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HMS Redpole (P259)

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History
Royal Air Force
NameSea Otter
OperatorRoyal Air Force Marine Branch
Ordered26 March 1973
BuilderFairmile, Berwick-upon-Tweed
Laid down29 July 1974
Launched20 September 1974
Commissioned25 March 1975
Out of service1985
IdentificationIMO number8654314
FateTransferred to Royal Navy
Royal Navy
NameHMS Redpole
NamesakeRedpoll
In service1985
Out of service1994
IdentificationIMO number8654314
FateSold in 2000 and renamed MV Badtz Maru[1]
Notes[2]
General characteristics
Class and typeBird-class patrol vessel
Displacement159 long tons (162 t)
Length120 ft (37 m) o/a
Beam23 ft (7.0 m)
Draught6.5 ft (2.0 m)
PropulsionTwo diesel engines, one to each shaft, all giving 4,000 brake horsepower (3,000 kW)
Speed21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range2,200 nautical miles (4,100 km; 2,500 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement17
Notes[2]

HMS Redpole (P259) was built in 1974 by Fairmile Marine at Berwick-upon-Tweed as RAFV Sea Otter, the third Seal class Long Range Recovery and Support Craft of the Royal Air Force Marine Branch. The Seal class was similar to the Bird-class patrol vessels of the British Royal Navy. .[2]

Royal Naval service

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In anticipation of the disbandment of the RAF Marine Branch in 1986, Sea Otter was transferred to the Royal Navy on 30 October 1984. At Brooke Marine, Lowestoft, she was refitted - given armaments, a light grey livery, an enclosed wheelhouse and extended bridge wings, and modified several times over the years to help her in her role patrolling Northern Ireland.[1]

Post-UK service

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As part of the cuts in the defence budget, Redpole was replaced in 1994 by a River-class minesweeper and was subsequently earmarked for disposal.[1]

The ship was sold in 1996 and spent four years in Southampton. The ship was sold again in 2000 to a founder of Digex, renamed RV Badtz Maru (after Bad Badtz-Maru), and moved to Baltimore, Maryland.[1][3]

Since 2012, as Seaman Guard Virginia, she has participated in anti-piracy patrols conducted by maritime private military contractor AdvanFort in the Gulf of Aden.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Seal Class Long Range Recovery and Support Craft". Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  2. ^ a b c Cocker, Maurice (2006). Coastal Forces Vessels of the Royal Navy from 1865. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. p. 241. ISBN 075243862X.
  3. ^ Kahney, Leander (2 November 2002). "All Aboard! (But No PCs Allowed)". Wired Magazine. Retrieved 23 August 2015.