USS Firebolt (PC-10)

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The crew of the USS Firebolt (PC 10) is dedicated to the 89 survivors of a ship that capsized on April 29, 2005 in the Gulf of Aden 40 km off the Somali coast.
history USN Jack
Ordered:
Keel laying: 17th September 1993
Launch: June 10, 1994
Commissioning: June 10, 1994
planned retirement:
Home port: Norfolk (Virginia)
Data
Displacement: 331 tons
Hull length: 53 m
Hull width: 7.6 m
Draft: 2.5 m
Drive:
Power:
Speed: min. 35 knots
Crew: 4 officers, 24 men, 8 men of a special unit

The USS Firebolt (PC 10) is a patrol boat of the US Navy and the tenth ship of the Cyclone-class . It is about 53 m long and carries a crew of about 30 seamen; its home port is Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek in Norfolk, Virginia . The armament consists of two M242 Bushmaster - machine guns , two 40 mm machine grenade launcher Mk 19 , two 12.7-mm -Maschinengewehren and six FIM-92 Stingerraketen .

Use in the Persian Gulf

In February 2003, the Firebolt was relocated to Bahrain for operations in the Persian Gulf as part of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom . In order to be able to keep the boat in operation without interruption, the crew was continuously exchanged in a rotation process. On April 24, 2004, tried Festrumpfschlauchboot the Firebolt a dhow , which the Khawr Al Amaya -Oil terminal in Iraq approached to apply. When the seven-man boarding crew approached the Iraqi boat, it exploded. The suicide attack capsized the American rubber dinghy, two US Navy sailors , Petty Officer First Class Michael J. Pernaselli, 27 and Petty Officer Second Class Christopher E. Watts 28, and Petty Officer Third Class Nathan Bruckenthal, 24, US national - Coast Guard , were killed. Bruckenthal was the first member of the US Coast Guard to die in a war effort since the Vietnam War . The survivors of the attack were picked up by Seahawk helicopters from the Australian frigate HMAS Stuart .

In February 2004 the Firebolt collided with a navigation buoy off the Iraqi coast. As a result of the ensuing investigation, Lieutenant Commander Michael T. Sullivan was removed from his command.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Geibel, Adam (October 22, 2003). Cyclones, Firebolt and the Persian Gulf Pirates (English). Dirty Little Secrets. StrategyWorld.com. Retrieved September 23, 2006 ( Memento November 18, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Capelotti, Peter (April 25, 2003). DC3 Nathan Bruckenthal's Oral History (English). US Coast Guard Historian's Office. Retrieved September 23, 2006.
  3. ↑ Helmer, Kendra (April 27, 2004). Suicide bombing attack claims first Coast Guardsman since Vietnam War (English). Stars and Stripes. Retrieved September 23, 2006.
  4. ^ US 5th Fleet Public Affairs (April 1, 2004). Firebolt's Commanding Officer Relieved (English). Navy NewsStand. Naval Media Center. Retrieved September 22, 2006 ( Memento March 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )

Web links

Commons : USS Firebolt  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files