 Patrol boat Huveaune in the old harbour of Marseille.
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Vedette côtière de surveillance maritime |
| Operators |
|
| Subclasses | RPB 20 for export |
| In commission | 11 June 2003 |
| Completed | 30 |
| Laid up | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Swift boat |
| Displacement | 31 to 41 t (31 to 40 long tons) |
| Length | 20 m (65 ft 7 in) |
| Beam | 5.29 m (17 ft 4 in) |
| Draught | 2.89 m (9 ft 6 in) |
| Speed | 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) |
| Range | 500 nmi (930 km; 580 mi) |
| Endurance | 4 days |
| Complement | 8 |
| Sensors and processing systems | Radar |
| Armament | Light infantry weapons, FM AANF1 |
The Vedettes côtières de surveillance maritime (VCSM, "coastal boats for sea surveillance") are swift craft of the French Gendarmerie maritime. 24 boats of the type have been commissioned. They are based in various harbours of France, and are used for coast guard duties ranging from rescue to military tasks, including monitoring of pollution, sea police, and interception of illegal immigrants and drug traffickers.
The VCSM carry a custom-designed rigid-hull tender in a well deck. This deck can be converted into a helicopter airlift zone.
The boats do not carry heavy armament, but light machine guns can be installed when needed. In addition, infantry small arms are carried by the crew.
Ships in Gendarmerie maritime service
The ships in Gendarmerie maritime service are named for rivers of the harbours in which they were initially based.
These ships include:
- P601 Élorn (Concarneau)
- P602 Verdon (La Réunion; deployed in Mayotte as of early 2023)
- P603 Adour (Anglet)
- P604 Scarpe (Boulogne-sur-Mer)
- P605 Vertonne (Sables d'Olonne)
- P606 Dumbea (Nouméa)
- P607 Yser (Dieppe)
- P608 Argens (Saint Raphaël)
- P609 Hérault (Sète)
- P610 Gravona (Ajaccio)
- P611 Odet (Mayotte; severely damaged by Cyclone Chido in December 2024)
- P612 Maury (Gruissan)
- P613 Charente (Rochefort, transferred to Cayenne in 2022 replacing Mahury)
- P614 Tech (Port Vendres)
- P615 Penfeld (Brest)
- P616 Trieux (Saint Malo)
- P617 Vésubie (Nice)
- P618 Escaut (Dunkerque)
- P619 Huveaune (Marseille)
- P620 Sèvre (Pornichet)
- P621 Aber-Wrach (Brest)
- P622 Esteron (Le Havre)
- P623 Mahury (Cayenne, unserviceable as of 2022)
- P624 Organabo (Kourou)
Citations
- ^ Groizeleau, Vincent (5 December 2022). "Le Marfret Niolon emmène une vedette de la Gendarmerie maritime en Guyane". Mer et Marine (in French). Retrieved 6 December 2022.
- "Deux plaisanciers secourus au large de Concarneau". france3 (in French). 24 April 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- "Marine Nationale Dossier d'Information, pp. 19 and 23" (PDF). Cols Bleus (in French). January 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
- ^ "Les vedettes côtières de surveillance maritime (VCSM)". netmarine (in French). 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- Groizeleau, Vincent (18 December 2024). "Mayotte : une vedette de la Gendarmerie maritime et le remorqueur de la marine jetés à la côte". Mer et Marine (in French). Retrieved 18 December 2024.
External links
- (in French) Les vedettes côtières de surveillance maritime (VCSM), netmarine.net
- Also sold to Senegal (Sangomar & Djiferre) and Mauritania (Megsem Bakkar & Oum Tounsi).