Part 1 of my mythical fleet series.
For a patrol boat I want speed, firepower and the ability to strike hard and get away clean. There are many boats that qualify but my pick for the patrol boat in my fleet is the Skjold.
| General characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Type: | coastal corvette |
| Displacement: | 274 tonnes full load |
| Length: | 155.83 ft (47.50 m) 46.8 ft (14.3 m) (Length on cushion) |
| Beam: | 44.29 ft (13.50 m) |
| Draught: | 3.3 ft (1.0 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × Twin gas turbines →12,170 kilowatts Twin diesel engines →1,490 kilowatts |
| Speed: | In rough sea: 45 knots In calm sea: 60 knots |
| Range: | 800 nmi at 40 knots (74 km/h) |
| Complement: | 15-16 |
| Sensors and processing systems: | Thales MRR-3D-NG air/surface radar Ceros 200 FC CS-3701 electronic warfare suite Sagem Vigy 20 Electro-optical sensor |
| Armament: | 8 Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile SSMs (when available) kept in an internal weapons bay 76mm Otobreda Super Rapid multi-role cannon Mistral Surface to air missile 12.7mm gun |
| Notes: | Soft kill: TKWA/MASS (Multi Ammunition Softkill System) Other: Link 11 and Link 16 |
Cannons, anti-air and anti-ship missiles.
60 knots in calm seas!
Imagine stationing a squadron of these boats at strategic locations throughout the Pacific. The Chinese or whoever our enemy is, would have to worry about American swarm tactics. In reality all I'm doing with this pick is reviving the Hydrofoils of the 60's and 70's and bringing them to the future.
Range would be an issue but for extended operations I have that covered in part 2 of this series. An early warning. My list has a Nordic feel to it (at least in the early rounds).
One thing is becoming apparent though. Necking down might apply to aircraft, but it becomes much more problematic when it comes to ships.
Mike at New Wars was a big proponent of small, inexpensive ships. I disagreed at the time because I thought that your force would be killed piecemeal and the idea that ships are disposable didn't sit well.
My position has since changed. I like small ships...but not because I think that they're disposable, but because large ships can't hope to accomplish all the missions that need to be done. Perhaps the problem with US ship building can be traced to the demise of small ships in our fleet?
