USS Firebolt (PC-10)
history | |
---|---|
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
- ^ 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 )
- ↑ Capelotti, Peter (April 25, 2003). DC3 Nathan Bruckenthal's Oral History (English). US Coast Guard Historian's Office. Retrieved September 23, 2006.
- ↑ Helmer, Kendra (April 27, 2004). Suicide bombing attack claims first Coast Guardsman since Vietnam War (English). Stars and Stripes. Retrieved September 23, 2006.
- ^ 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 )