Fast Patrol Craft
| Fast Patrol Craft | |
|---|---|
_slow.jpg) Fast Patrol Craft |
|
| Overview | |
| Type | Patrol boat |
| units | 214 built, 43 in service (USN / USCG) 48 built (other nations) |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
21.34 tons |
| length |
15.24 meters |
| width |
3.96 meters |
| Draft |
1.53 meters |
| crew |
1 officer, 5–6 sailors |
| drive |
2 Detroit diesel engines with 435 HP each, 2 counter-rotating screws |
| speed |
32 knots |
| Range |
260 nautical miles |
| Armament |
|
As a Patrol Craft Fast (short PCF ), also known as Swift Boat (German: Speedboat ), was developed by the US Navy medium one type patrol boats designated for use in rivers and shallow coastal waters. The first units entered service in the summer of 1965.
history
Planning and construction
In January 1965, the Naval Advisory Group of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam set out in a study the requirements for a light patrol boat to be used on Vietnam's extensive waterway network to control shipping and prevent arms and supplies from being sent to the guerrilla movement National Front Liberation of South Vietnam should be used. When, in March 1965, a 40-meter junk with an extensive load of weapons and ammunition was discovered and secured by chance in Vung Ro Bay , the need for boats that had been adapted to the conditions became more than clear, mainly because the US Coast Guard , which one asked for quick help, could not fulfill all the required tasks with their 25-meter cutters.
In mid-July 1965, the construction of the first units began at Sewart Seacraft , a shipyard that had previously built mostly light supply boats for the oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico . Within 40 days, the first four units were delivered to the Navy, which used two Swifts to train crews in San Diego . The other two were shipped straight to Vietnam and put on active service.
variants
In addition to the PCF Mark I , of which 108 copies were built between 1965 and 1967, 30 units of the Mark II were built in 1968 and 1969 , which had a modified deckhouse compared to the Mark I version. In 1969/70 and 1972/73 a total of 33 PCF Mark IIIs were built, which compared to their predecessors had a slightly longer hull and an increased fuel supply. A total of 171 boats were built for the US Navy and the Coast Guard.
In Vietnam, a version with a steel hull was developed in 1971 based on the Mark I model, the Mark IV with a 19 m hull or Mark V with a 25 m hull and under the name PB (Patrol Boat) from 1995 to 1999 as a replacement 43 copies were built for the decommissioned older versions and delivered to the US Coast Guard.
From 1972 to 1976, 21 Mark III and 25 Mark IV boats were built for the Navy of the Philippines ; Saudi Arabia received the last 17 Mark III units built for military purposes in 1992/93 , and placed them next to Albania (3 units, Mark III,) and Bahrain (2 units, Mark III, 1982) still today.
period of service
From 1965 to 1973, 181 units (Mark I to III) were put into service with the US Navy and the US Coast Guard. The main period of use was during the Vietnam War . After the war, the boats were mainly used for coastal surveillance and some remain with reserve units. The last two PFC Mark III were retired on June 17, 1995 in Norfolk , Virginia during a formal ceremony. Some boats from the early versions are still preserved and some of them are restored and exhibited by veterans' associations.
The later introduced Mark IV and V versions are still in use by the US Coast Guard and helped during Hurricane Katrina , among other things . The Navy did not introduce a direct successor to the Swifts, the task profile is partly covered by rigid inflatable boats .
Some retired boats (Mark I to III) have been sold to other nations. B. Malta they are still on active duty.
technology
hull
The design of the Fast Patrol Crafts was based on a light water taxi and supply boat from the manufacturer Sewart Seacraft and was supplemented by some elements necessary for military use. The fuselage consisted of 6 mm thick aluminum sheets , which were welded onto a frame substructure . The deckhouse extended about the middle third of the hull, the wheelhouse was in front of it. Behind the wheelhouse was an open tower with a twin machine gun and the radar mast . In the deep deckhouse there was sleeping space for two crew members and a small galley .
drive
Behind the deckhouse, under covers, were the two 345 HP Detroit marine diesel engines and the 24 V generator for supplying the electrical systems. At 2000 rpm the boat reached an average speed of 23.5 knots and could operate for about 11 hours on a tank of 800 liters of diesel. Most of the time, however, it was driven more slowly in order to extend the duration of the patrol.
Armament
In addition to the twin 12.7 mm M2 machine gun in the open turret, which was also used as a lookout, the Swift Boats also had a combination of 81 mm mortar and a 12.7 mm M2 mortar mounted above it. Machine gun ( Piggyback Mortar ) on the stern. With a range of about 3500 and an effective m cadence of up to 18 rounds per minute were able to provide very effective fire support the patrol boats. But light grenades for battlefield lighting and smoke grenades were also fired. On board the boats were mostly around 20,000 rounds for the M2 machine guns and around 100 grenades for the mortar, including Flechette ammunition.
In addition to the on-board weapons , there was also the personal armament of the crew, which consisted of M16 assault rifles , M60 machine guns and M79 grenade launchers .
electronics
The electronic equipment of the boats was limited to a simple Decca D202 3 cm navigation radar with a detection range of 24 km, which was also used for fire control of the mortar, a Raytheon echo sounder and radio devices of the type AN / PRC-10/25 FM and AN / URC-58 HF for communication with other boats, the bases and land troops.
Mission profile
The main areas of use of the Swift boats in Vietnam were the Mekong Delta and the coastal waters up to the demilitarized zone . The main task was to control shipping to prevent arms and supplies from being delivered to the South Vietnamese guerrilla forces. Most of the time, the boats operated in pairs to give each other fire protection.
In contrast to the smaller PBR boats , the PCFs could stay in action for several days as they had (albeit spartan) accommodation for the crew.
As part of Operation Game Warden in 1965/66 under the command of the Mobile Riverine Force (TF 116), attacks were made against bases and camps of the Viet Cong in the delta area . Here the Swifts served as transporters for the units of the US Army , the US Marine Corps and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam , with each boat able to transport about one platoon soldier. In battle, the Swifts provided fire support for the infantry with their on-board weapons.
Under the command of Task Force 116, the Swifts operated along the coast from 1965 to 1968 during Operation Market Time to track down and arrest North Vietnamese trawlers serving as supply transports. There were regular heavy firefights between the sometimes heavily armed trawlers and the patrol boats, but these were mostly decided with the help of American air support by helicopters and fighter planes.
Several boats were destroyed by enemy fire, mostly by RPG launchers in ambushes in narrow branches of the rivers. In direct confrontations, however, the PCFs were mostly far superior to the Vietnamese boats in terms of speed and firepower, which is why they were mostly avoided by the Vietnamese.
After the end of the war, the boats were often used as patrol boats for the coast guard, some of the newer ones to this day, but some of them were also sold to other nations, and some were scrapped quite quickly after the end of the war because there was no longer any need for them .
The US Secretary of State and former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry was during the Vietnam War commander of PCF-94. In the 2004 US presidential election campaign , the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth , an association of former boat crews, made substantial allegations against Kerry, the legitimacy of which is highly controversial.
Web links
- swiftboats.net (engl.)
- pcf45.com extensive job descriptions , data and pictures (English)
