HMCC Valiant

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HMCC Valiant in the Solent.
Career (United Kingdom) 60px
Name: HMCC Valiant
Builder: Damen Group, Netherlands
Launched: 2004
Commissioned: April 2004
Identification: IMO number: 9293698[1]
Callsign: MBLL8[2]
General characteristics
Class and type: Damen Stan Patrol 4207[3]
Displacement: 238  GRT
Length: 42.08 m (138.1 ft)[3]
Beam: 7.11 m (23.3 ft)[3]
Draught: 2.52 m (8.3 ft)[3]
Installed power: 4,176 kW (5,600 hp)
Propulsion:
  • Two Caterpillar 3516B DI-TA Elec
  • Two 3.5:1 reduction gearboxes
  • Two 4-blade controllable pitch propellers
  • One Promac bow thruster
  • Two 106kWA generator sets
Speed: 26 knots (48 km/h)
Range: 1,750 nmi (3,240 km) at 12kn
Endurance: 14 days
Boats and landing
craft carried:
  • One 7m RIB (32 kn)
  • One 3.8m Rescue Boat
Complement: 12
Armament: Nil

HMCC Valiant is a customs cutter of the United Kingdom. She was launched by Damen Shipyards in the Netherlands in 2003 and is one of four 42-metre (138 ft) cutters operated by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

Prefix

The Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise Departments merged to form Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs on 18 April 2005, and from this time customs cutters changed their prefix from "HMRC" (Her Majesty's Revenue Cutter) to "HMCC" (Her Majesty's Customs Cutter).

Construction

HMCC Valiant is the fourth of the Customs and Excise's fleet of 42-metre customs patrol vessels. She was built in 2003 in the Damen Shipyards in the Netherlands, and has a steel hull with an aluminium superstructure.[3] Much effort has been expended in making her quiet to reduce crew fatigue; her engines are raft-mounted, decks throughout the ship are of a floating type, and her compartments are constructed on a box-within-a-box principle.[3]

Her 7-metre (23 ft) Rigid Inflatable Boat can be launched from her stern slipway. She is fitted with a 2,000-litre (440 imp gal) per minute fire fighting system for dealing with fires in other ships.

File:HMRC Valiant at 2 miles.jpg
HMCC Valiant in the Solent on 23 October 2008

Propulsion

She is fitted with twin Caterpillar 3516B DI-TA Elec engines driving twin 4-bladed controllable-pitch propellers through a pair of 3.5:1 reduction gearboxes. The total installed power of 4,176 kW (5,600 hp)[3] gives her a top speed of 26 knots (48 km/h).[3] A single Promac bow thruster is fitted[3] for slow speed manoeuvring in confined spaces. Electrical power is supplied by a pair of 106kWA generators.[3]

References