The Dabur class is a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

patrol boat A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and the ...

s built at the Sewart Seacraft (now

Swiftships Swiftships is a shipbuilding and marine engineering company headquartered in South Louisiana, USA. Company operates globally and specialized in the construction of small to medium sized vessels made of steel, aluminum or fiberglass. Swiftships ...

) shipyard in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

for the

Israeli Navy The Israeli Navy ( he, חיל הים הישראלי, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'' (English: The Israeli Sea Corps); ar, البحرية الإسرائيلية) is the naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in ...

. These naval vessels are also built by IAI-Ramta.

Design

The Dabur class has a displacement of 35 tons (45 tons loaded) The ships have a length of , a beam of and a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of .Saunders, p.356 The ships are crewed by a complement of six to eight officers and ratings. The hull is made of aluminum. The first Dabur-class vessels were laid down in 1970, with 12 hulls built by Swiftships in Morgan City Louisiana and 22 more built by IAI-Ramta for a total of 34. The class is designed to be light and is able to be carried overland. They have good rough weather capability, however they were not considered fast enough to cope with current threat capabilities and were phased out in the Israeli Navy for newer ships.

Propulsion

The class is powered by two diesel

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

type 12V71TN creating driving two shafts. This gives the ships a maximum speed of and a patrol speed of . The effective range at maximum speed is and at patrol speed, .

Armament

The boats are armed with two

Oerlikon 20 mm cannon The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models em ...

s, two 12.7 mm machine guns. Two

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s are provided for the

Mark 46 torpedo The Mark 46 torpedo is the backbone of the United States Navy's lightweight anti-submarine warfare torpedo inventory and is the NATO standard. These aerial torpedoes are designed to attack high-performance submarines. In 1989, an improvement p ...

and there is space for two racks of

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use h ...

Carl Gustav recoilless rifle The Carl Gustaf 8.4 cm recoilless rifle (, named after ''Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori'' which initially produced it) is a Swedish developed caliber man-portable shoulder-fired recoilless rifle, initially developed by the Royal Swedish ...

s are carried aboard the ships for anti-terrorist purposes.

Exports

In 1976, five of the class were given to the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

Lebanese Forces Militia in Lebanon, but they were later returned in 1990. In 1978 Israel sold four of the class to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

and four to

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 coun ...

. In 1984 they sold two to

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. In 1991 four more were sold to

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...

and six to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

. Chile bought four more in 1995, and Nicaragua purchased three more in 1996.

Service history

Dabur-class boats first battle engagements were made in the October 1973

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by E ...

. During the war, two Dabur boats attacked an Egyptian commando force in its own port at

Marse Talamat In Greek mythology, Marse ( Ancient Greek: Αἰσχρηίδος) was a Thespian princess as one of the 50 daughters of King Thespius and Megamede, daughter of ArneusApollodorus, 2.4.10; Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' 2.222 (or by one of his many wives Di ...

and destroyed speed boats and rubber dinghies just as they were preparing for attacks on Israeli targets in the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a ...

Operators

* (4 units) * (3 units) * (4 units) **RFNS 301 Vai (1991) **RFNS 302 Ogo (1991) **RFNS 303 Saku (1991) **RFNS 304 Saqa (1991) * (2 units) * * (8 to 10 units)

Former operators

* (decommissioned) *

Lebanese Forces The Lebanese Forces ( ar, القوات اللبنانية '')'' is a Lebanon, Lebanese Christianity in Lebanon, Christian-based political party and Lebanese Forces (militia), former militia during the Lebanese Civil War. It currently holds 19 o ...

: 5 units, returned to Israel after October 1990.

Notes

References

Secondary sources

* Alain Menargues, ''Les Secrets de la guerre du Liban: Du coup d'état de Béchir Gémayel aux massacres des camps palestiniens'', Albin Michel, Paris 2004. (in French) * Claire Hoy and Victor Ostrovsky, ''By Way of Deception: The Making and Unmaking of a Mossad Officer'', St. Martin’s Press, New York 1990.

External links

{{Israel Aerospace Industries Naval ships of Israel Patrol boat classes