Page 27: of Marine News Magazine (July 2025)

26 28

Patrol Boats

US Navy

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Tanner Bernat

U.S. Marines with Maritime Special Purpose Force, 22nd Marine

Expeditionary Unit, board a vessel in rigid-hull in? atable boats while conducting maritime interception operations aboard U.S. Navy training support vessel USNS Vindicator (TSV5). move personnel and security details between the ships and port security barriers for its bases. It’s just 19 feet long platforms. These boats usually operated in pairs, and car- with a 10 foot-beam, with a 260 HP Cummins diesel and ried armed personnel. a ZF transmission.

In the past, commanding of? cers would have their own Work boats are used for ship’s husbandry tasks such “captain’s gig,” and ? ag of? cers would have a 40-foot “ad- as hull cleaning or painting, as well as deploying oil spill miral’s barge.” Today, most ships have a standard 7-meter booms. Dive boats have room and deck space to conduct

RHIB. Larger ships might have several. Many units em- dive operations and support salvage, ship husbandry or bark ships with their own 11-meter RHIBs. Amphibious other assignments. Torpedo retrievers can remain at sea ships embark landing craft that can also be used for a vari- for several days to support underwater weapons training or ety of purposes. testing by recovering torpedoes, bringing them on board,

To manage the security perimeters that the Navy has and returning to them to shore to be prepared for reuse.

placed arounds its ships, docks and infrastructure, the ser- Surface combatants generally have boats that can be used vice found a small logger boat, known as the “Boomin’ in the “Visit, Board, Search and Seizure” (VBSS) mission,

Beaver,” built by Chuck’s Boat and Drive Company of role conducted by specially trained and certi? ed crews.

Longview, Wash., which are being used to open and close The teams (which are usually armed) must be able to come 27| www.marinelink.com MN