|
Names |
C13371-13381 C13456-13479 |
|
Builders |
Peterson Builders, Sturgeon Bay: C13371-13381 Birchfield SB, Tacoma: C13456-13479 |
|
Commissioned |
1965: C13371-13381 1965-1966: C13456-13479 |
|
Losses |
? |
|
Transfers |
late 1960s, South Vietnam: all |
|
Discarding |
none |
|
Displacement standard, t |
|
|
Displacement full, t |
13 |
|
Length, m |
10.9 |
|
Breadth, m |
3.25 |
|
Draught, m |
1.14 |
|
No of shafts |
2 |
|
Machinery |
2 diesels |
|
Power, h. p. |
450 |
|
Max speed, kts |
15 |
|
Fuel, t |
diesel oil |
| Endurance, nm(kts) | |
|
Armament |
1 x 1 - 20/70 Mk 10, 1 x 1 - 12.7/90, 2 x 1 - 7.6/90 |
| Military load | 12 troops |
|
Electronic equipment |
none |
| Complement | 6 |
Project history: The RPC was the first craft built specifically for riverine warfare by the US Navy. It began with a Thai request for modified PT boats; they received six overhauled LCVPs while a better design was evolved. A preliminary design was prepared in mid-1961. Ultimately the RPC was based loosely on a projected (but unbuilt) riverine LCVP called the RCVP. It was not particularly successful; the RPC was criticised as noisy, vulnerable (its hull form tended to attract mines), slow, and underarmed. In all, 36 were built under the FY64 programme.
Modernizations: None.
Naval service: All were initially transferred to Vietnam, but six were transferred to Thailand in March 1967.
Vietnamese RPC 1970
© Ivan Gogin, 2015