|
The B.R.P. ''General Mariano Alvarez'' (PS-38) is the lone ship of the same class of coastal patrol ships in service with the Philippine Navy. Historically, she is the lead ship of the ''Cyclone'' class (a class of U.S. Navy patrol ships) prior to being transferred to the Philippine Navy, thereby making it the only navy other than the US Navy to operate a Cyclone-class ship. Today she is considered as one of the newest active fighting ships in the Philippine Navy. ==History== Launched as the first of fourteen ships of Cyclone class patrol ships, the primary mission of the ''Cyclone'' was to serve as a platform for conducting maritime special operations, including interdiction, escort, noncombatant evacuation, reconnaissance, operational deception, intelligence collection, and tactical swimmer operations. Her small size, stealthy construction and high speed were tailored to performing long-range Special Operations Forces (SOF) insertion and extraction as well as other SOF support duties as needed. As good a design as it is, the ''Cyclone'' had barely gone into service in the mid-1990s when the Special Operations Command rejected them as too big for commando missions, and the regular surface Navy dismissed them as too small for any of its missions. The Navy began looking for ways to phase out the ''Cyclone'' and her sister ships, so on 28 February 2000, the ''Cyclone'' was decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list. It was then transferred to the United States Coast Guard the next day, being re-commissioned as the USCGC ''Cyclone'' (WPC 1). The Coast Guard lacked an effective vessel sized between its 110' patrol cutter and the 210' Medium Endurance Cutter, so there was considerable interest in ''Cyclone'' at first. However, her high operating costs were prohibitive and thus she sat largely inactive. ''Cyclone'' was eventually sold under FMS to the Philippine Navy on January 2004, as part of a US military aid package to the Philippines, in an effort to bolster interdiction and counterterrorism capabilities. She was rechristened BRP ''General Mariano Alvarez'' (PS-38) on 8 March 2004, in honor of a revolutionary general in the Philippine war of independence against Spain.〔''Wikipedia. USS Cyclone (PC-1).〕 She is currently assigned to the Patrol Force of the Philippine Fleet.〔''Philippine Fleet Official Website. (Commissioned ships and crafts ).〕 On March 13, 2013 while she was conducting maritime patrol together with BRP Jose Andrada along the seawater off Omapoy Island and Bulo-Bulo Island, all of Sitangkai, Tawi-Tawi, they intercepted 2 watercraft loaded with 35 evacuees.〔http://www.afp.mil.ph/index.php/19-afp-data-articles/latest-news/1117-afp-mobilizes-assets-to-aid-in-governments-humanitarian-efforts〕 She was also one of the naval vessels that was deployed to Zamboanga City during the Zamboanga City crisis.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Commander, NTG-61 send-offs PS38 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「BRP General Mariano Alvarez (PS-38)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|