December
31, 2005: The U.S. Navy is scrambling to get back its Cyclone class patrol
boats, now that it is building a ?brown water navy? for operations along coasts
and up rivers. The thirteen 170 foot long Cyclone class PC (Coastal Patrol)
boats were built in the 1990s. But after operating them for six years, the navy
decided they had made a mistake, and loaned some of the Cyclone class ships to
the Coast Guard and SOCOM (Special Operations Command), while seeking foreign
buyers for the rest. But now the navy is establishing a coastal force, complete
with naval infantry. For this brown water navy, the Cyclones are perfect, and
the navy is getting them back.
The
ships are more like a PT boat than a typical seagoing warship. Cramped
conditions on board mean that the crews live in barracks on land when the ships
are not at sea. Living conditions for the 28 man crew (four officers and 24
sailors) are austere on these 360 ton ships. When in service, the ships come
back to base one a week for supplies. Often a SEAL team or a boarding
detachment is carried. But there are rarely more than 36 people assigned to one
of these PC class ships. The PCs are not considered ?boats?, but are designated
the smallest warships in the U.S. Navy. These ships are normally armed with two
25mm guns and five .50 caliber (12.7mm) machineguns, plus numerous infantry
weapons (7.62mm machine-guns and grenade launchers.) Air defense is provided by
a shoulder-launched Stinger missile. While many nations mount anti-ship
missiles on ships 360 tons or smaller, the U.S. Navy designed the Cyclone class
strictly for coastal patrolling. The ships can cross oceans, and have done so
whenever distant American naval bases needed additional protection.
Navy
sailors like the Cyclones for the same reason their Coast Guard brethren like
their own smaller ships. Everyone knows everyone, there?s more responsibility
for each sailor, and a less regimented attitude when at sea. It?s also been
discovered that the Cyclones can do anything a larger warship can do when it
comes to coastal operations. Actually, the Cyclones are better along the
coasts, as they draw less water, and are faster (moving at up 70 kilometers an
hour).
In
the Persian Gulf, the Cyclones have been guarding the Iraqi offshore wells and
pumping stations, as well as stopping and inspecting suspicious ships. Crews
serve six months in the Persian Gulf, then fly back to the United States. The
ships themselves serve at least 18 months before traveling back to the United
States.
