Aluminum and sheet metal don’t hold up to fire very well
Last week I hit the water to check out how the coastline changed as a result of Hurricane Nate (I’ve since picked up some great pieces of beached cypress driftwood that likely came from the barrier islands and have several projects in mind for them, but anyway).
On the way back into Gulfport Harbor I saw the 87-foot Marine Protector-class patrol boat, USCGC Brant (WPB-87348) tied up at Coast Guard Station Gulfport. As she is different from our regular two WPBs home-ported here (Razorbill and Pompano), I made sure to grab a few shots of the visiting cutter, normally out of Sector Corpus Christie on the other side of the Gulf.
Then I saw this shot just a few days later of her wheelhouse from the port side…
From the USCG 8th District, Coast Guard Sector New Orleans:
NEW ORLEANS – Members from Gulfport Fire Department and a Coast Guard member extinguished a fire aboard Coast Guard Cutter Brant, which was moored in Gulfport, Mississippi, Wednesday.
At approximately 5 a.m., two Coast Guard members who were aboard the cutter became aware of the fire, located on the port-aft area of the vessel, and took initial actions to put out the fire using an on-board fire extinguisher.
Members from Gulfport Fire Department arrived on scene at 5:05 a.m. and extinguished the fire.
The two Coast Guard members on board the vessel were evaluated by emergency medical services and have been released.
“We are thankful no one was hurt in the fire,” said Cmdr. Zachary Ford, the head of the response department at Coast Guard Sector New Orleans. “Without the quick response and actions taken by the Gulfport Fire Department, this incident could have been much worse.”
The cause of the incident is under investigation.
The fire looked like it happened around officer’s country on the 87-footer and it is good to know that neither life nor limb was lost and she is still afloat. Looks like a trip back to Bollinger in Lockport is in her future, though. She’s just 15 years old and likely has another decade or two on her hull so you would imagine she could be rebuilt.
https://polldaddy.com/js/rating/rating.jsThe USCG has always made flimsy and unseaworthy patrol boats. Since they retired the 82 footers, even those were top heavy. I was in when the first 110′ cutters were hitting the water. The Farallon 1301 was the first one I ever saw. after several engine room fires on it’s first patrol we ended up towing her back to Miami. While were putting the tow hawser over. We were just standing around like any other day. The crew of the Farallon on their forecastle could literally not even stand up the vessel was rolling so much. The CO called up and said we had better hurry because he could feel his superstructure starting to flex. My cutter the Tamaroa WMEC-166 was not known for it’s smooth ride. That class of cutter turned out to be a total disaster after the lengthening didn’t work out.
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