a ton of cargo. Because it was lighter than the military version, the Coast Guard ACV could go up to and had a range of . The ACVs in Coast Guard service were used primarily for search-and-rescue missions because of their speed and range. In over 185 search-and-rescue missions, they towed boats up to long and recovered survivors from the water and then rushed them to the shore. However, they were also used to service buoys, resupply and repair remote lighthouses and lightships, enforce laws, clean up oil spills, and ferry personnel and supplies. For minor repairs to buoys, the ACV shortened what was normally a full day mission by a fully crewed ship to a 2-3 hour one by an ACV with three crew members. The ACV was fast enough that it was able to respond to search-and-rescue calls while servicing buoys, something that was not possible for regular Coast Guard cutters. However, servicing structures in choppy weather on the open sea was found to be dangerous. The ACV proved particularly effective in the Arctic because it could traverse water and ice equally well at high speeds, although crews did encounter some issues relating to windshield icing. At least one ACV was active in San Francisco Bay 24/7, and a special hangar for the ACVs was built at the Coast Guard Station at Fort Point from August 1970 to 1972. The San Francisco ACVs were evaluated for use as a crash/fire rescue vehicle at Oakland International Airport in 1972 and were found to be successful. One of the San Francisco-based ACVs was showcased by the Coast Guard at the U.S. International Transportation Exposition at Dulles International Airport in 1972, where it was inspected by tens of thousands of international visitors. Over the first two years of evaluation, the Coast Guard ACVs accrued over 1,500 hours of operating time. As part of the evaluation, the ACV at Point Barrow was transferred to Traverse City, Michigan for refurbishment and then stationed at St. Ignace Coast Guard Station on Lake Huron. It sank on 23 November 1971 after only 26 hours of operation in Lake Huron, after the cabin was breached by a rock and the engine inexplicably failed, leading the craft to take on water and sink. After this sinking, one of the two San Francisco ACVs was then transferred to the Great Lakes. Another was transferred to the East Coast,