The Active-class patrol boat was one of the most useful and long-lasting in United States Coast Guard service, with 16 cutters still in use in the 1960s. The last to be decommissioned from active service was the in 1970; the last in actual service was the , which sank after an accidental collision in 1978. They were designed for trailing the "mother ships" along the outer line of patrol during Prohibition. They were constructed at a cost of $63,173 each. They gained a reputation for durability that was only enhanced by their re-engining in the late 1930s; their original 6-cylinder diesels were replaced by significantly more powerful 8-cylinder units that used the original engine beds and gave the vessels an additional 3 knots. All served in World War II, but two, the and , were lost in a s