BRP Cebu (PS-28)

The BRP "Cebu" (PS-28) is one of several "Miguel Malvar" class Patrol Corvettes in service with the Philippine Navy. She is formerly an ex-USN Patrol Craft Escort based on the "Admirable" class minesweeper hull that were produced during World War II, and is now classified as a corvette protecting the vast waters of the Philippines. She is actually one of the first of her class in service with the Philippine Navy (as other ships of her class were commissioned in 1975). Along with other ex-World War II veteran ships of the Philippine Navy, she is considered as one of the oldest active fighting ships in the world today. ["Manokski's Armed Forces of the Philippines Order of Battle. [http://www.hueybravo.net/Philippine%20Navy%20Main.htm Philippine Navy] .]

History

Commissioned in the US Navy as the USS "PCER-881" in 1944, and was decommissioned after World War II.

She was then transferred and commissioned into the Philippine Naval Patrol (currently Philippine Navy) and was renamed RPS (now BRP) "Cebu" (PS-28) in July 1948. She is currently assigned with the Patrol Force of the Philippine Fleet. ["Philippine Fleet Official Website. [http://philfleet.mil.ph/ships.htm Commissioned ships and crafts] .]

Notable Operations

As of 23 June 2008, she and her medical team onboard was designated to assist the search and rescue operation of MV "Princess of the Stars" of Sulpicio Lines, which capsized off the coast of San Fernando, Romblon at the height of Typhoon Fengshen on 22 June 2008. [ Newsflash.org. [http://www.newsflash.org/2004/02/hl/hl107612.htm Ferry Capsized in Romblon Stormy Sea: 929 Dead, Missing] .]

Technical details

Originally the ship was armed with one 3"/50 caliber dual purpose gun, three twin Bofors 40 mm guns, four 20 mm Oerlikon guns, 1 Hedgehog depth charge projector, four depth charge projectiles (K-guns) and two depth charge tracks. ["NavSource Online: Patrol Craft Escort Photo Archive. [http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/02881.htm PCE-881] .]

The same configuration applies up until the late 1980s when the Philippine Navy removed most of her old anti-submarine weapons and systems, and added four 12.7 mm general purpose machine guns, making her lighter and ideal for surface patrols, but losing her limited anti-submarine warfare capability.

The ship is powered by two GM 12-278A diesel engines, with a combined rating of around 2,200 bhp driving two propellers. The main engines can propel the 914 tons (full load) ship to a maximum speed of around convert|16|kn|km/h|0. ["DLSU N-ROTC Office. [http://www.dlsu.edu.ph/offices/sps/rotc/pdf/ms2/namingPNships.pdf Naming and Code Designation of PN Vessels] .]

There are slight difference between the BRP "Cebu" as compared to some of her sister ships in the Philippine Navy, since her previous configuration was as a patrol craft escort, while the others are configured as minesweepers and patrol craft escort rescue ships.

Notable Popular Culture

* BRP "Cebu" was the ship escorting a fictional Philippine Navy "Whidbey Island" class LSD BRP "Cagayan de Oro" during a mission to reclaim the Mischief Reef from the Chinese in the 1997 novel "Dragon Strike - The Millennium War" by Humphrey Hawksley and Simon Holberton. In the said novel, the mission failed as Chinese Su-27s sank the "Cagayan de Oro", and Chinese forces repulsed the attacks of the Philippine Marines to retake the reef. This resulted to the total withrawal of the Philippines from the South China Sea war against China. [Hawksley, Humphrey; Holberton, Simon (1997). Dragon Strike - The Millennium War ISBN 0-330-35036-6]

Gallery

References

External links

* [http://timawa.net/forum Philippine Defense Forum]
* [http://www.hazegray.org/worldnav/asiapac/philip.htm Philippine Navy @ Hazegray.org]
* [http://www.dlsu.edu.ph/offices/sps/rotc/pdf/ms2/namingPNships.pdf DLSU ROTC]
* [http://timawa.net/pn.htm Opus224's Unofficial Philippine Defense Page]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/02881.htm NavSource Online: Patrol Craft Escort Photo Archive]

ee also

* Philippine Navy