HMBS Leonard C Banfield (P 02) is patrol vessel of the Barbados Coast Guard.[1][2] She was commissioned on 14 September 2007. She is built to the design of the Damen Group's Stan 4207 patrol vessel, a class of 42-metre (138 ft) 240 ton vessels.[1]
According to Aviation Week the vessel and her sister ships primary armament was a non-lethal water cannon, but she was also armed with machine guns.[1] They reported she was capable of 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph) and had an at sea endurance of 4 days. She is built to withstand sea state 8 conditions. She was built in the Netherlands at Damen′s Gorinchem Shipyards.
She and her sister ships are equipped with a stern launching ramp, like some other cutters built to Damen designs.[1] The stern launching ramp allows a water-jet–powered pursuit boat to be launched and retrieved without bringing the cutter to a halt.
Aviation Week reports that the local Barbadian Press reported the vessels cost $6 million each.[1] The HMBS Leonard C. Banfield is the first in a class that also includes the HMBS Rudyard Lewis, commissioned on the 13 of September 2008, and the HMBS Trident, commissioned on the 25 of April 2009.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Joris Janssen Lok (2007-10-01). "Barbados Bound". Aviation Week. Archived from the original on 2012-12-09.
- ^ "Patrol boat replacement". Jane's Defence Weekly. 2008-03-17. Archived from the original on 2010-06-27. Retrieved 2009-09-26.