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Coast Guard accepts first new response boat

The Coast Guard took delivery Monday of its first new 45-foot Response Boat-Medium at Coast Guard Station Little Creek Va., the service announced — the first of six new craft that are to become the workhorses of small boat stations throughout the U.S.

The Coast Guard’s chief of acquisitions, Rear Adm. Gary Blore, called the new RB-M “a quantum leap forward” from the 41-foot utility boats now in use. The all-aluminum RB-M is faster, more maneuverable and more comfortable than its predecessor, service officials say, and it can right itself even if rough seas flip it over (See video of an RB-M flip).

The 132 legacy utility boats, built at the Coast Guard shipyard in Baltimore between 1973 and 1982, are old and heavily used, acquisition spokeswoman Laura Williams said. Over the next decade, the Coast Guard will replace the older boats with the $2 million-per-copy RB-M until there is a full fleet of 180 RB-Ms.

The RB-M has twin diesel water-jet engines that give it a top speed of around 40 knots and a range of about 50 nautical miles. It also has a fully enclosed, climate-controlled cabin that includes four special shock-absorbing seats to help its crew endure sea pounding.

After the delivery of the first boat to Little Creek, five more boats will be circulated to stations around the country. They are:

* Station Cape Disappointment, Wash., in August.

* Station Key West, Fla., in September.

* Station Milwaukee in October.

* Station New York in November.

* Station Port Aransas, Texas, in January.

Shipbuilder Marinette Marine is to step up production of RB-Ms by August to a rate of one per month. The yard will reach full production by 2011, the Coast Guard said, delivering 30 boats per year.

DISCUSS: The new response boats