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Ferocity-Class fast patrol craft, HMS Ferocity
Design and service history:
With the successfull construction of the first Brave-class FPB, it became clear to Vosper that the current design for the vessel was too expensive to both produce and operatate, for the ship-class to be easily sold to the expanding cold war overseas market. Because of this, they modified the design of the Brave-class to produce a smaller prototype vessel named Ferocity at their own expence. The initial size of the brave class was designed to carry a pair of 3.3-inch fast firing guns, but by the time Ferocity was being considered this weapon system had already been cancelled. This allowed Vosper to reduce the size of Ferocity, resulting in a boat 27.6m (90 feet 8 inches), waterline length 26.82m (88 feet ), beam width 6.7m (22 feet ) when completed. This gave the ship a standard displacement of 76.2 tons, and a fully loaded displacement about 86.4 tons. In addition to these dimensional changes, Ferocity also possessed a new streamlined and fully enclosed superstructure, allowing it to operate in nuclear and biochemically polluted enviroments, with the personnel able to stay safe within its enclosed hull. When this design was presented to the west german navy, they stated that the design was too small resulting in the final size of the Pfeil P6193 being more comparable in size to the Brave-class, though possessing the duel powerplant of the Ferocity class.
The propulsion system of Ferocity, was a composite gas turbine and diesel engine drive, powering a two shaft propulsion system. The main engines were a pair of Proteus 1270 gas turbines supported by a pair of Mathway-Daimler diesel engines for cruising (single engine power 150 horsepower). This configuation allowed the ship to maintain both high-speed perfomance equivilent to the Brave-class, but also a higher endurance at low speeds, giving it nearly four times the range of the original Brave FPBs. In addition to this, the hull frame and outer plate were made entirely of wood, with the closed superstrucutre composed of aluminium alloy, in order to save costs. The hull below the waterline was made of reinforced metal, giving the ship a stronger overall structural strength than the original brave class. The hull frame was made of African mahogany (mahogany), the hull panels are plywood formed from layers of mahogany and Canadian hard elm. In terms of armament, the Ferocity was identical to its predessessor, possessing a pair of 40mm bofors cannons, and four torpedos. The reduction in hull size resulted in a reduction of crew though, with Ferocity possessing a compliment of only 14 officers and ratings.
The electrical systems on board more than made up for this smaller crew though, as she possessed a TM909 search radar on the top of the rear bridge, which when used could locate and track surface targets, low-altitude targets, and measure the azimuth and distance of surface targets. The ship also possessed a radar antenna set up to a height of 6.4m, which was supported by a Sperrydgs compass, a range finder, an echo sounder, an autopilot, and a hydrophone. Though initially intended to be a performance demonstrator, HMS Ferocity briefly joined the Royal Navy in June of 1967, where she served as the tender for HMS Brave Swordsman P1012. HMS Ferocity was staffed by Royal Navy personal on June 14th, commissioned on june 16th and was decommissioned on june 28th, giving her two weeks of service, before being returning to being a demonstrator.
Vessel Specification:
Displacement: 85 tonnes
Length: 27,6 meters (90 feet 6 inches)
Beam: 7,3 m (23 ft 11 in)
Draft: 2 m (6 ft 6 in)
Crew: 14
Speed: 50 knots, max. (93 km/h)
Propulsion:
2 x Bristol Proteus gas turbines (3178 kW / 4260 hp, each)
2 shafts / 2 propellers (36" / 91,4 cm)
Armament:
2 x L/70 Bofors 40mm gun
4 x 21" (533mm) torpedoes on dropping racks
Additional historical images:
Photo taken of HMS Ferocity undergoing trials in which she achieved a speed of 50 knots:
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Additional historical image of HMS Ferocity
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Illustration taken from a sales brochure from Vosper:
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Sources:
- Royal Navy PT (Break down of classes and ship specification for ferocity)
- British Military Powerboat Trust, Coastal Forces, Gunboats, Target Boats, High Speed Launches, Motor Gun Boats, Torpedo Boats, Patrol Boats, Seaplane Tenders (More history for HMS Ferocity)
- https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/retro/vospers-ferocity-powerboat-trials-portsmouth-left-onlookers-gasping-awe-retro-951574 (Historical newspaper article about her trials)
- ferocity - BMPT Forum - Page 1 (Forum with additional historical images)
