| Name | No | Yard No | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Comp | Fate |
| Speedy | P296 | Boeing Marine, Seattle, USA // Vosper Thornycroft, Portsmouth | 9.7.1979 | 14.6.1980 | sold 1986 |
|
Displacement standard, t |
|
|
Displacement full, t |
117 |
|
Length, m |
30.8 hullborne 27.4 foilborne |
|
Breadth, m |
9.10 foils 5.20 hull |
|
Draught, m |
1.80 hullborne 2.40 foilborne |
|
No of shafts |
2 waterjets (foilborne) / 2 (hullborne) |
|
Machinery |
2 Allison 501-KF gas turbines / 2 General Motors Detroit Diesel 8V-92T1 diesels |
|
Power, h. p. |
6600 / 1100 |
|
Max speed, kts |
43 / 14 |
|
Fuel, t |
diesel oil |
|
Endurance, nm(kts) |
1500(14) |
|
Armament |
2 x 1 - 7.6/90 |
|
Electronic equipment |
type 1006 radar |
|
Complement |
18 |
Project history: The Royal Navy's first operational hydrofoil was ordered in June 1978 following an evaluation a year earlier of the commercial jetfoil Flying Princess. Boeing had already completed a design-study for the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force to adapt the jetfoil for the fishery protection role, and so the RN was able to acquire a hydrofoil at minimum cost (£6.2m). Originally two 7.62mm machine-guns were to have been carried, but Speedy commissioned in June 1980 without armament. Her radar and CANE computer-aided navigation system were similar to the 'Island' and 'Castle' classes, with which vessels she was working.
Modernizations: None.
Naval service: She was also to have been used as a high-speed target, but in 1982 it was announced that she was up for sale. She was leased to her builders for commercial service during 1984-1986 and then sold to a Hong Kong.
Speedy 1980
© Ivan Gogin, 2016