Island-class patrol boat
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Island class |
| Builders | Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Operators |
|
| Preceded by | Cape-class |
| Succeeded by | Sentinel-class |
| In service | 1985–2025 |
| Completed | 49 |
| General characteristics of A-series as built | |
| Type | Patrol boat |
| Displacement | 163 tons |
| Length | 110 ft (34 m) |
| Beam | 21 ft (6.4 m) |
| Draft | 7.3 ft (2.2 m) |
| Speed | 29.7 kn (55.0 km/h; 34.2 mph) |
| Range | 1,882 nmi (3,485 km; 2,166 mi) @ 26 knots |
| Endurance | 5 days |
| Complement | 16 (2 officers, 14 enlisted) |
| Armament |
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The Island-class patrol boat is a class of cutters of the United States Coast Guard. Forty-nine of these boats were launched between 1985 and 1992, and while all have been retired from American service, several continue to serve in a number of foreign coast guards and navies.
The Island class was initiated during the Reagan administration, which regarded it as an important tool in the war on drugs. The early ships in the class were deployed to Florida, Puerto Rico and other ports in the Southeast United States and were somewhat successful in drug interdiction efforts. As more ships were built, the class was deployed throughout the United States and replaced obsolete cutters. They undertook the full range of Coast Guard missions, including search and rescue, fisheries enforcement, migrant and drug interdiction, and military operations.
The ships were deployed around the world. In 2003, eight of the Island-class boats were transferred to the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf to assist the United States Navy's 5th and 6th Fleets in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and six were permanently assigned to Bahrain after the war.
The Island-class boats served well past their original 15-year design life and were replaced in the U.S. Coast Guard fleet by Sentinel-class cutters. Over a dozen decommissioned ships have been transferred to allied navies and coast guards and continue on active duty.