36-foot motor lifeboat

The United States Coast Guard's series of motor lifeboats included a class of 36 foot motor lifeboats. The Coast Guard built the first of these vessels in 1929, and retired the last, CG 36500, in 1987. CG 36500 has since been restored and preserved as a floating museum. These vessels are remembered for the daring rescues Coast Guard seamen performed, using them.

Unlike the Coast Guard's more recent motor lifeboat, the 47 foot motor lifeboat, the 36 foot class was piloted entirely from an open cockpit, where crew-members were exposed to the elements. This was a hardship for the crew, as many rescues were of mariners at risk precisely because their vessels were at risk due to bad weather.

The most memorable rescue performed using a 36-foot lifeboat was that of crew members of the stricken SS Pendleton by CG 36500 under the command of Boatswain's Mate Bernard C. Webber. The 2016 feature film, entitled The Finest Hours, is based on the 1952 Pendleton rescue.