Bay-class patrol boat Botany Bay in Darwin Harbour in July 2012
| |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Name | Bay class |
Builders | Austal |
Operators | |
In service | 1999–present |
Completed | 8 |
Active | 4 |
Retired | 4 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Patrol boat |
Displacement | 134 tons |
Length | 38.2 m (125 ft 4 in) |
Beam | 7.2 m (23 ft 7 in) |
Draught | 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
Range | 1,000 nmi (1,900 km; 1,200 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
Boats & landing craft carried | 2 × Wiltrading Pursuit 640 vessels (USLC-2C Survey)[1] |
Complement | 12 crew |
Sensors and processing systems |
|
Armament | 1 × 7.62 mm general purpose machine gun |
The Bay class is a class of eight armed patrol boats, built by Austal and used by the Customs Marine Unit of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. They entered service during the late 1990s and early 2000s, and are primarily used on border protection duties.
The class was due to be replaced by 2010, but a request for tender was not issued until June of that year. The availability of the Bay class ships decreased during the later years of their service life. After the Cape class began entering service, four of the Bays were offered to other forces; two each to the Sri Lankan Navy and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.