HMC Valiant

Not to be confused with HMS Valiant.
HMC Valiant
History
United Kingdom
Name: Valiant
Builder: Damen Group, Netherlands
Launched: 2004
Commissioned: April 2004
Identification:
General characteristics
Class & type: UKBF 42m Customs Cutter
Length: 42.80 m (140.4 ft)[3]
Beam: 7.11 m (23.3 ft)[3]
Draught: 2.52 m (8.3 ft)[3]
Installed power: 4,176 kW (5,600 hp)
Propulsion:
  • Two Caterpillar 3516B DI-TA Elec
  • Two 3.5:1 reduction gearboxes
  • Two 4-blade controllable pitch propellers
  • One Promac bow thruster
  • Two 106kWA generator sets
Speed: 26 knots (48 km/h)
Range: 1,750 nmi (3,240 km) at 12kn
Endurance: 14 days
Boats & landing
craft carried:
  • One 7m RIB (32 kn)
  • One 3.8m Rescue Boat
Complement: 12

HMC Valiant is a Border Agency (customs) cutter of the United Kingdom. She was launched by Damen Shipyards in the Netherlands in 2003 and is one of four 42-metre (138 ft) cutters formerly operated by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, and since 2008 operated by the UK Border Agency.

Prefix

The Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise Departments merged to form HM Revenue and Customs on 18 April 2005, and from this time customs cutters changed their prefix from "HMRC" (Her Majesty's Revenue Cutter) to "HMCC" (Her Majesty's Customs Cutter). Following transfer to the UK Border Agency this was shortened to the current "HMC" (Her Majesty's Cutter) and a new livery applied to the fleet of cutters.[4]

Construction

HMC Valiant is the fourth of the Customs and Excise's fleet of 42-metre (138 ft) customs patrol vessels. She was built in 2003 in the Damen Shipyards in the Netherlands, and has a steel hull with an aluminium superstructure.[3] Much effort has been expended in making her quiet to reduce crew fatigue; her engines are raft-mounted, decks throughout the ship are of a floating type, and her compartments are constructed on a box-within-a-box principle.[3]

Her 7-metre (23 ft) Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) can be launched from her stern slipway. She is fitted with a 2,000-litre (440 imp gal) per minute fire fighting system for dealing with fires in other ships.

HMC Valiant in the Solent on 23 October 2008

Propulsion

She is fitted with twin Caterpillar 3516B DI-TA Elec engines driving twin 4-bladed controllable-pitch propellers through a pair of 3.5:1 reduction gearboxes. The total installed power of 4,176 kW (5,600 hp)[3] gives her a top speed of 26 knots (48 km/h).[3] A single Promac bow thruster is fitted[3] for slow speed manoeuvring in confined spaces. Electrical power is supplied by a pair of 106kWA generators.[3]

Operational history

On April 23, 2015, together with the Royal Navy frigate Somerset, she intercepted the Tanzanian-registered tug Hamal in the North Sea, about 100 miles off Aberdeen, leading to the seizure of more than three tons of cocaine, believed to be the single largest seizure of a Class A drug in the UK.[5]

References

  1. "9293698". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 21 June 2009. (subscription required (help)).
  2. Boyle, Ian. "HM Revenue Cutters". Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Valiant - Damen Shipyards Gorinchem delivers a Damen Stan Patrol 4207 to H.M. Customs and Excise" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-06-21.
  4. As referenced and illustrated in this Police Oracle website article, featuring HMC Vigilant.
  5. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-32533478

External links

Media related to HMC Valiant at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, November 05, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.