USCGC Point Hope (WPB-82302) was an 82 foot Point-class cutter constructed at the Coast Guard Yard

United States Coast Guard Yard

The United States Coast Guard Yard or just Coast Guard Yard is a United States Coast Guard operated shipyard located on Curtis Bay in northern Anne Arundel County, Maryland, just south of the Baltimore city limits. It is the coast guard's sole shipbuilding and major repair facility, and part of the...

 at Curtis Bay, Maryland in 1960 for use as a law enforcement and search and rescue patrol boat. Since the Coast Guard policy in 1960 was not to name cutters

United States Coast Guard Cutter

Cutter is the term used by the United States Coast Guard for its commissioned vessels. A Cutter is or greater in length, has a permanently assigned crew, and has accommodations for the crew to live aboard...

 under 100 feet (30.5 m) in length, it was designated as WPB-82302 when commissioned and acquired the name Point Hope in January 1964 when the Coast Guard started naming all cutters longer than 65 feet (19.8 m).

Construction details

Point Hope 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 gal and fuel tank capacity was 1840 gal at 95% full. In 1990 she was refit with 800 horsepower Caterpillar main drive engines.

History

After delivery in 1960, Point Hope was assigned a homeport of Sabine Pass, Texas

Sabine Pass, Texas

Sabine Pass is a neighborhood of Port Arthur, Texas, United States. It lies on the west bank of Sabine Pass, near the Louisiana border.Originally known as Sabine City, the original date of settlement of Sabine Pass is unknown, but is estimated at 1836...

, where she served as a law enforcement and search and rescue patrol boat. On 26 February 1968 she towed the disabled FV Hope 60 miles to Sabine Pass. On 6 October 1968 Point Hope towed the disabled FV Miss Cubit 30 miles to Galveston, Texas

Galveston, Texas

Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...

. On 11 March 1969 she extinguished a fire on tug Gulf Master and towed her to the Port of Sabine. She fought another fire on a gas drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

 on 30 September 1971. Point Hope rescued seven personnel from a capsized jack-up barge on 17 October 1984. In May 1987 she transported endangered loggerhead turtles to deep water.

On 3 May 1991 Point Hope was transferred to the government of Costa Rica.

External links

• "Point" Class 82-foot WPBs Coast Guard Historian's website