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THE RESULTS OF THE MATERIAL STUDIES
CRAFT STUDY
The report of the Craft Stuly was received in June 1978.
A synopsis is included at Annex C. Its general conclusions were:
a.
No available UK craft fully satisfies the spirit and
letter of the NST and its Supporting Paper.
b.
The NST would be most nearly satisfied by a force of
five 45-50 m displacement craft, of fairly high freeboard
and a speed of 25 knots.
C.
The cheapest solution would be a force of five HM5
39 metre hovercraft, despite some seakeeping shortcomings.
d.
Hydrofoils would be well fitted to the task at some
extra cost.
25. During discussions in London in July 1978, CAPIC Hong Kong
confirmed that the poor seakeeping qualities of the hovercraft and high cost of
the hydrofoil, ruled out these vessels. Otherwise CAPIC agreed the Craft Study
recommendations (para 24). The requirement to minimise any changes to the
existing shore support maintenance facilities (based on TON Class MCMV/Frigate
support), also militates against craft not powered by conventional diesels. It
wis concluded, therefore, that three craft were most suitable, namely:
a.
The Vosper Thornycroft 46M Fast Patrol Boat.
b.
The TT Boats 'OSPREY' design.
!
C
The Brook Marine 46M Fast Patrol Craft
General specifications for these vessels are included in Annex C.
NOTE
The main constraints in reaching this 'short list' were the required length (45-50m), for seakeeping qualities, and the need to keep the overall
UPC around £5M. The former rules out the smaller vessels, such as the BIRD
Class, and the latter the larger Vosper and Brook Marine craft covered by the
Craft Study.
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