Response Boat – Medium

Response Boat – Medium

A US Coast Guard RB-M underway off Yorktown, Virginia
Class overview
Builders	Vigor Industrial Marinette Marine Corporation
Operators	United States Coast Guard Canadian Coast Guard
Preceded by	41-foot Utility Boat, Large
Planned	170
Completed	174
General characteristics
Displacement	16.3 ton
Length	44 ft 9 in (13.64 m)
Beam	14 ft 7.75 in (4.4641 m)
Draft	3 ft 4 in (1.02 m)
Installed power	2 × MTU Detroit Diesel turbocharged Series 60 engines, 825 hp (615 kW) total
Propulsion	2 × Rolls-Royce FF-Series waterjets
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) (cruise) 42.5 knots (78.7 km/h; 48.9 mph) (max)
Range	250 nmi (460 km; 290 mi) at 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement	4
Armament	2 × M240B general-purpose machine guns

The USCG Response Boat Medium (RBM) has replaced a fleet of 41-foot utility boats (UTBs) that averaged over 30-years of service^[1]

The Response Boat – Medium (RB-M) is a 45-foot (14 m) utility boat used by the United States Coast Guard. It is a replacement for the Coast Guard's retired fleet of 41-foot (12 m) utility boats (UTB), which had been in use by the Coast Guard since the 1970s. The Coast Guard plans to acquire 170^[2] of these RB-Ms over a 6–10 year period.^[3] The boats will be built by Vigor Industrial^[4] of Kent, Washington and Marinette Marine Corporation of Marinette, Wisconsin.^[5]

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."^{[6][failed verification]}

On March 17, 2015, the U.S. Coast Guard received the 174th and final RB-M into service.^[7]

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:

• Lazarette
• Auxiliary machinery compartment
• Engine room
• Survivors' Compartment
• Forepeak
• Head

(Sources:^[8][9])

Electronics[]

• FLIR navigator thermal imager
• Furuno scalable integrated navigation system
• Furuno radios
• Gentex LVIS digital intercom system
• Taiyo TD-L1550A VHF Direction Finder
• Motorola 5000 digital mobile radio
• Mount for KY-99 makes RB-M ready for secure communications
• L3 Communications automatic identification system

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[]

45602 underway at Cape Disappointment, Washington. August 7, 2008

USCG RB-M 45604 patrolling Lake Michigan at Gary, Indiana, during an airshow

Sources:^[10][11]

See also[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to USCG Response Boat-Medium.

• Equipment of the United States Coast Guard

References[]

External links[]

• "Response Boat – Medium History". Kvichak Marine Industries.