Response Boat – Medium Explained

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Ship Image:USCG response boat medium 45607 Yorktown.jpg
Ship Caption:A US Coast Guard RB-M underway off Yorktown, Virginia
Class Before:41-foot Utility Boat, Large
Total Ships Planned:170
Total Ships Completed:174
Ship Displacement:16.3 ton
Ship Length:44inchesft9inchesin (ftin)
Ship Beam:14inchesft7.75inchesin (ftin)
Ship Draft:3inchesft4inchesin (ftin)
Ship Power:2 × MTU Detroit Diesel turbocharged Series 60 engines, 825hp total
Ship Propulsion:2 × Kongsberg Maritime FF-Series waterjets
Ship Range:250nmi at
Ship Complement:4
Ship Armament:2 × M240B general-purpose machine guns

The Response Boat – Medium (RB-M) is a 45feet utility boat used by the United States Coast Guard. It is a replacement for the Coast Guard's retired fleet of 41feet utility boats (UTB), which had been in use by the Coast Guard since the 1970s. On June 21, 2006 the USCG awarded the RB-M contract to Marinette Marine of Marinette, Wisconsin and Kvichak Marine Industries of Seattle, Washington. The RB-M was designed by Camarc Design in the UK. Between June of 2006 and March of 2015 Marinette, in Green Bay Wisconsin and Kvichak in Kent, Washington partnered to build and deliver 174 RB-Ms to the USCG. Kvichak developed and delivered several police boat variants to several cities including Seattle and New York.

In the summer of 2017, the Canadian Coast Guard purchased a used 45 RBM from the United States Coast Guard. It is based in Vancouver British Columbia under the name CCGS Laredo Sound.

According to the US Coast Guard, "While primarily a search and rescue asset when the 41' UTB was first fielded, the evolution of missions has increased the requirement to perform many missions including recreational boating safety, marine environmental protection, enforcement of laws and treaties, ports, waterways, and coastal security, and defense operations, including those traditional missions associated with Homeland Security."[1]

On March 17, 2015, the U.S. Coast Guard received the 174th and final RB-M into service.[2]

General characteristics

The boat has a deep-V, double chine hull, which provides a balance of performance and stability. The vessel is self-righting if it capsizes in rough seas. Below the pilot house are six compartments:

(Sources:[3] [4])

Electronics

Hull numbering

In keeping with standard USCG practice, boats of this size have hull numbers and are not named. This type of boat has a hull number beginning with the length of the boat (45′) and then a sequential number. In the case of the RB-M boats, the hull numbers begin with 601. Thus the first boat will be RB-M 45601.

Boats

Boat Station Delivery date
45601
45602
45603 Key West, Florida
45604 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
45605 Staten Island, New York
45606 Port Aransas, Texas
45607 Yorktown, Virginia
45608
45609 San Juan, Puerto Rico
45610 Staten Island, New York
45611 Port Aransas, Texas
45612 Staten Island, New York
45613 Maui, Hawaii
45614 Staten Island, New York
45615 Little Creek, Virginia
45616 Staten Island, New York
45617 Cortez, Florida
45618 Galveston, Texas
45619 Honolulu, Hawaii
45620 Castle Hill, Rhode Island
45621 Panama City, Florida
45622 Staten Island, New York
45623 St. Petersburg, Florida
45624 Cleveland Harbor, Ohio
45625 Lake Worth Inlet, Florida
45626 Belle Isle, Michigan
45627 Honolulu, Hawaii
45628 Duluth, Minnesota
45629 Castle Hill, Rhode Island
45630 Galveston, Texas
45631 Fort Lauderdale, Florida
45632 Belle Isle, Michigan
45633 Panama City, Florida
45634 Fort Pierce, Florida
45635 Calumet Harbor, Illinois
45636 New Orleans, Louisiana
45640 Annapolis, Maryland
45641 Curtis Bay, Maryland
45643 Los Angeles/Long Beach, California
45645Seattle, WashingtonJanuary 2010
45651 Los Angeles/Long Beach, California
45652 Los Angeles/Long Beach, California
45664Seattle, WashingtonJune 2011
45658Seattle, WashingtonAugust 2011
45690Buffalo, New YorkMay 2012
45703 Essexville, Michigan
45723 Youngstown, New York
45744 Hobucken, North Carolina
45745 Hudgins, Virginia
45742 Crisfield, Maryland
45749Port Angeles, Washington
45754 St. Joseph, Michigan
45771 Destin, Florida
45772 Charleston, South Carolina
45773 New Orleans, Louisiana
45774 St. Petersburg, Florida
Sources:[5] [6]

Media

RB-M 45771 at Station Destin, Florida was featured at Smarter Every Day channel [7]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Response Boat – Medium Major Acquisition Project . United States Coast Guard .
  2. Web site: Acquisition Update: U.S. Coast Guard Commemorates Final Response Boat-Medium Delivery . . March 18, 2015.
  3. Web site: Response Boat-Medium: Project Profile . . Acquisition Directorate . 19 September 2013.
  4. Web site: Response Boat-Medium Acquisition Project . Responseboat Project . https://web.archive.org/web/20090309055342/http://www.responseboatproject.net/characteristics.aspx . 2009-03-09.
  5. Web site: RB-M: Acquisition Project History . 2010-02-14 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20100310154913/http://www.uscg.mil/acquisition/rbm/history.asp . 2010-03-10 . dead .
  6. Web site: Production Update . Responseboat Project . 2010-02-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090310040621/http://www.responseboatproject.net/productionupdate.aspx . 2009-03-10.
  7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFzuRm3wCDk Why Jet Boats are AWESOME