HMS Redpole (P259)
| History | |
|---|---|
 Royal Air Force | |
| Name | Sea Otter |
| Operator | Royal Air Force Marine Branch |
| Ordered | 26 March 1973 |
| Builder | Fairmile, Berwick-upon-Tweed |
| Laid down | 29 July 1974 |
| Launched | 20 September 1974 |
| Commissioned | 25 March 1975 |
| Out of service | 1985 |
| Identification | IMO number: 8654314 |
| Fate | Transferred to Royal Navy |
 Royal Navy | |
| Name | HMS Redpole |
| Namesake | Redpoll |
| In service | 1985 |
| Out of service | 1994 |
| Identification | IMO number: 8654314 |
| Fate | Sold in 2000 and renamed MV Badtz Maru[1] |
| Notes | [2] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Bird-class patrol vessel |
| Displacement | 159 long tons (162 t) |
| Length | 120 ft (37 m) o/a |
| Beam | 23 ft (7.0 m) |
| Draught | 6.5 ft (2.0 m) |
| Propulsion | Two diesel engines, one to each shaft, all giving 4,000 brake horsepower (3,000 kW) |
| Speed | 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
| Range | 2,200 nautical miles (4,100 km; 2,500 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 17 |
| Notes | [2] |
HMS Redpole (P259) was built in 1974 by Fairmile Marine at Berwick-upon-Tweed as RAFV Sea Otter, the third Seal class Long Range Recovery and Support Craft of the Royal Air Force Marine Branch. The Seal class was similar to the Bird-class patrol vessels of the British Royal Navy. .[2]
Royal Naval service
[edit]In anticipation of the disbandment of the RAF Marine Branch in 1986, Sea Otter was transferred to the Royal Navy on 30 October 1984. At Brooke Marine, Lowestoft, she was refitted - given armaments, a light grey livery, an enclosed wheelhouse and extended bridge wings, and modified several times over the years to help her in her role patrolling Northern Ireland.[1]
Post-UK service
[edit]As part of the cuts in the defence budget, Redpole was replaced in 1994 by a River-class minesweeper and was subsequently earmarked for disposal.[1]
The ship was sold in 1996 and spent four years in Southampton. The ship was sold again in 2000 to a founder of Digex, renamed RV Badtz Maru (after Bad Badtz-Maru), and moved to Baltimore, Maryland.[1][3]
Since 2012, as Seaman Guard Virginia, she has participated in anti-piracy patrols conducted by maritime private military contractor AdvanFort in the Gulf of Aden.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "Seal Class Long Range Recovery and Support Craft". Retrieved 10 October 2010.
- ^ a b c Cocker, Maurice (2006). Coastal Forces Vessels of the Royal Navy from 1865. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. p. 241. ISBN 075243862X.
- ^ Kahney, Leander (2 November 2002). "All Aboard! (But No PCs Allowed)". Wired Magazine. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
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