The County class is a class of offshore patrol vessels built for the Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard (JDF). Based on the Dutch Damen Stan 4207 patrol vessel, the first vessel entered service in 2005. Three were originally purchased, but only one remains in service with the JDF. In 2017, an additional two vessels were purchased and both remain in service as of 2023. The Jamaican vessels are equipped with a

stern launching ramp Some modern patrol vessels are equipped with a stern launching ramp, for deploying smaller rescue or pursuit boats without requiring the parent ship to first come to a halt. Typically the smaller craft are powered by water-jets, and can dri ...

, capable of deploying and retrieving a small jet boat, for rescue or pursuit. The vessels'

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

electronics were supplied by Alphatron Marine.

Ships in class

The three original vessels of the County class are , ''Middlesex'' (2005), and . They were delivered in 2005 and 2006. Two additional ships were ordered in 2016 and commissioned the next year, also with the names and .

Service history

In 2012 the Jamaican Fire Brigade had only one of its four

fireboats A fireboat or fire-float is a specialized watercraft with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with firefighting equipme ...

operational, and had requested that the County-class patrol vessels help fill in until its more modern replacement vessels were delivered. In 2017

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

purchased the original ''Cornwall'' and ''Middlesex''. In 2019, ''Middlesex'' was purchased from the

Nicaraguan Navy The Nicaraguan Navy, officially the Naval Force of the Nicaraguan Army, ( es, Fuerza Naval del Ejercito de Nicaragua) is the naval service branch of the Nicaraguan Armed Forces. The navy's mission is to ensure the defense and security of the is ...

by the

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Coast Guard The Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Coast Guard (abbreviated as the SVG Coast Guard) is the maritime security and search and rescue element of the Royal Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force. It was founded on 2 December 1980, when eight ...

and renamed ''Captain Hugh Mulzac''.

References

External links

{{Commons category inline, Damen Group patrol vessels of Jamaica Patrol boat classes Military of Jamaica