Swiftships 105-foot Patrol Boat P-202: Punished P-202, A Boat Denied Its Coastline

[Thomas633 41]

Introduction

The Swiftships 105-foot Patrol Boat P-202 was a fast attack craft built by Swiftships for Ethiopia, and used for promotion by Emerson Electric for its twin 30mm cannon.  With a top speed of over 40 knots and four guns firing at 600 RPM each, the ship is an ideal top-tier candidate for the US coastal tree.  As a result of it being used in promotional material, we also have full information of its specifications.

 

Why is this in the US tree?

It's a fully US-based ship built for export.  The gun was designed for the CPIC programme, while the hull itself is an off-the-shelf design.  The ships themselves were built in the US between 1974 and 1977, for export to communist Ethiopia.  Swiftships still sells a related design today, though it is slightly shorter and mounts only a 25mm cannon similar to the USS Cyclone.  P-202 herself was tested extensively before being sent overseas, and was used for photoshoots by both companies in an attempt to sell more ships/weapons systems.

 

Ship History

Normally I would describe the ship's etymology, but she's only got a hull number.  The Swiftships company produced the US Swift boats during the Vietnam War, and as a result began to make more military-minded designs.  The Swiftships 105-foot patrol boat was designed for export, though it is unclear how many (if any) were exported outside of the Ethiopian order.  Much like the Soviet Pr. 206, and MC590 (Freccia) the ship was designed to be fast and provide firepower against other coastal patrol boats.  However, unlike them it did not carry provisions for secondary weapons, at least in the completed versions.

 

The P-202 was used by EMERLEC to promote their XM-74 dual 30mm cannon, including in a video where they show the system in detail.  As a result, we have high-quality images of the ship.  The video claims to be aboard the prototype US CPIC (basically a 1970's PT boat, including torpedoes) but this is incorrect: while the system was designed for that ship, the video names it as a "swift ship", the hull code is not used by the USN and the CPIC has a different hull (there wouldn't be enough room to mount a rear twin 30mm, at least in that location).  It was also used by Swiftships for promotional material, including this 1977 advertisement.

 

Ethiopia ordered 6, but as a result of being communist, only 4 were delivered before the US enforced an arms embargo in 1977.  P-202 defected to Somalia in 1984; after this her location is unknown.  The remainder of the P-201-class were sold to Eritrea, as Ethiopia's navy had a unique problem: they were now landlocked as a result of Eritrea's successful independence bid, and now had nowhere to base their ships.  As a result they fled to Yemeni or Saudi harbours and were sold off by those nations for scrap, or in the P-201's case, to Eritrea.

 

Weapons System

The P-202 is armed with a single gun type: the EMERLEC 30 mounting.  This mounting fires at 600 rpm per gun (so 1,200 for the mount), using two 30mm Oerlikon guns.  Though it has a fire control system, I am unaware of any radar being used, aside from the RM916 used for navigation.  The gun fires both HE and APDS rounds, meaning it would do some (though probably not much) damage to the interior of destroyers.

 

Specifications

P-202, P-201-class patrol boat, 1977

Weight: 118 tons

Top speed: 42 knots

Length: 105 feet

Beam: 23 feet

Armament: 2 x 2 - 30mm EMERLEC 30 twin mount

 

Position Within The Game

I would place the P-202 at a rating of 4.3, equal to the Pr. 206, as they are both using twin 30mm in two turrets fore and aft, with no armour.  It does not have torpedoes and is a smaller craft, but in exchange it is significantly more capable with its guns (1,200 vs 1,000 RPM on the turrets, and APDS rounds).  This would fill a major gap in the US tree, as currently the PT-810 is just not capable of contesting with 1960's-1970's era FAC's such as the 206, Jaguar and Freccia/Saetta.  If the CPIC is added, this vehicle could go after that, as it has twice the firepower but no ability to add torpedoes, and is only fractionally more survivable.  In either case, it would be the best vehicle for the US to contest caps in top-tier matches, by far.  It would be an in-tree vehicle, as that way as many players as possible could use the ship and fill that hole in their lineups that currently exists.  

 

Photos

Sources

The above advertisement (May 1977, Maritime Reporter) 

 

EMERLEC 30 advertisement, likely 1977

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_30mm_Emerlec.php

 

Edited September 27, 2022 by Thomas633

[super_cacti 1,071]

Open for discussion 

[RaptorBeast7 0]

Would love to see this ingame. US Coastal top tier is lacking in firepower, the 40mm and 20mm can't keep up anymore with the much faster firing weapons of other coastal top tier ships in other nations.

[Milocat 4,857]

+1, would be an awesome addition to the American tree.

[Thomas633 41]

22 hours ago, RaptorBeast7 said:

Would love to see this ingame. US Coastal top tier is lacking in firepower, the 40mm and 20mm can't keep up anymore with the much faster firing weapons of other coastal top tier ships in other nations.

I'm glad you like her, it took a lot of digging to find the information for her and CPIC-X (we worked together on the suggestions).  That massive gap is exactly why the two suggestions are in place, as both could go after PT-810.  As the US never accepted a PT boat into service after the early 1950's, you're basically forced to look at prototypes and designs for export, and as you can imagine finding information on Ethiopian boats from a regime that no longer exists is quite hard.  The P-202 has the unique advantage that she underwent pretty substantial trials and photoshoots in the US for her gun manufacturer, otherwise I'd have had no chance.  I have plans to suggest some South Korean patrol boats for the US (an EMERLEC mount and two Vulcan aft), but they'll have to go in the other nations section and don't have the speed to contest caps like P-202 would. Her guns are the same as used on the Falcon SPAA (so HE, AP and APDS, the latter with around 110mm pen), but with two turrets.  I would assume we'd see a full APDS belt unlike in ground battles, based on precedent.

[GusVanHook 64]

This boat would make a great gift/event for US coastal. It adds a different (and much needed) degree of change to the coastal tree with its 2x2 30mm. Would work well at 4.0/4.3. Could even be a strong premium to milk USN mains for all the GE possible.

 

 

Gus

[havenking 4]

 

14 hours ago, GusVanHook said:

This boat would make a great gift/event for US coastal. It adds a different (and much needed) degree of change to the coastal tree with its 2x2 30mm. Would work well at 4.0/4.3. Could even be a strong premium to milk USN mains for all the GE possible.

 

 

Gus

 

It would be a 3.3, if it had any missile maybe a 3.7 but 4.0/4.3 is beyond unreasonable since it will be fighting almost entirely frigates and destroyers.

Edited October 10, 2022 by havenking

[skipper_123 25]

+1 would be fine addition to US coastal tree