BRP Heracleo Alano (PG-376)

Career (Philippines)
Name: Heracleo Alano
Namesake: Lt. Heracleo Alano was an officer of the Offshore Patrol, and was the Executive Officer of the torpedo boat Q-111 Luzon
Operator: Philippine Navy
Ordered: August 1990[1][2]
Builder: Trinity-Equitable Shipyards, New Orleans, USA
Acquired: 11 September 1991[3]
Commissioned: January 1992[1]
Status: in active service, as of 2015
General characteristics
Class and type:Jose Andrada class
Type:Coastal Patrol Craft
Displacement:56.4 tons full load [4]
Length:78 ft (24 m)[5]
Beam:20 ft (6.1 m)[5]
Draft:5.8 ft (1.8 m)[5]
Propulsion:[2][N 1]
  • 2 × 1,400 bhp Detroit 16V-92TA Diesel Engines
  • 2 × 35-kW Diesel generators
  • 2 shafts
Speed:28 knots (52 km/h) maximum
Range:1,200 nmi (2,200 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h)
Boats and landing
craft carried:		4-meter rigid inflatable boat at aft
Complement:12[5]
Sensors and
processing systems:		Raytheon AN/SPS-64(V)11 Navigation / Surface Search Radar
Armament:4 × Mk.26 M2HB Browning 12.7 mm/50-cal. GP machine guns
2 × M60 7.62 mm/30-cal. GP machine guns

The BRP Heracleo Alano (PG-376) is the sixth ship of the Jose Andrada class coastal patrol boats of the Philippine Navy. It is part of the first batch of its class ordered through US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) in 1990, and was commissioned with the Philippine Navy on January 1992.[1][4] It was initially designated as Fast Patrol Craft, and was numbered "DF-376", but later on was re-designated as a Patrol Gunboat, and was finally re-numbered as "PG-376".[1]

Notable Operations / Exercises

On August 2006, as part of a Philippine Navy Task Group, the Heracleo Alano, together with BRP Bacolod City (LC-550), BRP Teotimo Figuracion (PG-389), BRP Apolinario Mabini (PS-36), joined their United States Navy counterparts including USS Tortuga (LSD-46), USS Hopper (DDG-70), USS Crommelin (FFG-37), USS Salvor (ARS-52), and US Coast Guard ship USCGC Sherman (WHEC-720) in the CARAT 2006 naval exercises [6]

Technical Details

The ship was built to US Coast Guard standards with aluminum hull and superstructure.[5] She is powered by two Detroit Diesel 16V-92TA Diesel Engines with a combined power of around 2,800 hp driving two propellers for a maximum speed of 28 knots (52 km/h). Maximum range is 1,200 nmi (2,200 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h), or alternatively 600 nmi (1,100 km) at 24 knots (44 km/h).[2]

The ship originally designed to carry one bow Mk.3 40 mm gun, one 81 mm mortar aft, and four 12.7 mm/50 caliber machine guns.[2][7] Instead, she is armed with only four M2HB Browning 12.7 mm/50 caliber machine guns on Mk.26 mounts, with two positioned forward and two aft; and two M60 7.62 mm/30 caliber machine guns, both mounted amidships. The ship can carry 4,000 rounds of 12.7 mm and 2,000 rounds of 7.62 mm A large "Big Eyes" binocular is also carried on tripod mounts, one on the forecastle and one just above the mast.[2]

As part of the first batch (PG-370 to PG-378), it is not equipped with Mk.38 Mod.0 Bushmaster 25mm chain gun.[2][5][7][N 2]. She was also the test ship for Project "Trident Strike" remote operated gun mount system of the Philippine Navy Naval Sea Systems Command and Mapua Institute of Technology.[8] It was planned to install either a stabilized or unstabilized M242 25 mm Bushmaster chain gun on her bow after some minor modifications,[5] but as of to date has not materialized.

She is equipped with a Raytheon AN/SPS-64(V)11 surface search and navigation radar but with a smaller antenna as those used in bigger Philippine Navy ships.[2][4]

A 4-meter rigid inflatable boat powered by a 40-hp outboard motor is stowed amidships.[2]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ All sources refer to the same engine, although with different horsepower rating.[2][5] But official specs from manufacturer indicates a 1,400 hp rating for each engine.
  2. ↑ Sources vary on weapons mount of this ship, with most indicating the presence of a Bushmaster 25mm chain gun on a Mk.38 mount.[2][5] Recent photos does not show said weapon or mount, so are other ships from the first batch (PG-370 to PG-378)[7]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 GlobalSecurity.org PG Jose Andrada Class.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Wertheim, Eric: The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World 15th Edition, page 553. Naval Institute Press, 2007.
  3. ↑ Shipbuildinghistory.com Equitable Shipyards, New Orleans LA
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Manokski's ORBAT @ Hueybravo. Jose Andrada class page.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 Saunders, Stephen: Jane's Fighting Ships 107th Edition 2004-2005. Jane's Information Group Ltd, 2004.
  6. ↑ "Final CARAT Phase Closes in Philippines". US Navy. 2006-08-22. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 AFP Materiel Technical Specification Archives - PN Light Surface Warships Andrada (Halter 78) class Coastal Patrol Craft (24)
  8. ↑ Youtube.com Project Trident and Spearhead

External links