Coast Guard says farewell to the last 41 Foot UTB in service after 41 years.
If you have ever been through a USCG SAR station, or around one, in the past forty years, odds are you came across a ’41 Utility Boat, Large. Some 156 of these were built by the Coast Guard Yard, Curtis Bay, Maryland between 1973-78. These hardy craft were constructed of welded 5086 aluminum, with a molded fiberglass superstructure and twin Cummins diesel engines with conventional shafts and propellers. Usually ran by a crew of 2-4, they could make 25-ish knots and stay out on the water for half a day or more before returning to shore due to the fact they had no berthing or galley facility.
I remember taking a few cruises on these out of the old Pascagoula SAR station with my JROTC unit in high school. Most people don’t know this, but they kept a fully ready M16A1 in a molded cabinet case in the cabin and had the ability to mount a pair of Vietnam-era M60 machine guns on the deck if needed.
Well the last one, based on the Great Lakes, has been retired. They are replaced by 174 of the new and super-sweet 45-foot Response Boat-Medium (RB-M)
End of an era. Although you can be sure some of these are probably being shipped off to deserving third world allies so that their local coasties can help deter smuggler, save lives, and police poachers.
Here are some pictures of one I took that has been preserved at the USS Mobile (BB-60) Memorial Park a few years back.
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I make model kits of USCG small boats in 1/700 & 1/350 scale. I believe the US Coast Guard is an under-represented service in the modeling community. My newest project the the 41 in both scales! Semper Paratus, Baby!
do you have pictures by chance , models for sale ?
What was the name of UTB 41423?
41423. Except for th 52 MLBs that are now out of service, boats were 64 feet and under and went by their boat number. The first two numbers of that boat number denote the length of the boat. All craft 65 feet and longer are cutters and named.
Typically they did not name the small boats. Once the vessel got to be 81 foot it became a point class boat then a cape class vessel for the 95 footers. It’s different today
US Coast Guard boats under 65 feet are assigned a number. Generally they are unnamed except for the Station they serve on the Transom
Does that help?
USS “Alabama” BB-60
41301, First UTB put in service. USCG Station Rockaway, Rock away NY. Tuned, timed, tweaked, equipment readjusted, making her the only 41 that would come up on plane…topped out at 35 knots. 1985-1987.
“The only one that would come up on plane.” That’s laughable. Every one I ever worked on, or wit, came up on plane.
1980-1985
I worked on the 41 Footers out of Seattle, 41435 and 41388, I was assigned to those boats.
I’d love the 41-footers I did search and rescue one of those out of Seattle and I loved every minute of it.
Myself also 1979 -1984 Coxswain 41435 did some fancy work, escorted the USSBN OHIO Trident
I served on 41453 out of Annapolis and later out of St. Inigoes. She was one of the very few CG boats to get screen credit in a feature film, “Cocoon”. Semper Paratus
Did SAR in Grand Isle LA, 41426, and 41346. Back in the mid 90’s
I was stationed on the 41301 in Rockaway, I’d take a 44 footer any day like the 44314. Cheers. 1972-1976.