I am looking for any photos, models or other memoribilia relating to 40 footers. Thanks in advance for any help, email:

keystrophy@yahoo.com

Run a Google search on "40 foot UTILITY boat." I know you'll get a few hits.

Cruising across mobile bay one sunny day a crew member on the Cutter Shadbush took this photo of me (coxswain) of the 40396.

The date on the photo, Nov 66, is the time period that I delivered the 44365 from Curtis Bay to Rockland, Maine. It took five days.

I was a big fan of the 40 foot UTBs. I ran the 40533 and 40531. Nice handling boats.

The call sign of the 40533 was NGBK. Of course, the engineers thought that stood for "NO GOOD BOAT KIT"

We (Base Mobile) received a 44 footer after that but I don't recall the number,I left to pick up a 82 footer in Seattle shorty after that and we brought around to Louisiana.

When we received the 44365 that meant sending the 44330 to the Great Lakes. We kept both 44s for quite a long time. The 365, for me, was the better boat.

I spent some time on the POINT HANNON as OIC. The 82s were a pleasure to handle.

I went through the Panama, round trip, on the EASTWIND, Deepfreeze '59. Some good memories.

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/556322868PScHgl

These are all from Station Cape Disappointment, WA and Point Adams, OR, but they're decent and there are quite a few.

Nice photo! Thanks for sharing.

Harvey, If you go to Coast Guard Photos and click on 40 footers there are several that might be of interest to you. Hope this helps.

Dick

quote:

The call sign of the 40533 was NGBK.

I believe that was the call sign of the station it was assigned to. I recall seeing in an old version of a Coatings and Colors Manual that small boats assigned to a station were to have the station call sign painted on a deck in black and orange.

Here's another link to a site that has some CG photos - hosted at UC Berzerkely.
http://groups.sims.berkeley.edu/waypoint/artifact_detail.php?id=40

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tip_dog,

Call signs for ships/boats were/are 4 letters beginning with N. Shore stations were/are 3 letters such as (in 1957) NMC for San Francisco Radio and Point Reyes and other district shore stations had numbers assigned: Point Reyes LBS was NMC12.

The stations that had the 40533 and 40531 had call signs of NMF 23 and NMF 40.

These were First District units.

This was a 36 foot MLB and you can see the call sign very plainly.

Things certainly changed by the time I came in 1980 - probably too much for somebody to keep track of all the call signs.

I do know that before the small boats went to deck gray decks - the call sign was replaced by the hull number.

I don't remember any boat call signs from 1969-1973. I do however remember Marshfield Radio in the mansion on the hill.

Memory is a little foggy as to the exact time frame, but I remember using call signs on the small boats in the 13th District as late as 1957-58. The change to using hull numbers came in shortly after that.

COTP New York 64-65 we used last three numbers. Great boat. Was a real work horse in NY Harbor.
Next to the 82's one of the best handeling boats ever.

The 40ft UT was a fine boat. In 1958 one came in second best when the unlimited Hydroplane “Miss Thriftway” lost her rudder and plowed into it during the Gold cup race on Lake Washington. I found this video of the collision and sinking.
“http://www.kndu.com/global/story.asp?S=7235350”. You can see a real life drama as the fireman, who was down below, slowly climbs out of the forward hatch barely above the water as the boat is going down.

Had Thriftway missed the CG 40 footer, she would probably have hit the logboom where hundreds of pleasure craft were tied up viewing the race. As it was, no lives were lost.

My wife said she had some anxious moments watching this on television in real time until she saw the boat numbers and knew it wasn’t mine. I was at the other end of the course and wasn’t aware what had happened until it was all over.

That was quite a video. I saw the 40378 come in to assist. One of the 40s I rode the most was the 375.

Not a lot of compartmentalization in the old 40s and the sluice valve system was a joke probably allowing 10 gallons a minute to flow back to the bilge pumps. However, they were great boats.