The Cape class was originally developed as an ASW boat and as a replacement for the aging, World War II vintage, wooden 83-foot patrol boats (83feet in length) that were used mostly for search and rescue duties. With the outbreak of the Korean War and the requirement tasked to the Coast Guard to secure and patrol port facilities in the United States under the Magnuson Act of 1950, the complete replacement of the 83-foot boat was deferred and the 95-foot boat was used for harbor patrols.[1] [2] [3] The first 95-foot hulls were laid down at the Coast Guard Yard in 1952 and were officially described as "seagoing patrol cutters". Because Coast Guard policy did not provide for naming cutters under 100feet at the time of their construction they were referred to by their hull number only and gained the Cape-class names in 1964 when the service changed the naming criteria to 65feet. The class was named for North American geographic capes.[4] The Cape class was replaced by the 110feet beginning in the late 1980s and many of the decommissioned cutters were transferred to nations of the Caribbean and South America by the Coast Guard.
There were three sub-classes or types that evolved as missions for the boat changed. The Type A was outfitted primarily for ASW. The Type B was fitted more for search and rescue (SAR) with the addition of scramble nets, a towing bitt, and a large searchlight. The Type C vessels were constructed with a deck house aft of the bridge. Sixteen boats were overhauled as part of a renovation program began in the mid-late 1970s.
| Number | Type | Name | Delivery | Disposition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 95300 | A | Cape Small | 17 July 1953 | To Marshall Islands 1987 as Ionmeto 2; sold 1992 | |
| 95301 | A | Cape Coral | 21 September 1953 | Decommissioned 1987; disposition unknown | |
| 95302 | A | Cape Higgon | 14 October 1953 | To Uruguay 5 January 1990 as Colonia; decommissioned in 2022 | |
| 95303 | A | Cape Upright | 2 July 1953 | To Bahamas 10 June 1989 as David Tucker (Hull Number P07); Decommissioned in 1996 and donated and sunk as an artificial reef in 1997 as part of Nassau's artificial reef program. A popular dive spot; it is located along an area known as Clifton Wall | |
| 95304 | A | Cape Gull | 8 June 1953 | Sold at auction to Fort Lauderdale businessman Dale Scutti who renamed her Robert Edmister in memory of a deceased friend; She was scuttled 11 December 1989 by five eight-pound dynamite charges administered by the Broward Sheriff's Office Bomb & Arson Unit. She now forms a part of the Broward County Artificial Reef Program. | |
| 95305 | A | Cape Hatteras | 28 July 1953 | To Mexico 1991 as Cabo Catoche; active | |
| 95306 | A | Cape George | 10 August 1953 | To Palau 10 June 1990 | |
| 95307 | A | Cape Current | 24 August 1953 | To Bahamas 30 June 1989 as Austin Smith | |
| 95308 | A | Cape Strait | 10 September 1953 | Sunk 9 September 1993 as an artificial reef off Cape May, New Jersey | |
| 95309 | A | Cape Carter | 7 December 1953 | To Mexico 2 March 1990 as Cabo Corrientes; active | |
| 95310 | A | Cape Wash | 15 December 1953 | To U.S. Navy, 1987 as Olympic Venture, PTB-951, retired c.2010; transferred to Sea Scout ship Intrepid in 2012; transferred to Sea Scout Ship Terrapin in 2022. | |
| 95311 | A | Cape Hedge | 21 December 1953 | To Mexico 27 April 1990 as Cabo Corzo; active | |
| 95312 | B | Cape Knox | 13 June 1955 | Decommissioned 1989; sold to Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in 1991 as Sirenian. Renamed Yoshka in 2006. Currently working for the Galapagos National Park. | |
| 95313 | B | Cape Morgan | 5 July 1955 | To Bahamas 20 October 1989 as Fort Fincastle; struck 1999 | |
| 95314 | B | Cape Fairweather | 18 July 1955 | Decommissioned 1985; disposition unknown | |
| 95315 | B | La Crete a Pierrot | 1 August 1955 | To Haiti 1956; disposition unknown | |
| 95316 | B | Cape Fox | 22 August 1955 | To Bahamas 30 June 1989 as San Salvador II; struck 1999 | |
| 95317 | B | Cape Jellison | 7 September 1955 | transferred to U.S. Navy; transferred to Boys and Girls Club of South San Francisco in 1993 and Sea Scouts as the Cape Hurricane SSS 906. Transferred to Sea Scouts as ship 145 SSS Challenger http://ship145.org | |
| 95318 | B | Cape Newagen | 26 September 1955 | To Mexico 1982; reportedly transferred to U.S. Naval Air Station, Point Mugu, California | |
| 95319 | B | Cape Romain | 11 October 1955 | transferred to U.S. Navy 11 August 1989; transferred to Sea Scouts as ship 51 SSS Intrepid http://www.sssintrepid.org in 1993. Scrapped at Lind Marine in Mare Island, Vallejo, California in 2022. | |
| 95320 | B | Cape Starr | 15 August 1956 | Decommissioned 1987, active (pilot launch Toucan https://web.archive.org/web/20100216083018/http://www.tabsa.cl/Eng/Html/Pilots.php) at Punta Arenas (Strait of Magellan); Chile; acquired by Transbordadora Austral Broom S.A. in 1995, Rebuild 2010. | |
| 95321 | C | Cape Cross | 20 August 1958 | To Micronesia 30 March 1990 as Paluwlap (FSM 03); active | |
| 95322 | C | Cape Horn | 3 September 1958 | To Uruguay January 1990 as Rio Negro; active | |
| 95323 | C | Cape Darby | 3 October 1958 | To South Korea 24 March 1969 as PB 11; struck 1984 | |
| 95324 | C | Cape Shoalwater | 9 December 1958 | To Bahamas 30 June 1989 as Fenrick Stirrup, struck | |
| 95325 | C | Cape Florida | 28 October 1958 | To South Korea 13 November 1968 as PB 7; struck 1971 | |
| 95326 | C | Cape Corwin | 14 November 1958 | To Micronesia 30 September 1990 as Constitution (FSM 04); active | |
| 95327 | C | Cape Porpoise | 21 November 1958 | To South Korea 13 November 1968 as PB 8; struck 1984 | |
| 95328 | C | Cape Henlopen | 5 December 1958 | To Costa Rica 28 September 1989 as Astronauta Franklin Chang (SP 951); decommissioned 2006; sunk as an artificial reef the same year | |
| 95329 | C | Cape Kiwanda | 28 April 1959 | To South Korea 24 March 1969 as PB 12; struck 1984 | |
| 95330 | C | Cape Falcon | 12 May 1959 | To South Korea 13 November 1968 as PB 9; struck 1984 | |
| 95331 | C | Cape Trinity | 26 May 1959 | To South Korea 24 September 1968 as PB 10; struck 1984 | |
| 95332 | C | Cape York | 9 June 1959 | To Bahamas 30 June 1989 as Edward Williams; struck ????; sunk as artificial reef Bahamas https://web.archive.org/web/20110728035429/http://www.skin-diver.com/bahamas01/diving.html | |
| 95333 | C | Cape Rosier | 23 June 1959 | To South Korea 24 September 1968 as PB 3; struck 1984 | |
| 95334 | C | Cape Sable | 7 July 1959 | To South Korea 24 September 1968 as PB 5; struck 1984 | |
| 95335 | C | Cape Providence | 21 July 1959 | To South Korea 24 September 1968 as PB 6; struck 1984 |