The Coast Guard Yard discontinued building the 95-foot Cape-class cutter to have the capacity to produce the 82-foot Point-class patrol boat in 1960.

[2] They served as patrol vessels used in law enforcement and search and rescue along the coasts of the United States and the Caribbean.

[5][6] Production started in early 1960 at the Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay, Maryland and continued through late December 1963, producing 44 boats.

[2] Engine exhaust was ported through the transom rather than through a conventional stack permitting a 360-degree view from the bridge, a useful feature in search and rescue work.

[6] The design specifications for the 82-foot cutter included a steel hull, an aluminum superstructure with a longitudinally framed construction to save weight.

A watertight door at the front of the mess bulkhead led to the crew quarters which was ten feet long with six stowable bunks, three on each side.

Forward of the bunks was the crew's head with sink, shower and commode, interior spaces were air-conditioned.

[2][3][8][9] A total of 79 Point-class cutters were used for law enforcement and search-and-rescue patrol boats beginning in 1960.

[12] When North Vietnam overtook the South the then-South Vietnamese Navy cutters had varied fates.

When planning the replacement for the Point-class cutter, designers took into consideration the need for different berthing arrangements that would accommodate a mixed-gender crew.

Both of these requirements were designed into the Marine Protector-class that began replacing the Point-class cutters during the late 1990s.