Point class cutter
The Point-class cutter was a class of 82-foot patrol vessels designed to replace the United States Coast Guard's aging 83-foot wooden hull patrol boat being used at the time. The design utilized a mild steel hull and an aluminum superstructure. ...
constructed at the
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 largest industrial fa ...
at
Curtis Bay, Maryland
Curtis Bay is a residential / commercial / industrial neighborhood in the southern portion of the City of Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
The neighborhood is on steep sloping heights, about four city blocks wide (west to east) and fifteen blo ...
in 1962 for use as a law enforcement and search and rescue patrol boat. Since the Coast Guard policy in 1962 was not to name cutters under in length, it was designated as ''WPB-82335'' when commissioned and acquired the name ''Point Countess'' in January 1964 when the Coast Guard started naming all cutters longer than .Coast Guard Historian website /ref>Scheina, p 72
Design and construction details
''Point Countess'' was built to accommodate an 8-man crew.Scheina, p 71 She was powered by two VT800
Cummins
Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, filtration, and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipment, including fuel systems, controls, air ...
diesel main drive engines and had two five-bladed propellers. Water tank capacity was and fuel tank capacity was at 95% full.Scheina, p 71 After 1990 she was refit with Caterpillar diesel main drive engines. Engine exhaust was ported through the transom rather than through a conventional stack and this permitted a 360-degree view from the bridge; a feature that was very useful in search and rescue work as well as a combat environment.Scotti, p 165
The design specifications for ''Point Countess'' included a steel hull for durability and an aluminum superstructure and longitudinally framed construction was used to save weight. Ease of operation with a small crew size was possible because of the non-manned main drive engine spaces. Controls and alarms located on the
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
allowed one man operation of the cutter thus eliminating a live engineer
watch
A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached b ...
in the engine room.Scotti, p 165 Because of design, four men could operate the cutter; however, the need for resting watchstanders brought the crew size to eight men for normal domestic service.Scotti, p 165 The
screw
A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to f ...
s were designed for ease of replacement and could be changed without removing the cutter from the water. A clutch-in idle speed of three knots helped to conserve fuel on lengthy patrols and an eighteen knot maximum speed could get the cutter on scene quickly.Scotti, p 166 Air-conditioned interior spaces were a part of the original design for the Point class cutter. Interior access to the deckhouse was through a watertight door on the starboard side aft of the
deckhouse
A cabin or berthing is an enclosed space generally on a ship or an aircraft. A cabin which protrudes above the level of a ship's deck may be referred to as a deckhouse.
Sailing ships
In sailing ships, the officers and paying passengers wo ...
. The deckhouse contained the cabin for the officer-in-charge and the executive petty officer.Scotti, p 166 The deckhouse also included a small arms locker,
scuttlebutt
Scuttlebutt in slang usage means rumor or gossip, deriving from the nautical term for the cask used to serve water (or, later, a water fountain).head. Access to the lower deck and engine room was down a ladder. At the bottom of the ladder was the galley, mess and recreation deck. A watertight door at the front of the mess bulkhead led to the main crew quarters which was ten feet long and included six bunks that could be stowed, three bunks on each side. Forward of the bunks was the crew's head complete with a compact sink, shower and commode.Scotti, p 166
History
''Point Countess'' was stationed at
Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham ( ) is the most populous city in, and county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies south of the U.S.–Canada border in between two major cities of the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver, British Columbia (loc ...
from 1962 to 1965. In 1966 and 1967, she was stationed at
Everett, Washington
Everett is the county seat and largest city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett is the seventh-largest city in the ...
. ''Point Countess'' was painted gray in 1967 and readied for action in Vietnam in support of
Operation Market Time
Operation Market Time was the United States Navy, Republic of Vietnam Navy and Royal Australian Navy operation begun in 1965 to stop the flow of troops, war material, and supplies by sea, coast, and rivers, from North Vietnam into parts of Sout ...
. At the last minute she was ordered to relieve the at
Port Angeles, Washington
Port Angeles ( ) is a city and county seat of Clallam County, Washington, United States. With a population of 19,960 as of the 2020 census, it is the largest city in the county. The population was estimated at 20,134 in 2021.
The city's har ...
. She was stationed at Port Angeles from 1968 to 1988.
On 8 July 1968, she towed a disabled pleasure craft to Everett. On 1 October 1968, she towed the disabled FV ''Beatrice'' 30 miles west of Port Angeles to that port. On 21 February 1969, she towed the disabled pleasure craft ''Betty J II'' from 25 miles west of Port Angeles to that port. On 18 January 1986, she helped seize MV ''Eagle 1'' entering the
Strait of Juan de Fuca
The Strait of Juan de Fuca (officially named Juan de Fuca Strait in Canada) is a body of water about long that is the Salish Sea's outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The international boundary between Canada and the United States runs down the centre ...
carrying 447 lbs of
cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...
, the largest cocaine seizure by the Coast Guard to that date.
From 1988 until her decommissioning in 2000, she was stationed at
Nokomis, Florida
Nokomis is an unincorporated town along the Gulf Coast of Florida, United States, located south of Osprey and just north of Venice. The town has access to the coast through Nokomis Public Beach and Casey Key. The town's population was 3,167 at t ...
. Here she continued in her law enforcement and search and rescue duties successfully. In late 1988, she seized pleasure craft ''Premolo'' in the Yucatán Channel carrying 800 lbs of cocaine in a concealed compartment. Additionally, she seized 8.5 million dollars worth of cocaine from a sailing vessel entering Tampa Bay, 5 tons of cocaine from the Belizean-flagged vessel ''Inge Frank'', and the prosecution of dozens of personal use narcotics cases each year. In addition, she interdicted over 35 wanted felons from 1997 through her decommissioning. ''Point Countess'' was decommissioned 25 May 2000 and transferred to the
Republic of Georgia
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
on 25 June 2000.
Republic of Georgia service
The Republic of Georgia renamed her Georgia Coast Guard Vessel ''Tsotne Dadiani'' (P210). During the
2008 South Ossetia war
The 2008 Russo-Georgian WarThe war is known by a variety of other names, including Five-Day War, August War and Russian invasion of Georgia. was a war between Georgia, on one side, and Russia and the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of Sou ...
, ''Tsotne Dadiani'' sortied with other Coast Guard vessels from
Poti
Poti ( ka, ფოთი ; Mingrelian: ფუთი; Laz: ჶაში/Faşi or ფაში/Paşi) is a port city in Georgia, located on the eastern Black Sea coast in the region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti in the west of the country. Built near t ...
, prior to Russian forces arriving. The ''Tsotne Dadiani'' was in the southern port of
Batumi
Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of t ...
until September 2008 when Russian forces withdrew and the Georgian Coast Guard Operations Directorate returned to its base in Poti.