The ''Rizal'' class was a ship class of two patrol

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

s formerly operated by the

Philippine Navy The Philippine Navy (PN) ( tgl, Hukbong Dagat ng Pilipinas, , Sea Army of the Philippines) ( es, Armada de Filipinas, , Ejército del Mar de las Filipinas) is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It has an e ...

. These ships were formerly used by the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

as ''Auk'' class minesweepers. Under the

, the two vessels have undergone upgrades and modification, and were categorized as corvettes. Both ships have been retired from service by the Philippine Navy.

History

The ''Auk'' class of naval ships were Allied minesweepers serving with the United States Navy and the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

during the Second World War. In total, there were a recorded 95 ''Auk'' class minesweepers under Allied command during that time. Thirty-two minesweepers were ordered by the US (as BAM-1 to 32) intending them to be supplied to the Royal Navy under Lend-lease but 12 were retained for USN use and given names and "AM" hull classification prefix. Those transferred were given "J" pennant number prefixes and formed the ''Catherine'' class Eleven minesweepers of the ''

Auk An auk or alcid is a bird of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. The alcid family includes the murres, guillemots, auklets, puffins, and murrelets. The word "auk" is derived from Icelandic ''álka'', from Old Norse ''alka'' (a ...

'' class were lost in World War II; only one (USS ''Skill'') was sunk — by ''U-593''. Out of the reserved

units, two were transferred to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

as part of the US Military Assistance Program, these were USS ''Murrelet'' (renamed BRP ''Rizal'') in 1965, and USS ''Vigilance'' (renamed BRP ''Quezon'') in 1967. Both ships were stricken in 1994, but were overhauled with assistance from Hatch & Kirk, Inc., and returned to service in 1995–1996. Recent upgrades include a satellite radio dish for communications. As of 2008, both ships are still on the active roster of the

, and are assigned with the Patrol Force. With over 50 years of active duty with the Philippine Navy, both have been involved in local and international crisis, exercises, and incidents.

Technical details

Although fairly armed for her size, her weapon systems are manually operated and are of World War II origin. The two Mk24

3"/50 caliber gun The 3"/50 caliber gun (spoken "three-inch fifty-caliber") in United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun fired a projectile in diameter, and the barrel was 50 calibers long (barrel length is 3 in × 50 = ). Different guns (identifi ...

s, the ships' primary weapons, have a range of up to yards and are also capable of anti-aircraft warfare. In addition to the above-mentioned guns, she also carries a total of two twin Mk1 Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, two twin Mk4 20 mm Oerlikon cannons, and four 50 caliber machine guns. The ship is powered by two EMD 16-645E7 diesel engines with a combined power of around driving two

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

s. The main engines can propel the 1,250 ton (full load) ship at a maximum speed of around . It has a maximum range of at a speed of .''Jane's Fighting Ships 2004-2005''

Ships in Class

Gallery

Image:PS-35 with US navy.jpg, Representing the Philippine Navy together with BRP ''Emilio Jacinto'' (PS-35) at a CARAT exercise with the US Navy. Image:BRP Rizal and Quezon.jpg, The two ''Rizal'' Class corvettes at the Balikatan 2000 exercises. Image:Murrelet (MSF 372).jpg, RPS ''Rizal'' (PS-69)

References

External links