HMBS Leonard C Banfield explained

HMBS Leonard C Banfield (P 02) is patrol vessel of the Barbados Coast Guard.[1] [2] She was commissioned on 14 September 2007. She is built to the design of the Damen Group's Stan 4207 patrol vessel, a class of 42m (138feet) 240 ton vessels.

According to Aviation Week the vessel and her sister ships primary armament was a non-lethal water cannon, but she was also armed with machine guns. They reported she was capable of 26kn and had an at sea endurance of 4 days. She is built to withstand sea state 8 conditions. She was built in the Netherlands at Damen′s Gorinchem Shipyards.

She and her sister ships are equipped with a stern launching ramp, like some other cutters built to Damen designs. The stern launching ramp allows a water-jet–powered pursuit boat to be launched and retrieved without bringing the cutter to a halt.

Aviation Week reports that the local Barbadian Press reported the vessels cost $6 million each.[1] The HMBS Leonard C. Banfield is the first in a class that also includes the HMBS Rudyard Lewis, commissioned on the 13 of September 2008, and the HMBS Trident, commissioned on the 25 of April 2009.[1]

Notes and References

  1. News: Barbados Bound. Aviation Week. 2007-10-01. Joris Janssen Lok. https://archive.today/20121209105024/http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/defense/index.jsp?plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog:27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post:cd0c3339-d5a0-4158-b086-5d1d1c21ebad. dead. 2012-12-09.
  2. News: Patrol boat replacement . . 2008-03-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100627200253/http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-Naval-Construction-and-Retrofit-Markets/Barbados-Barbados.html . 2010-06-27 . 2009-09-26 . dead.