Island-class Police patrol vessel
Class overview
BuildersHolyhead Marine Services
OperatorsMoD Police Clyde Marine Unit (primary) . Portsmouth Marine Unit. Force Protection Group Royal Marines
Preceded by14m police boat
Succeeded bynew hull in design phase
SubclassesRM patrol craft
Built294 miles at 33kts full load
In commission12
General characteristics
TypePolice Patrol Boat
Displacement19.9 tonnes
Length14.90m (OA)
Beam4.58m
Draught0.90m (Full Load)
PropulsionTwin Caterpillar C18 @ 715bhp (533kW) coupled to Rolls-Royce FF37 Waterjets
Speed33kts @ 19.9 tonnes
Complement3
ArmamentCapable of carrying variety of weapons fit
ArmourBallistically protected

The Island-class is a class of Police patrol boat operated primarily by the MOD Police Clyde Marine Unit at HMNB Clyde. They are tasked with protecting high value Royal Navy ships such as the Vanguard-class submarines. Royal Marines currently operate two ex police boats of the class Mull and Rona- these were handed over to the Royal Marines during 2013. Rona and Mull are interchangeable in their roles and can be used by both RM and MDP. The RMs also have a third vessel named Eorsa.[1] Mod Police Portsmouth Marine Unit also operate Gigha and Lewis. Gigha was the prototype and first of class. [2][3]

Specifications

The Island-class patrol vessel has the following specifications:[3]

  • Weight (full): 20,000 kg (20 tonnes)
  • Length: 14.9 m (48 ft 11 in)
  • Width : 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in)
  • Speed: 33 kn (61 km/h; 38 mph)
  • Endurance: In excess of 275 nautical miles (509 km)
  • Crew: 3
  • Armament: Weapon mounts for GPMGs, GMGs and HMGs

Current fleet

MoD Police

  • Gigha (Portsmouth Marine Unit)
  • Iona
  • Skye
  • Lismore
  • Barra
  • Harris
  • Lewis (Portsmouth Marine Unit)
  • Jura
  • Tiree

Royal Marines

  • Mull
  • Rona
  • Eorsa

See also

References

  1. "Royal Navy Fleet Poster p.21" (PDF). Navy News. February 2023. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  2. Royal Marines take delivery of new Island Class vessels, royalnavy.mod.uk, 07/03/2013
  3. 1 2 15m Police Boat Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine, holyheadmarine.co.uk, Retrieved 15 June 2014


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