BRP Artemio Ricarte (PS-37)

The BRP "Artemio Ricarte" (PS-37) is one of the three "Jacinto" class of corvettes, and are considered as one of the most modern ships in the Philippine Navy. She was originally called HMS "Starling" (P241) during her service with the Royal Navy. She is currently assigned with the Patrol Force of the Philippine Fleet.

History

Launched as the third of five patrol vessels of the "Peacock" class, she was originally part of the Hong Kong Squadron of the Royal Navy. The ships were built by Hall Russell in the United Kingdom and were commissioned into Royal Navy service from 1983 to 1984. The class was designed specifically for patrol duties in Hong Kong waters. As well as ‘flying the flag’ and providing a constant naval presence in region, they could undertake a number of different roles including Seamanship, Navigation and Gunnery training and Search-and-Rescue duties for which they had facilities to carry divers (including a decompression chamber) and equipment to recover vessels and aircraft. They also worked with the Marine Department of the Hong Kong Police and with Customs & Excise in order to prevent the constant flow of illegal immigrants, narcotics and electronic equipment into the Colony. ["Royal Navy Postwar. [http://www.btinternet.com/~warship/Postwar/Patrol/index.htm Peacock Class Offshore Patrol Vessels] .]

Out of the five ships in its class, three of them, HMS "Peacock" (P239), HMS "Plover" (P240), and HMS "Starling" (P241), were left in Hong Kong until 1997. They were sold to the Philippines as a sign of goodwill, and were officially turned over to the Philippine Navy on 1 August 1997 when Hong Kong was ceded back to China.

Notable Deployments

Naval Exercises

The "Artemio Ricarte" was part of the Philippine Navy contingent to join CARAT 2004, together with her sistership BRP "Emilio Jacinto". This was followed immediately with a separate exercise with two Royal Navy ships, namely HMS "Exeter" (D89) and RFA "Grey Rover" (A269). ["Subic Bay News. [http://subicbaynews.blogspot.com/2004/08/visiting-ships-stir-subic-back-to-life.html Visiting ships stir Subic back to life ] .]

On 10 April 2007, "Artemio Ricarte", together with BRP "Quezon" and BRP "Bienvenido Salting", took part in a 10-day naval exercises with the Malaysian Navy dubbed "MALPHI LAUT 2007". Malaysian vessels that took part include KD "Kedah", KD "Laksamana Tan Pusmah", and KD "Yu". ["Manila Standard Today (11 April 2007). [http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=regions1_april11_2007 RP, Malaysia Navies start war games] .]

She was again included in the recently concluded CARAT 2008 exercises with the US Navy last May - June 2008. She was joined by BRP "Nicolas Mahusay" (PG-116), BRP "Boni Serrano" (PG-111) and the Philippine Coast Guard ship BRP "Pampanga" (AU-003). ["Asia Pulse Data Source c/o Individual.com (7 June 2008). [http://www.individual.com/story.php?story=83808142 CARAT 08 in Palawan closes with a series of success] .]

Technical details

The ships under this class are characterized by a low freeboard, an Oto-Melara 76 mm gun turret located forward, large funnel amidships and a crane and rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) aft.

The Oto Melara 76 mm Compact DP, the ships' primary weapon, has a range of up to convert|10|nmi|km|-1 and can be used against ships, aircraft or off and on-shore ground targets. It is remotely controlled from within the Combat Information Center by the gunnery officer and has no crew within the gun itself. The gun can fire 80 rounds in 60 seconds without reloading its magazine. The ship has load capacity for up to 450 rounds.

Its secondary weapon located at the stern, a MSI Defense System mount for a M242 Bushmaster 25 mm cannon, is integrated with the 76mm primary weapon via an Ultra Electronics Command and Control System and a Radamec 1500 Electro-Optical Tracking/Fire Control System. This new system was installed as part of Phase 1 of the Philippine Navy JCPV upgrade program.

In addition to the abovementioned guns, these ships also carry two FN 7.62mm general purpose machine guns at the bridgewings, and two Oerlikon 20 mm cannons at the midships.

The ships are powered by two APE-Crossley SEMT-Pielstick diesels (14,188 bhp combined) driving two three-bladed propellers. It has a drop down loiter engine with a shrouded prop of 181 bhp used to keep station and save fuel. The main engines can propel the 664 ton (712 tons full load) ship at over convert|28|kn|km/h|0, with a sustained speed of convert|25|kn|km/h|0. Its range is convert|2500|nmi|km|-1 at convert|17|kn|km/h|0.

These corvettes were specifically designed for Asian service, having air-conditioned crew spaces and have been designed to stay at sea during typhoons and other strong weather anomalies common to Asian seas. The ships were modified soon after entering Royal Navy service with deeper bilge keels to alleviate a propensity to roll during moderate and heavy seas."Manokski's ORBAT @ Hueybravo. [http://www.hueybravo.net/NavyPages/jacinto.htm Jacinto class corvettes page] .]

Upgrades

Aside from the new M242 Bushmaster 25 mm cannon and upgrade of its Command and Control & Fire Control Systems as part of the ship's Phase 1 upgrade, the Philippine Navy also installed a new Raytheon Gyro Compass, Sperry Marine Naval BridgeMaster E Series Surface Search Radar, GPS, Anemometer, and EM logs. These were integrated with the ship's existing systems. The Phase 1 upgrade was completed last 2005." AFP Materiel Technical Specification Archives [http://www.geocities.com/kalasagnglahi/ Capital Ships] .]

The Phase 2 is the Marine Engineering Upgrade Program, which includes the repair and remediation of the hull, overhaul and improvement of the Main Propulsion including control and monitoring systems, electrical plant, auxiliary systems, outfitting and hull furnishings and training the navy crew in the operation and maintenance of the new plant.

Phase 3, which is still under bidding, is a Service Life Extension Program (SLEP).

There are plans to add anti-ship missiles to the ships, but due to top-weight problems, it would have to be a lightweight system such as Sea Skua, although no missiles have been ordered to date.Wertheim, Eric: "The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World 15th Edition", page 552. Naval Institute Press, 2007.]

Gallery

References

External links

* [http://www.navy.mil.ph Philippine Navy Official website]
* [http://philfleet.mil.ph/ships.htm Philippine Fleet Official Website]
* [http://timawa.net/forum/index.php/topic,6005.0.html Jacinto Class Patrol Vessel threads @ Philippine Defense Forum]
* [http://www.hazegray.org/worldnav/asiapac/philip.htm Hazegray World Navies Today: Philippines]
* [http://www.dlsu.edu.ph/offices/sps/rotc/pdf/ms2/namingPNships.pdf Naming and Code Designation of PN Ships]

ee also

* Philippine Navy
* Peacock class patrol vessel