USCGC Sea Dragon

USCGC Sea Dragon (WPB-87367) is a decommissioned Marine Protector-class cutter that was assigned to one of two special Maritime Force Protection Units.^[1][2][3] Each Maritime Force Protection Unit escorts nuclear submarines from one of the United States Navy's two main submarine bases. Sea Dragon was assigned to Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay. The other Maritime Force Protection Unit escorts submarines near Bangor, Washington.^[4]

A grey tarpaulin covers the Sea Dragon's advanced remote control mount for its extra machine gun.
History
United States
Name	USCGC Sea Dragon
Builder	Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana
Commissioned	January 2008
Decommissioned	May 29, 2024
Status	in active service
General characteristics
Class & type	Marine Protector-class coastal patrol boat
Displacement	91 long tons (92 t)
Length	87 ft 0 in (26.5 m)
Beam	19 ft 5 in (5.9 m)
Draft	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)
Propulsion	2 × MTU diesels
Speed	25 knots (46 km/h)
Range	900 nmi (1,700 km)
Endurance	3 days
Complement	10
Armament	3 × .50 caliber M2 Browning machine guns

Sea Dragon was commissioned in January 2008.^[3] She was joined by a sister ship, USCGC Sea Dog, in May, 2009.^[5]

Sea Dragon and Sea Dog were decommissioned on May 29, 2024 and transferred to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. They were replaced by USCGC Sea Devil and USCGC Sea Fox, which had been carrying out the same duties in Washington.^[6]

Design

Marine Protector-class cutters are 87 feet (27 m) long.^[7][8] Their maximum speed is 25 knots (46 km/h). All the cutters carry a water-jet propelled fast pursuit boat. The boats can be launched or retrieved without bringing the mothership to a complete halt. The standard Marine Protector is armed with a pair of fifty caliber Browning M2 machine gun, that mount on pintles, on the port and starboard rail of the foredeck. But for the four vessels ordered for the Navy (Sea Dragon, Sea Dog, Sea Devil and Sea Fox) a third machine gun was added, mounted on a pedestal, in the middle of the foredeck. The third machine gun is equipped with advanced optics, is gyro stabilized, and its gunner uses remote controls–making it much more accurate, at long range, when fired from a heaving deck, at night, or in a fog.^[4][9]