Tolmi P-229 of the Hellenic Navy |
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Asheville |
| Preceded by: | PGM-39 class gunboat |
| Succeeded by: | PSMM Mk5 multi-purpose patrol boat (PSMM) |
| Completed: | 17 commissioned |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | PGM motor gunboat |
| Displacement: | 240 tons (244 t) |
| Length: | 164 ft 6 in (50.14 m) |
| Beam: | 24 ft (7.3 m) |
| Draft: | 9 ft 6 in (2.90 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × Cummins VT12-875 diesel; 1,450 hp (1.07 MW); General Electric LM1500 marine gas turbine |
| Speed: |
16 knots (30 km/h) maximum on diesels |
| Range: | 1,700 NM (3100 km) |
| Complement: | 24 crew (3 officers) |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
Weapons control: Mk 63 GFCS. Radar: Sperry AN/SPS-53; I/J-band. Fire control: Western Electric AN/SPG-50; I/J-band. |
| Armament: |
Missiles: 4 × Aérospatiale SS 12M; wire-guided to 5.5 km (3 NM) subsonic; warhead 30 kg. Guns: 1 × USN 3 in (76 mm) /50 Mk 34; 50 rounds/min to (7 NM) 12.8 km; weight of shell 6 kg. 1 × Bofors 40 mm/70 Mk 10. 4 × 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns (2×2) |
The Asheville class gunboats were a class of small military ships built for the United States Navy in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The class is named for a city in western North Carolina and the seat of Buncombe County. Most Asheville-class gunboats have since been donated to museums, scheduled for scrapping, or transferred to the Greek, Turkish, Colombian and South Korean Navies. The exceptions are the USS Chehalis (PGM-94) and USS Grand Rapids (PGM-98), which are operated by the Naval Surface Warfare Center.[1]
The Asheville-class gunboats were originally designated PGM motor gunboats, but were reclassified in 1967 as PG patrol combatant ships.[2]
Asheville class gunboats employed a Combined diesel or gas turbine (CODOG) propulsion system; twin Cummins Diesels for endurance, and a GE LM1500 gas turbine for high-speed dash.
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A total of 17 Asheville-class gunboats were built between 1966 and 1971.
During the Third Cod War between Iceland and Great Britain in 1975-1976 the Icelandic Coast Guard, through the Minister of Justice Ólafur Jóhannesson (the political leader of the Coast Guard), requested the loan of one or more Asheville boats from the United States Navy. With their high speed they were considered ideal for the Icelanders to counter the British frigates protecting trawlers on the Icelandic fishing banks. The U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger categorically turned down the Icelandic request. This hardly came as a great surprise to the Icelanders, as the request for the Asheville boats was probably a political ploy, intended to show how serious Iceland was in overcoming the Royal Navy in the struggle for the fishing banks[3]. The seaworthiness of the Ashevilles in the rough seas of the North Atlantic around Iceland has to be considered doubtful, at best.
The following Asheville-class gunboats were commissioned for the U.S. Navy.[4][5]
(PG93, PG95, PG97, PG99 & PG101 were built by Peterson Builders, Sturgeon Bay, WI; most of the remaining PG84 class were built by Tacoma Shipyard)
Two of the ships were transferred to the navy of Greece; both ships were in reserve from April 1977 before being refitted and transferred. The gas-turbine propulsion engines were removed prior to transfer and the ships were reclassified as coastal patrol craft.
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