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"MANAMA, BAHRAIN — It’s small, fast, heavily armed, networked and one of a kind. But the new coastal command boat just starting to operate in this region is giving sailors in the Persian Gulf a taste of the swift and bad-ass boats coming to the brown-water Navy.
“There are lots of concepts we’re trying to prove out here,” said Capt. Joseph DiGuardo, commodore of Task Force 56, whose job is to assess the armored boat’s uses for explosive ordnance disposal, Seabees and more.
The unnamed craft — numbered 65PB1101 — arrived here aboard a cargo ship in February, shipped from San Diego. The 65-foot, 50-ton CCB was built by Bremerton, Wash.-based SAFE Boats International.
The craft is similar in form and features to the larger Mark VI patrol boats being built by SAFE Boats. The first of six Mark VIs is scheduled for delivery in the early fall.
Until the Mark VIs get here, CTF 56 will use the CCB to prove new operating concepts.
The craft, steered by a joystick and able to top 35 knots, got a thumbs-up from crew members on a recent trip.
“It’s fun to drive,” Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Christopher Stout said with a smile as he whipped the boat around Manama harbor."
"MANAMA, BAHRAIN — It’s small, fast, heavily armed, networked and one of a kind. But the new coastal command boat just starting to operate in this region is giving sailors in the Persian Gulf a taste of the swift and bad-ass boats coming to the brown-water Navy.
“There are lots of concepts we’re trying to prove out here,” said Capt. Joseph DiGuardo, commodore of Task Force 56, whose job is to assess the armored boat’s uses for explosive ordnance disposal, Seabees and more.
The unnamed craft — numbered 65PB1101 — arrived here aboard a cargo ship in February, shipped from San Diego. The 65-foot, 50-ton CCB was built by Bremerton, Wash.-based SAFE Boats International.
The craft is similar in form and features to the larger Mark VI patrol boats being built by SAFE Boats. The first of six Mark VIs is scheduled for delivery in the early fall.
Until the Mark VIs get here, CTF 56 will use the CCB to prove new operating concepts.
The craft, steered by a joystick and able to top 35 knots, got a thumbs-up from crew members on a recent trip.
“It’s fun to drive,” Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Christopher Stout said with a smile as he whipped the boat around Manama harbor."
