Six Outboard Powered USCG Boat

[Jefecinco]

Yesterday I saw a USCG boat with six Verado outboards on the transom. The two center engines were tilted out of the water. I was unable to determine the engine's horsepower. I'm unsure of the boat model but believe it was a Response boat. It had a large pilothouse, a flotation collar and a pronounced shearline. We've seem the same type boat pass by a few time but with quad engines.

Previously I've seen large center console offshore fishing boats with five engines but this was six engine powered boat was new to me except for some pictured in boating publications.

I would like to know what the engines' power rating is.

[Phil T]

This is going to be an interesting thread.

The Coast Guard fleet includes:

Response Boat - Small, also known as the RB-S-II has twin engines.

Response Boat - Medium, RB-M is the 45 foot aluminum boat to replace the 41 foot Utility Boat. The RB-M has twin waterjets powered by diesel engines.

Any chance the boat you saw looked like this with outboards?

USCG_Response_Medium.jpg (97.5 KiB) Viewed 1996 times

[jimh]

I am at a lost to even imagine a USCG boat with six outboard engines. Maybe the boat was something that was seized in a drug interdiction, and converted to use by the USCG.

Any boat with six outboard engines must be presumed to be capable of very high speed operation. I suspect that the rationale for having a boat that can obtain very high speeds must be to enable pursuit of drug runners in their very high-speed boats.

Many years ago I recall seeing a U.S. Customs boat in the Ft. Lauderdale area, at a boat slip in a public marina. The boat was about 32-feet long and was an offshore deep-V hull open cockpit boat. It was powered by four 250-HP Mercury OptiMax engines, which at that time were perhaps the most powerful outboard engines available. At that point in "the war against drugs" I suspect that boat was capable of enough speed to chase down drug runner boats in use back then.

Perhaps today, six engines are needed.

Regarding the engines, what color were the engine cowlings?

As for the horsepower, if the engines were Mercury engines and based on in-line six-cylinder 2.6-liter supercharged VERADO engine, I believe the only models still in production are the 350-HP and 400-HP versions.

If the engines were Mercury engines and based on the V8 4.6-liter non-supercharged VERADO engine, the models available are 250-HP and 300-HP versions.

Less likely, if the engines were Mercury engines and based on the V12 7.6-liter VERADO engine, the engines would have been 600-HP.

We MUST have a picture of this strange USCG boat.

[jimh]

There is a good article on Wikipedia about the USCG Response Boat-Medium.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Response_ ... %93_Medium

I had the opportunity go to aboard one of these boat when it was out of the water for the winter season at USCG Group Detroit's base on Belle Isle. The use of jet-power was said to permit operation in very shallow water. The propulsion power was twin diesel engines and dual jet drives. The jet drives would also reduce the risk of harm to persons in the water near the boat, as might occur during rescue operation.

Curiously, water jet drives are considered to be more efficient than propellers at high boat speeds. The rated top speed of the USCG RB-Medium is about 50-MPH, which is probably too slow to keep up with drug runner boats.

Considering the cost of two 825-HP turbocharged diesel engines and Rolls Royce jet drives, perhap $400,00 for six big outboard engines represents a cost savings for propulsion of the 45-foot boat. Also, maintenance might be reduced: if a problem occurs, just replace the bad outboard engine.

[Don SSDD]

What size fuel tank would you need for six high-horsepower outboards?

[jimh]

What size fuel tank would you need for six high-horsepower outboards?

Good question.

If the outboards were 300-HP each, they would consume about 25-gallons-per-hour, or 150-GPH total. To be underway for eight hours, 1,200-gallons of fuel would be needed.

[Jefecinco]

Phil - The boat pictured was very similar but larger than the one I saw.

JimH - The engine cowlings were black. The boat was clearly not a seizure boat modified for CG use. We have seen virtually identical CG boats with as many as four engines recently.

These type boats routinely patrol the waterway between Pensacola, FL and Mobile, AL.

[jimh]

The engine cowlings were black

That suggests the engine were made by Mercury.

The boat was clearly not a seizure boat modified for CG use.

Thanks for the clarification

These type boats routinely patrol the waterway between Pensacola, FL and Mobile, AL.

I called the small boat station in Pensacola, and spoke to the operations petty officer on duty. He remarked that their station has no boats with six outboard engines.

[Phil T]

Butch -

We need some decent quality photos, otherwise its just all just fluff.

[Jefecinco]

Jim - Thanks for calling the Pensacola USCG Station. I will call the Mobile station.

Phil - Agree a photo would be helpful. Unfortunately I'm one of those old guys who does not have a cell phone at his fingertips at all times. Otherwise I could flood the site with photos of interesting traffic on the waterway. Yesterday afternoon two tugboats towing about a 200 yard dredge discharge pipe went past. The pipe was a bundle of six and the bundle was supported by flotation chambers along it's entire length. Several days ago a 100 plus foot motoryacht with a helicopter on a landing platform glided past.

My reference to tugboats was accurate although almost all tows on the waterway are pushed by towboats. One of the tugboats was towing the pipe bundle and the other was following to manage any side to side movement.

[Jefecinco]

I just spoke with Mobile Sector USCG OOD and she disclaimed any such boat. My wife agrees the boat we saw was a CG vessel and had six outboards. Regret the post.

[jimh]

In watching some random Florida Inlet wave-pounding videos, I have seen a very large Midnight Express boat set up with six outboard engines exiting from inlets in the Miami area.

In the past, the government has used Midnight Express boats for very high-speed chase boats for drug interdictions in the Florida area. These Midnight Express boats were not being operated by the Coast Guard. Usually they are operated under Homeland Security and perhaps Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

On the Midnight Express website they show a few models with six engines:

https://www.speedonthewater.com/midnigh ... iami-show/

https://midnightboats.com/60-pied-a-mer-2/

With a battleship gray finish, these boats could have a military appearance. The speed potential for a six-engine outboard boat--even a 60-footer--must be well above 60-MPH. Midnight Express mentions speeds of greater than 90-MPH using surface-piercing drives and inboard engines.

[Jefecinco]

Thank you for that information. What you wrote is entirely possible. I asked participants in a Gulf Coastal blog if anyone had seen a similar boat. After several attempts at humor citing the dangers of drinking while boating a participant posted that he had seen the boat I described on the West side Of Perdido Pass.

Despite his report I've finally managed to conclude I was mistaken.

[Don SSDD]

An acquaintance who was a professional yacht captain for years working out of Florida did a trip this winter for his old employer, they visited Bermuda. He showed me a picture of a center console he saw docked there, it had six 450HP outboards powering it. Fuel prices haven’t slowed some people down. He said it was about a 48 ft boat.