USCG Defender class boat

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A Coast Guard 25-foot (8 m) defender class boat from Station Seattle enforces a security zone around a Washington State Ferry in Elliot Bay Dec. 22, 2003.
A Coast Guard 25-foot (8 m) defender class boat from Station Seattle enforces a security zone around a Washington State Ferry in Elliot Bay Dec. 22, 2003.
USCG 25' RB-S 25583 assigned to USCG Station Oregon Inlet, North Carolina
USCG 25' RB-S 25583 assigned to USCG Station Oregon Inlet, North Carolina
A 25-foot (8 m) Defender class security boat from Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team 91106 keeps watch over passenger vessels and high profile landmarks in New York Harbor.
A 25-foot (8 m) Defender class security boat from Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team 91106 keeps watch over passenger vessels and high profile landmarks in New York Harbor.

The USCG Defender class boat, also called response boat-small (RB-S), is a standard boat introduced by the United States Coast Guard in July 2003. The Coast Guard plans to replace a mixture of older boats with up to 700 Defender class vessels. The boats serves a variety of missions, including search and rescue, port security and constabulary duties.[1]

The boats are 25 feet (7.6 meters) in length and have a draft of less than 1 meter (3 ft). Powered by twin 225 hp (168 kW) Honda outboard motors, they are capable of speeds in excess of 40 knots (74 km/h) and have a range of 105 or 125 nautical miles (232 km), depending on the type of fuel tanks used. The boat can launch with a two-person crew, but has a carrying capacity for 10 persons. The boat can be transported by a C-130 Hercules aircraft or, more prosaically, a boat trailer. It can mount an M60 or M240 machine gun in the bow.

Although superficially similar to a rigid-hulled inflatable boat, the Defender is actually an aluminum hulled vessel, equipped with a hard foam filled floatation collar. The boats are built by SAFE Boats International of Port Orchard, Washington, a vendor of government and law enforcement boats.[2][3]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Defender Class Response Boats. United States Coast Guard. Retrieved on November 11, 2006.
  2. ^ SAFE Boats International. SAFE Boats International LLC. Retrieved on November 11, 2006.
  3. ^ GSA Sales page for SAFE Boats International. United States Government. Retrieved on April 18, 2008.
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