USS Thunderbolt

	USS Thunderbolt in both Coast Guard and Navy markings.
History
United States
Name	Thunderbolt
Namesake	Thunderbolt
Ordered	19 July 1991
Builder	Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana
Laid down	9 June 1994
Launched	2 December 1994
Acquired	5 August 1995
Commissioned	7 October 1995
Decommissioned	22 March 2023
Homeport	Naval Support Activity Bahrain
Identification	IMO number: 9067855
Motto	"Defend or Destroy"
Status	Transferred to Egyptian Navy
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Cyclone-class patrol ship
Displacement	331 tons
Length	174 ft (53 m)
Beam	25 ft (7.6 m)
Draught	7.5 ft (2.3 m)
Speed	35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Complement	4 officers, 24 men, 8 Special Forces
Armament	(USN) 2 Mk38 chain guns; 2 Mk19 grenade launchers; 2 .50 (12.7 mm) machine guns; 6 Stinger missiles;

	USS Thunderbolt in both Coast Guard and Navy markings.
History
Egypt
Namesake	Thunderbolt
Ordered	19 July 1991
Builder	Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana
Laid down	9 June 1994
Launched	2 December 1994
Acquired	22 March 2023
Homeport	Alexanderia Egypt
Identification	IMO number: 9067855
Status	Accepted, Awaiting Commissioning
General characteristics
Class and type	Cyclone-class patrol ship
Displacement	331 tons
Length	174 ft (53 m)
Beam	25 ft (7.6 m)
Draught	7.5 ft (2.3 m)
Speed	35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Complement	4 officers, 24 men, 8 Special Forces
Armament	(USN) 2 Mk38 chain guns; 2 Mk19 grenade launchers; 2 .50 (12.7 mm) machine guns; 6 Stinger missiles;

USS Thunderbolt (PC-12) is the twelfth Cyclone-class patrol ship. Thunderbolt was laid down 9 June 1994 by Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana, and launched 2 December 1994. She was commissioned by the United States Navy on 7 October 1995.

Operational history[edit]

In 2013,Thunderbolt shifted homeport to Naval Support Activity Bahrain, arriving pierside there on 3 July 2013.^[2]

On 25 July 2017, Thunderbolt fired warning shots at an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy vessel. According to an unnamed U.S. defense official source, "The IRGCN boat was coming in at a high rate of speed. It did not respond to any signals, they did not respond to any bridge-to-bridge calls, they (the USS Thunderbolt) felt there was no choice except to fire the warning shots."^[3]

On 30 August 2022, Thunderbolt was involved in an incident with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) when the IRGC's ship Shahid Baziar attempted to tow away a U.S. Navy Saildrone Explorer-type unmanned surface vehicle which had been monitoring the Persian Gulf. Thunderbolt, as well as a U.S. Navy MH-60 Seahawk of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 26, moved to intercept the Iranian vessel and by radio identified the drone as U.S. government property. The drone was released after about four hours.^[4]^[5]

On 22 March 2023, ex-USS Thunderbolt and two of her sister ships were transferred to the Egyptian Navy following transit to Alexandria from the United States. During the transit both US Navy and Egyptian Navy participated in bilateral training in preparation of the transfer. ^[6]

References[edit]

^ "U.S. Navy Transfers Three Patrol Craft to Egyptian Navy". 22 March 2023.
^ U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Public Affairs (29 June 2017). "5th Fleet PC Force Grows to Eight Ships (Story Number: NNS130703-06)" (Press release). Naval Support Activity, Bahrain. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
^ AFP (25 July 2017). "US Navy ship fires warning shots at Iranian vessel". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
^ Gambrell, Jon (30 August 2022). "US Navy says Iran seized, later let go of American sea drone". Associated Press. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
^ U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Public Affairs (30 August 2022). "U.S. Navy Foils Iranian Attempt to Capture Unmanned Vessel in Arabian Gulf". U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
^ "U.S. Navy Transfers Three Patrol Craft to Egyptian Navy". 22 March 2023.

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.

External links[edit]

USS Thunderbolt Intercepted by an Iranian Patrol Boat
FAS
Photo gallery at navsource.org

This article about a specific ship or boat of the United States Armed Forces is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "U.S. Navy Transfers Three Patrol Craft to Egyptian Navy". 22 March 2023.

[2] U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Public Affairs (29 June 2017). "5th Fleet PC Force Grows to Eight Ships (Story Number: NNS130703-06)" (Press release). Naval Support Activity, Bahrain. Retrieved 6 August 2017.

[3] AFP (25 July 2017). "US Navy ship fires warning shots at Iranian vessel". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 25 July 2017.

[4] Gambrell, Jon (30 August 2022). "US Navy says Iran seized, later let go of American sea drone". Associated Press. Retrieved 30 August 2022.

[5] U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Public Affairs (30 August 2022). "U.S. Navy Foils Iranian Attempt to Capture Unmanned Vessel in Arabian Gulf". U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. Retrieved 30 August 2022.

[6] "U.S. Navy Transfers Three Patrol Craft to Egyptian Navy". 22 March 2023.

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v t e Cyclone-class patrol ships
United States Navy	Cyclone Tempest Hurricane Monsoon Typhoon Sirocco Squall Zephyr Chinook Firebolt Whirlwind Thunderbolt Shamal Tornado
United States Coast Guard	Cyclone Tempest Monsoon Zephyr Shamal Tornado
Royal Bahrain Naval Force	TBA (ex-Tempest) TBA (ex-Typhoon) TBA (ex-Squall) TBA (ex-Firebolt) TBA (ex-Whirlwind)
Egyptian Navy	TBA (ex-Hurricane) TBA (ex-Sirocco) TBA (ex-Thunderbolt)
Philippine Navy	General Mariano Alvarez (ex-Cyclone) Valentin Diaz (ex-Monsoon) Ladislao Diwa (ex-Chinook)
List of patrol vessels of the United States Navy