USS Zephyr

USS Zephyr (PC-8) is a Cyclone-class patrol coastal ship in the United States Navy.

USS Zephyr (PC-8) at Naval Station Mayport in 2020
History
United States
Name: Zephyr
Ordered: 3 August 1990
Builder: Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana
Laid down: 6 March 1993
Launched: 3 December 1993
Acquired: 16 August 1994
Commissioned: 15 October 1994; 30 September 2011
Decommissioned: 1 October 2004
Homeport: Mayport, Florida
Identification:
Motto: Leading The Charge
Nickname(s): The Eight Ballers, Rear Pier (USCG)
Status: in active service. Loaned to the United States Coast Guard 2004-2011, transferred back to the U.S Navy late 2011
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type: Cyclone-class patrol ship
Displacement: 331 tons
Length: 179 ft (55 m)
Beam: 25 ft (7.6 m)
Draught: 7.5 ft (2.3 m)
Speed: 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range: 2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement: 4 officers, 28 men
Armament:
  • 2 x Mk38 mod 3 guns with 7.62 mm co-axial guns[1]
  • 2 x Mk19 grenade launchers
  • 2 x .50 (12.7 mm) machine guns

Zephyr is the eighth ship of thirteen in the Cyclone class. All ships in this class are named after weather elements. Zephyr is the first Navy vessel to bear the name. She was laid down 6 March 1993, by Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana and launched 3 December 1993. She was commissioned on 14 October 1994 and decommissioned 1 October 2004 and transferred to the United States Coast Guard as USCGC Zephyr (WPC-8).

Zephyr was the first Coast Guard cutter deployed to respond to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig fire.[2]

Zephyr was transferred back to the Navy on 30 September 2011, and is once again designated PC-8.[3]

She is scheduled to be decommissioned 31 March 2021[4]

References
  1. "USS Zephyr (PC 8) Counters Illicit Trafficking in Caribbean". www.defensemedianetwork.com. Retrieved 2 November 2017. We have also recently been outfitted with the Mk 38 Mod 3 25mm Gun Weapon System with a 7.62 co-axial gun – the first in the fleet.
  2. "Deepwater Horizon Joint Investigation Transcript" (PDF). USCG/MMS MARINE BOARD OF INVESTIGATION. U.S. Coast Guard/U.S. Mineral Management Service. p. 43. Archived from the original on 29 December 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  3. "USS Zephyr (PC 8)". U.S. Navy. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  4. "Navy Will Inactivate 9 Ships in 2021". Seapower.

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.


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