The Great Lakes shipbuilding industry brought pressure on Congress to ensure that it had the potential to bid on the contract.

Westinghouse engineers developed a system of synchronization and a variable-frequency drive for main-propulsion auxiliary equipment, which kept the pumps and other items at about two-thirds the power required for constant-frequency operation.

This top weight required ballasting the fuel tanks with seawater to maintain stability both for wind and damaged conditions.

The superstructure of the 255s was originally divided into two islands in order to accommodate an aircraft amidships, but this requirement was dropped before any of the units became operational.

The class was initially heavily armed with World War II service in mind, but much of this armament was deemed unnecessary for peacetime and was removed in the postwar period.

[3] Construction of the class received a low priority, and consequently none of the cutters were commissioned in time to see action in WWII, but a number eventually saw combat in the Vietnam War.

They were all however to provide many years of peacetime service in regular Coast Guard roles such as law enforcement, ocean station, and search and rescue operations.