The following is the text of a news release from Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding:
(SOMERSET, Mass.) — Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corp., has delivered a second 70-foot tactical response vessel to New York City’s Harbor Patrol Unit. The two sister ships were part of a five-boat order from the New York City Police Department.
Measuring 68.8 feet on deck, with a 19-foot beam and 3.8-foot draft, the new high-speed vessel features C. Raymond Hunt’s deep-V hull and a squared-off bow, with fendering and knees installed above the main deck to facilitate bow landings.
Designed and built to respond to terrorist activities on New York City’s waterways, the all-aluminum boat is both versatile and highly functional, said shipyard officials. Inside the flush-mounted wheelhouse, its forward-leaning windows in the front and the side and aft windows offer 360-degree visibility. The view is further enhanced from the fly bridge. The command center, aft of the helm station, includes a computer workstation and seating for the five crewmembers. In the forecastle are two berths, storage lockers, a small galley and settees, and an escape hatch in the deck above.
The superstructure, including the fly bridge, has ballistic-resistant windows and panels installed on the sides, front, back and roof. An American Safe Room nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) filtration system pressurizes the vessel’s accommodation spaces. Two decontamination showers, along with a containment system, are located on the aft deck. A 1,500-gpm remote-control water cannon is mounted on the wheelhouse roof.
Along the wide side decks are port and starboard rescue recesses, each equipped with a davit for lifting a Stokes litter-basket stretcher onto the main deck. A guard over the waterjets forms a fixed rescue platform accessible by hinged grating in the main deck. The forward, side, rescue-recess and aft decks are heated to prevent icing in the winter. On the aft deck is a hydraulic knuckle-boom crane for launching and recovering a tender.
The vessel is powered by twin 12-cylinder MTU-12V2000M94 diesel engines, each producing 1,920 hp at 2,450 rpm, giving the boat a top speed of over 41 knots, and at 30 knots a range of about 225 miles. The engines turn a pair of Hamilton HM571 waterjets through ZF 3050 gearboxes. A 30 kW Northern Lights/Alaska Diesel generator provides service power. Twin Humphree interceptor units, each fitted with an automatic trim and list control system, adjust the vessel’s running trim and list at various speeds and load conditions.
The heating and air conditioning, a chilled water/heated loop system, includes a 48,000-BTU chiller and an Espar 16kW diesel heater.
For more information, contact Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, 168 Walker St., Somerset, MA 02725, (508) 676-8596.
