[4][6] Engine exhaust was ported through the transom rather than through a conventional stack and this permitted a 360 degree view from the bridge; a feature that was very useful in search and rescue work as well as a combat environment.

[7] The design specifications for Point Ellis included a steel hull for durability and an aluminum superstructure and longitudinally framed construction was used to save weight.

[4][5][9][10] After delivery in 1962, Point Ellis was assigned a homeport of Port Townsend, Washington, where she served as a law enforcement and search and rescue patrol boat.

[4] At the request of the United States Navy, in April 1965, she was alerted for service in South Vietnam and assigned to Coast Guard Squadron One in support of Operation Market Time along with 16 other Point class cutters.

[11][12] While the crew completed overseas training and weapons qualifications at Coast Guard Island and Camp Parks, California, Point Ellis was loaded onto a merchant ship, and transported to Subic Bay, Philippines in May 1965 where she was refitted for combat service.

After sea trials, the Division left Subic Bay for Da Nang on 16 July 1965 in the company of USS Snohomish County (LST-1125), their temporary support ship.

This type of landing party action was seen by the commander of Squadron One as too hazardous and orders were issued not to pursue fleeing Viet Cong (VC) suspects through the surf.

[19] While on patrol on 8 December 1966, Point Ellis came across a non-motorized fishing boat with two very frightened men aboard that had been blown by tropical storms away from Hainan Island, part of the People's Republic of China.

In May of the same year the cutter's Vietnamese liaison officer and a crewman from the Point Ellis went into the water to recover a sailor lost overboard from the USS Princeton.