NAVYPEDIA

Photo

PB Mk I 1988

Ships

Names	Builders	Commissioned	Losses	Transfers	Discarding
65PB721, 65PB722	Swiftships, Morgan City: 65PB721, 65PB722	1973: 65PB721, 65PB722	none	none	early 1990s: 65PB721 late 1990s: 65PB722

Technical data

Displacement standard, t	27
Displacement full, t	36
Length, m	19.8
Breadth, m	5.25
Draught, m	1.37
No of shafts	2
Machinery	2 General Motors 12V71 diesels
Power, h. p.	1200
Max speed, kts	20
Fuel, t	diesel oil
Endurance, nm(kts)	30(26)
Armament	2 x 1 - 20/70 Mk 10, 1 x 2 - 12.7/90, 2 x 1 - 12.7/90, 1 x (1 - 12.7/90 + 1 - 81/12 M29 mortar)
Electronic equipment	radar
Complement	8

Graphics

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.

© Ivan Gogin, 2016