The Kership
class
Class or The Class may refer to:
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is a range of steel
monohull
image:monohull.svg, right
A monohull is a type of boat having only one hull (watercraft), hull, unlike multihulled boats which can have two or more individual hulls connected to one another.
Fundamental concept
Among the earliest hulls were simple ...
offshore patrol vessel
A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...
s (OPVs) built by Kership, a joint venture of
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
civil shipbuilder Piriou (55%) and
Naval shipbuilder DCNS (45%).
History
The ships were originally part of the but after a rearrangement of products DCNS decided to remove the OPV from the Gowind class and develop the OPVs as a class of their own with top of the range. To do so it formed the Kership joint venture with the Piriou shipyard in
Concarneau
Concarneau (, meaning ''Bay of Cornouaille'') is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Concarneau is bordered to the west by the Baie de La Forêt.
The town has two distinct areas: the modern town on the main ...
,
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
in May 2013 to build and market lightly armed and armoured OPVs for customs, fishing and other home security missions. DCNS said this would enable it to concentrate on "developing relations" with clients seeking, heavily armed and armoured warships while Kership handles the more civilian-standard OPVs.
Vessels
Argentina (was France)
On 9 May 2010,
DCNS started the building of one self-funded 1,410t Gowind patrol corvette called ''L'Adroit'' and announced that the craft will be made available to the French Navy between 2012 and 2015. The vessel is designed for patrol and sovereignty enforcement in littoral and exclusive economic zone waters and offers three weeks' endurance and a range of . Missions include special forces deployment by launching within 5 minutes and recovering two
UFAST UFR 9.30 rigid-hulled inflatable boats from a stern ramp. It was sold to Argentina in 2018 and commissioned as
ARA ''Bouchard''.
Gabon
On 29 October 2014,
Ernest Mphouho Epigat, defence minister for the
Gabonese Republic
Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...
signed a contract with Piriou to supply two offshore patrol vessels to the
Gabonese Navy. One was to be of the Kership design. The unnamed vessel was called OPV50 by Piriou.
Specifications
* Length overall 58.20 m
* Beam 9.50 m
* Draught 2.70 m
* Speed 21 kn
* Range 5,000 NM at 12 kn
* Hull / superstructure steel / aluminium
* Accommodation capacity 36 pers.
– crew 28 pers.
– special personnel 8 pers.
* Weaponry
– 1 x 20 mm gun on the fore-deck
– 2 x 12.7 mm machine guns
References
{{Reflist
Patrol vessels of Gabon
Patrol ship classes