The ''Vedettes côtières de surveillance maritime'' (VCSM, "coastal boats for sea surveillance") are swift craft of the French
Gendarmerie maritime. 24 boats of the type have been commissioned. They are based in various harbours of France, and are used for
coast guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...
duties ranging from rescue to military tasks, including monitoring of pollution, sea police, and interception of illegal immigrants and drug traffickers.
The VCSM carry a custom-designed rigid-hull tender in a
well deck
In traditional nautical use, well decks were decks lower than decks fore and aft, usually at the main deck level, so that breaks appear in the main deck profile, as opposed to a flush deck profile. The term goes back to the days of sail. Late-20 ...
. This deck can be converted into a helicopter airlift zone.
The boats do not carry heavy armament, but light machine guns can be installed when needed. In addition, infantry small arms are carried by the crew.
Ships in Gendarmerie maritime service
The ships in Gendarmerie maritime service are named for rivers of the harbours in which they were initially based
* P601 ''Élorn'' (
Concarneau)
* P602 ''Verdon'' (
La Réunion
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
)
* P603 ''Adour'' (
Anglet)
* P604 ''Scarpe'' (
Boulogne-sur-Mer
Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the C ...
)
* P605 ''Vertonne'' (
Sables d'Olonne)
* P606 ''Dumbea'' (
Nouméa
Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and ...
)
* P607 ''Yser'' (
Dieppe
Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France.
Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to N ...
)
* P608 ''Argens'' (
Saint Raphaël)
* P609 ''Hérault'' (
Sète)
* P610 ''Gravona'' (
Ajaccio)
* P611 ''Odet'' (
Mayotte
Mayotte (; french: Mayotte, ; Shimaore: ''Maore'', ; Kibushi: ''Maori'', ), officially the Department of Mayotte (french: Département de Mayotte), is an overseas department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is loca ...
)
* P612 ''Maury'' (
Gruissan)
* P613 ''Charente'' (
Rochefort
Rochefort () may refer to:
Places France
* Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department
** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard
* Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department
* Rochefort-du-Gard, in the Ga ...
, transferred to
Cayenne in 2022 replacing ''Mahury'')
* P614 ''Tech'' (
Port Vendres)
* P615 ''Penfeld'' (
Brest
Brest may refer to:
Places
*Brest, Belarus
**Brest Region
**Brest Airport
**Brest Fortress
* Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria
* Břest, Czech Republic
*Brest, France
** Arrondissement of Brest
**Brest Bretagne Airport
** Château de Brest
*Br ...
)
* P616 ''Trieux'' (
Saint Malo
Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast.
The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...
)
* P617 ''Vésubie'' (
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...
)
* P618 ''Escaut'' (
Dunkerque)
* P619 ''Huveaune'' (
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
)
* P620 ''Sèvre'' (
Pornichet)
* P621 ''Aber-Wrach'' (
Brest
Brest may refer to:
Places
*Brest, Belarus
**Brest Region
**Brest Airport
**Brest Fortress
* Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria
* Břest, Czech Republic
*Brest, France
** Arrondissement of Brest
**Brest Bretagne Airport
** Château de Brest
*Br ...
)
* P622 ''Esteron'' (
Le Havre
Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...
)
* P623 ''Mahury'' (Cayenne, unservicable as of 2022)
* P624 ''Organabo'' (
Kourou
Kourou () is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in South America. Kourou is famous for being the location of the Guiana Space Centre, the main spaceport of France and the European Space Agency (ESA). It i ...
)
Citations
External links
*
Les vedettes côtières de surveillance maritime (VCSM) netmarine.net
* Also sold to Senegal
Sangomar& Djiferre) and Mauritania
Megsem Bakkar& Oum Tounsi).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vedette cotiere de surveillance maritime
Patrol vessels of France