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FIGHTING SHIPS OF THE WORLD
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
COASTAL FORCES
"PB Mk III" patrol boats (65PB731) (1975- 1979)


Photo



PB Mk III 1976

Ships


Names Builders Commissioned Losses Transfers Discarding

65PB731-738

65PB751-759

65PB7510

65PB771-778

Peterson Builders, Sturgeon Bay: 65PB731-738, 65PB751-759, 65PB7510, 65PB771-778

1975: 65PB731-738

1977: 65PB751-759, 65PB7510

1979: 65PB771-778

none

Columbia, 1989: one boat (Sgto 2.° Jaime Gómez Castro)

Columbia, 1990: one boat (Juan Nepomuceno Peña)

Ghana, 2008: one boat (David Hansen)

early 1990s: 65PB732, 733, 736, 738, 752-754, 756, 7510, 771-774

1995-1997: 65PB757-759

1998-1999: 65PB731, 734, 735, 737, 751, 755, 775-778



Technical data


Displacement standard, t28
Displacement full, t37
Length, m

19.8

Breadth, m5.50
Draught, m1.80 (props)
No of shafts3
Machinery3 General Motors 8V71TI diesels
Power, h. p.1800
Max speed, kts30
Fuel, tdiesel oil
Endurance, nm(kts)450(26)
Armament1 x 1 - 40/60 Mk 3 Mod. 9 or (1 - 2) x 1 - 25/75 Mk 38 Bushmaster or (1 - 2) x 1 - 20/70 Mk 10, 2 x 1 - 12.7/90, (1 - 2) x 1 - 7.6/90, (1 - 2) x 1 - 81/12 M29 mortars
Electronic equipment1 - 2 nav. radars
Complement9


Graphics


PB Mk III 1987
PB Mk III 1987
PB Mk III 1976
PB Mk III 1976


Project history

No Mk lIs were built. Mk I was a navy version of the enlarged (65ft) Swift built for export from 1966 on: thirteen in FY65 (nine for Korea, one for El Salvador, one for the air force, two for the army), six in FY71 (Philippines), and many others for direct export. Total production of 65-footers, including commercial craft for oil field support, may have been as high as 200. Export customers: Antigua (one), Bahrain (two), Costa Rica (five), Dominica (one), Haiti (three), Honduras (five), Liberia (six), Nigeria (six ordered, four delivered), Panama (two), and St. Lucia (one).

The Patrol Boat (PB) was developed as a successor to the 'Swift'. Two Mk I were completed by Sewart Seacraft in 1972 and delivered in 1973. They have one twin and four single gun positions for 20mm or 12.7mm guns. An alternative Mk III design by Peterson Builders of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, won in competition with Mk I and was procured, in 1982, for inshore warfare. Like the Swift, it was adapted from a Gulf of Mexico support boat. The pilot house was offset to starboard to provide maximum deck space, and the nominal armament of four 12.7mm machine-guns can be reinforced by heavier weapons on the main deck. For example, in 1981 the Norwegian Penguin III anti-ship missile was evaluated for them, though it proved too heavy.

PB Mk IV was a slightly lengthened (68ft) Mk III, built for Panama Canal Zone defence under the FY84 programme.

Modernizations

None.

Naval service

No significant events.