded by Viet Cong units. After receiving permission to attempt a rescue, she launched her small boat with two crewmen and came to the aid of nine stranded ARVN troops with the help of two Navy Swift

Fast Patrol Craft

Patrol Craft Fast , also known as Swift Boats, were all-aluminum, long, shallow-draft vessels operated by the U.S. Navy, initially to patrol the coastal areas and later for work in the interior waterways as part of the Brown Water Navy to interdict Vietcong movement of arms and munitions,...

 boats and an Air Force AC-47 gunship. Point Banks assisted by lobbing mortar fire along the shoreline. Gunner's Mate

Gunner's Mate

The United States Navy occupational rating of gunner's mate also known as gunsmens mate is a designation given by the Bureau of Naval Personnel to enlisted sailors who either satisfactorily complete initial Gunner's Mate "A" school training, or who "strike" for the rating as a deck seaman by...

 Second Class Willis J. Goff and Engineman

Engineman

Engineman is a United States Navy occupational rating.-Scope of Rating:Enginemen operate, service and repair internal combustion engines used to power some of the Navy's ships and most of the Navy's small craft. Most Enginemen work with diesel engines...

 Second Class Larry D. Villarreal were awarded the Silver Star

Silver Star

The Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....

 medal for their heroism under fire.

On 17 November 1969, Point Banks was turned over to the South Vietnamese Navy as part of the Vietnamization

Vietnamization

Vietnamization was a policy of the Richard M. Nixon administration during the Vietnam War, as a result of the Viet Cong's Tet Offensive, to "expand, equip, and train South Vietnam's forces and assign to them an ever-increasing combat role, at the same time steadily reducing the number of U.S....

of the war effort and recommissioned as HQ-719.

External links

• The Coast Guard's Vietnam Augusta State University website