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Background
— the Origins of the Orca Class Patrol Craft, Training |
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In November of 2004, Victoria Shipyards won DND's "YAG
300 (Training Vessel) Replace- ment" contest with its design, the Orca class PCT. However,
the Orca was not a completely original design. The basic hull originated in Australia where Tenix
designed it to meet their Government's 1982 Pacific Patrol Boat project.
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Tenix produced a range of patrol and search-and-rescue boats [1] most being based on their Pacific class hull.
The Pacific class was designed to meet that Australian government request for patrol boats suited
to the operational needs of neighbouring countries like the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the
Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands,
Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. To satisfy this requirement, Tenix produced twenty-two Pacific class
boats – 31.5m vessels with durable welded steel hulls and welded aluminum superstructures, powered by twin
Caterpillar diesels.
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Australia donated the 22 Pacific class patrol boats to her Pacific neighbours. To administer the construction
and maintenance of the boats, a Pacific Patrol Boat Systems Program Office was
was set up within the Royal Australian Navy's procurement system (although RAN itself does
not employ the type). The first of class – the PNG's HMPNGS Tarangau – is now 15
years old and the entire Pacific class are cycling through a life-extension program meant to keep them in
service until 2027. The Pacific class boats are operated by self- defence or police forces depending on local
arrangements. The common thread is sovereignty assertion and patrolling of these twelve nations' 200 mile
EEZs with an emphasis on protecting fisheries.
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While the Pacific class boats gave good service to Australia's neighbours, the RAN had no need for such
vessels ( it had more capable 41m Fremantle class patrol
boats in service).[2] However, the advantages of the modestly-sized, user-friendly Pacific
class boats were not lost on the RAN. After the 22 Pacific class for donation abroad were finished, a 23rd
hull was constructed for navigational training of RAN officers. This boat – MV Seahorse
Mercator [3] – had a mission-specific superstructure set on a Pacific class hull.
Victoria Shipyards was able to follow the same model for their Orca class boats. The Orca has a
steel hull based on the patrol-proven Pacific class but with a modest hull stretch. As on the MV Seahorse
Mercator, the superstructure is all new and designed specifically for CF training needs and trainee
accomodations.
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Orca Class PCT / Pacific Class Patrol Boat – Specifications
Comparison
| Dimensions: |
33m/31.5m long x 8.34m / 8.1m beam
x 2m/2.1m draught |
| Displacement: |
210 tonnes ( full load ) / 210
tonnes ( full load ) |
| Powerplant: |
2 x Caterpillar 3516B diesels / 2 x Caterpillar 3516B
diesels |
| Max. Speed: |
18 knots / 20+ knots (sustained speed for 31.5m HK
boats) |
| Armament: |
Optional 12.7mm MG / 20mm cannon and/or machineguns |
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[1] The 24m patrol boat and 80m OPV are distinct designs. Other Tenix patrol boats are based on the
Pacific class hull, differing primarily in hull length and superstructure design. Four 31m patrol boats have
been delivered to the Kuwait Coast Guard. In the 31.5m length, other than the 22 Pacific class and MV
Seahorse Mercator, six Hong Kong Water Police fast patrol boats with a third waterjet-powering engine
were built. Orca is the sole 33m hull. The Philippine Coast Guard received four all-aluminum 35m
SAR versions with options on ten more.
[2] The Fremantles are now being replaced by 57m, aluminum Armidale class boats (based on Austal's
Bay class customs vessel design).
[3] MV Seahorse Mercator is not a RAN vessel. It is privately owned and operated under contract to RAN
by Defence Maritime Services. MV Seahorse Mercator is home-based in Sydney Harbour and operates on
officer nav training cruises from Port Stephens to Jervis Bay.
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