83-foot patrol boat

The 83-foot CGC-624 (later USCG-14) in 1942
Class overview
Name	83-foot patrol boat
Builders	Wheeler Shipyard, Brooklyn, New York
Operators	United States Coast Guard
Preceded by	400-series patrol boat[1]
Succeeded by	Cape-class and Point-class cutters
Completed	230
Preserved	2
General characteristics [2]
Class and type	Patrol boat
Displacement	76 tons fully loaded
Length	83 ft (25 m)
Beam	16 ft (4.9 m)
Height	64 in (1,600 mm)
Installed power	Twin Sterling Viking II gasoline engines[3]
Propulsion	twin propellers
Speed	20 kt

The United States Coast Guard wooden-hulled 83-foot patrol boats (also called cutters) were all built by Wheeler Shipyard in Brooklyn, New York during World War II. The first 136 cutters were fitted with a tapered-roof Everdur silicon bronze wheelhouse but due to a growing scarcity of that metal during the war, the later units were fitted with a flat-roofed plywood wheelhouse.^[4] A total of 230 83-footers were built and entered service with the Coast Guard during the war. Twelve other 83-footers were built for the Navy and were transferred to Latin American navies.^[5]

The patrol boats were powered by two 600-horsepower "Viking 2nd" Model TCG-8 inline eight-cylinder gasoline engines manufactured by the Sterling Engine Company. Their combined fuel economy was poor: 100 gallons per hour at a cruising speed of 12 knots, 120 gallons per hour at full throttle.^[6]

The class was followed by Cape-class 95-foot patrol boat (or cutter) and 82-foot Point-class cutter.

Two of the cutters still survive. One, D-Day veteran CG-83366, is undergoing restoration to serve as a museum. The other, CG-83527, was a public attraction in the Seattle area from 2004-2016^[7] and is now used as a home by its new owner.