Shipbucket

What if British Columbia got fed up with Ottawa's inability to maintain a navy befitting the nation with the world's longest coast line? Constitutionally, there isn't much recourse; the constitution expressly gives power of the military to the Federal government alone.

But what if that wasn't the case? Or what if BC found a loophole (such as classifying the ships as a sort of "maritime police force")?

Well, I give you this.

http://i.imgur.com/ATguF8u.png [deprecated]

http://i.imgur.com/WnoKkUD.png [deprecated]



Name: Comox class
Type: "Coastal Police Cutter" / Offshore Patrol Vessel
Length: 80.1m
Beam: 12m
Propulsion: Twin diesel
Speed: 21 knots (38km/h)
Range: 6,000 nautical miles at 15 knots
Boats carried: 2 RHIB
Sensors:
[list]SPQ-9B
Kelvin Hughes 6000
Electro-Optical Sensors[/list]
Armament:
[list]OTO Melara 76 mm
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
4 12.7mm Browning Machine Guns
21 Rolling Airframe Missiles (Fitted to Comox, Campbell River and Tofino)
1 Stinger Missile mount (Fitted to Victoria, Nanaimo and Esquimalt in place of RAM system)[/list]
Aviation: None carried, Helipad present

I know I'm going to take some flak for the rather imaginative armament; so hear me out. I've set up an order of not-battle for the "Maritime Policing Patrol" that totally isn't a provincial naval force, we swear. British Columbia would be to build or acquire 12 ships. 6 "Coastal Police Cutters", 4 larger "Ocean Police Cutters", and 2 auxiliaries. That means the "Coastal Police Cutters" would be the bulk of the provincial not-fleet. So although normally two cannons on an OPV would be questionable and a RAM launcher unlikely, it's entirely possible they would see wartime escort duty on the Pacific Coast, and are fitted as such. Finally, remember only 3 of the 6 ships have the RAM launcher, the others have a Stinger MANPADs system.

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Worklist:
FFG Halifax Redraw

Not sure about the scenario's plausibility, but its a really great for a first drawing!

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References and feedback is always welcome!

For the arguments sake, the NSW State Government here in Australia has the Nemesis which is essentially an OPV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPV_Nemesis) Which can mount various weapons if needed

Welcome Aboard!

Modern ships arent my forte, but one thing I will put forwards, the waterline should be black

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Miscellaneous|Victorian Colonial Navy|Murray Riverboats|Colony of Victoria AU|Project Sail-fixing SB's sail shortage
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"Loitering on the High Seas" (Named after the good ship Rodondo)
There's no such thing as "nothing left to draw" If you can down 10 pints and draw, you're doing alright by my standards

and there is a little to much weapons for an OPV.

Heck even we in Norway only have an 56 mm and 2-4 12,7 mm guns, and we have to deal with the Russian Navy.

Welcome aboard!
It's a nice start though indeed waterline should be rather black and ship seems to be quite heavily armed for OPV (especially these SAMs).

Waterline comments noted. Would it be better to have the RAM "fitted for but not with"? I'd like these ships to still have some wartime capacity.

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Worklist:
FFG Halifax Redraw

You're a bit light on the electronics side of things. I'm a bit hazy on the exact capabilities of your main radar, but I believe you'll need a proper director for the gun and RAM. You also need need a FLIR setup of some description as well. Given the timeframe and the mission the boat facilities seem somewhat primitive. A proper crane or two would't be out of place either.

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“Close” only counts with horseshoes, hand grenades, and tactical nuclear weapons.
That which does not kill me has made a grave tactical error

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Source Materiel is always welcome.

Norwegian OPV. a bit bigger but. and older.

as standard she is equipped with. 56 mm and four 20 mm. but in wartime she could have 6 Penguine ASuW missiles, 2 triple torpedo launcher, two depth charge racks.

an OPV would be armed cheep as possible. and with weapons you expect to have a lot of in store.

Are you sure about the electronics? The only thing this design is lacking compared to the National Security Cutter as far as radars go is a proper air search radar. My impression was that if the SPQ-9B was good enough to direct a Bofors 57, it could direct an Oto 76 or a RAM (admittedly not both at the same time). I'm happy to take any suggestion as to better systems though. Isn't the little electro-optical doohickey on the mast FLIR? I got it off the Dutch partsheet.
Agreed, but this isn't really a normal OPV. The scenario involves British Columbia trying to flex her muscle and piss off Ottawa under the guise of "provincial" maritime policing. It also looks like the Nordkapps have a heavier wartime load than this Comox design, assuming I made the RAM fitted-for-but-not-with.

If you guys really think it's overarmed I can take off the bow 20mm completely (replacing it with a fitted for but not with manpads) and make the RAM launcher wartime only.


Edit: or is it the 76mm gun that's causing the concern?

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Worklist:
FFG Halifax Redraw

All the Danish OPVs carries 76s and it's not at all unheard of for ships armed with one to carry a 20mm-ish gun alongside it.
If you make the RAM wartime only then I'd move the 20mm aft to give it better coverage.
As for the electronics I'm not sure. I'm not at home and I'm on my phone so I can't look it up now.

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“Close” only counts with horseshoes, hand grenades, and tactical nuclear weapons.
That which does not kill me has made a grave tactical error

Worklist

Source Materiel is always welcome.