Swift-class patrol craft explained

The Swift-class coastal patrol craft were a series of patrol vessels built for the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) by the Singapore Ship Building and Engineering Company (SBEC).

History

During expansion of the Republic of Singapore Navy's capabilities in the late 1970s, the need for a dedicated coastal patrol platform was identified in order to perform the coastal surveillance and patrol mission. This need was especially apparent in 1975 during Operation Thunderstorm, where RSN resorted to using the Sea Wolf-class missile gun boats to intercept Vietnamese boat people attempting to land in Singapore. This was deemed to be operationally inefficient as it deprived RSN of a critical surface strike asset.^[1] As a result, a contract was signed with the SBEC for 12 Coastal Patrol Craft (CPC). The first vessel, RSS Swift Warrior was launched on 8 June 1980 and all 12 vessels were commissioned on 20 October 1981 by then Defence Minister, Mr Howe Yong Chong.^[2]

With the transfer of the coastal patrol mission of the Police Coast Guard in 1997, the 12 CPC were transferred and recommissioned in the Police Coast Guard as the Shark class, with the first four officially handed over on 7 May 1993,^[3] another four on 24 April 1994,^[4] and the last four on 22 January 1997^[5] as part of the formation of the Police Coast Guard Coastal Patrol Squadron.

The CPCs were decommissioned by the Police Coast Guard between 2008 and 2012 as the next generation CPCs were gradually put to service. Five of the decommissioned CPC were transferred to the Indonesian Marine Police or POLAIR on 9 February 2012.^[6]

Design

The Swift class are of aluminium construction, with an overall length of 22.7m (74.5feet), with a beam of 6.2m (20.3feet) and a draught of 1.6m (05.2feet). Displacement was 45.7LT full load. The ships are powered by two Deutz SBA-16M816 diesel engines with a total power of 2660bhp and driving two propeller shafts, for a maximum speed of . 8.6 tons of fuel is carried, giving a range of at or at .

Armament consists of a single 20 mm cannon and two machine guns. The ships carried a crew of 3 officers and 9 other ranks.^[7]

References

Bibliography

• Book: Prézelin. Bernard. Baker. A.D.. The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World 1990/91:Their Ships, Aircraft and Armament. 1990. Naval Institute Press. Annapolis, Maryland. 0-87021-250-8.

Notes and References

1. Speech by Mr Phua Bah Lee, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Defence at the Launching of the Coastal Patrol Craft "Swift Warrior" at Singapore Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd on Sunday June 1980 8 at 5.00 pm . pdf . Singapore Government . 16 June 1980 .
2. Address by the Minister of Defence, Mr Howe Yoon Chong, at the Commissioning Ceremony of the Coastal Patrol Craft at Pulau Brani Naval Base on Tuesday, 20 October 1981 at 4.00 pm . pdf . Singapore Government . 27 October 1981 .
3. Speech by Prof S Jayakumar, Minister for Law and Home Affairs, at the Formation Ceremony of the Police Coast Guard Patrol Squadrons and Naming of Coastal Patrol Craft on Friday, 7 May 93 at 11.00 am at the Police Coast Guard Headquarters, Stadium Lane . pdf . Singapore Government . 10 May 1993 .
4. Speech by Mr Wong Nan Seng, Minister for Home Affairs, at the Naming Ceremony for the Second Batch of Coastal Patrol Crafts at Police Coast Guard Headquarters, Stadium Link on Monday, 25 April 1994 at 10.00 am . pdf . Singapore Government . 13 May 1994 .
5. Speech by Mr Wong Kan Seng, Minister for Home Affairs, at the Combined Ceremony for the Formation of the Pcg Special Task Squadron and the Naming of Coastal Patrol Craft on 22 Jan 97 at 10.00 am at Pcg Headquarters . Singapore Government . January 1997 .
6. Police Presents 5 Coastal Patrol Craft to Indonesian Counterparts . Singapore Police Force . 9 February 2012 . 20 May 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150520171503/http://www.spinet.gov.sg/mic/2012/02/20120209_patrol_indo.html . 20 May 2015 . dead .
7. Prézelin and Baker 1990, p. 463.