The larger vessels appear to be 38' patrol boats. I don't know when these first went into service, but they were still being built as late as 1944. Later they would have been renumbered into the 38XXX series.

 

I am stumped by the smaller boats. They look a bit like the 36' motor lifeboat (Glencoe Models still offers the old Revell O-scale kit), but I can't see two of them fitting into a 50-footish gondola. More likely they are a similar but shorter boat.

 

I remember seeing one of the last 36' boats when I was stationed in Alameda in the nud-1970s. It was probably at Station Yerba Buena Island, and was out of service by then, perhaps being held for preservation. The standard small search-and-rescue boat by then was a 41' model with a single cabin just forward of amidships, with a large sunken open deck behind. I once lost my breakfast on one of these boats between the Channel Islands and Oxnard.

 

Coast Guard small boats have not been well documented in publicly available materials. When I was in the service, Coast Guard units including District headquarters where I served (public affairs) were not allowed to hold historical materials. It was all supposed to go to the National Archives, but more often went right into the dumpster. I was able to save valuable historical lighthouse negatives, but was ordered to send them to Headquarters for forwarding to the National Archives. I did make prints first though, and still have a few copy negatives I made for my own interest.

 

Named Coast Guard Cutters are much better documented.

 

Yours Aye,

 

 

Garth Groff (for CG Photojournalist 1st Class)