Hellenic Navy takes delivery of second batch of Island-class cutters, …

One of the second pair of Island-class cutters is pictured arriving at Salamis Naval Base on 1 September. (Hellenic Navy)

The Hellenic Navy has taken delivery of its second pair of ex-US Coast Guard (USCG) Island-class cutters and a fourth multimission support ship.

The three ships arrived at Salamis Naval Base on 1 September, the Hellenic Navy announced the same day.

The Hellenic Navy acquired the four ex-Island-class cutters via the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency's Office of International Acquisition's Excess Defense Articles (EDA) programme as replacements for its ageing Andromeda (Nasty)-class and Antoniou-class patrol boats, which were built in the 1960s/70s.

The delivery of the second pair, ex- Monomoy (WPB-1326) and ex- Wrangell (WPB-1332), follows that of ex- Adak (WPB-1333) and ex- Aquidneck (WPB-1308) on 4 July. Aquidanek and Adak were decommissioned from the USCG in June 2021, followed by Monomoy and Wrangell in March 2022. The vessels will be renamed Mantouvalos Ioannis (P 197), Galanis Georgios (P 198), Liaskos Antonios (P 288), and Gialopsos Ektoras (P 289) in Hellenic Navy service.

Ahead of entry into service, the four ships will undergo a refit and partial upgrade. Work will include installation of a Leonardo Lionfish 20 mm remote weapon station (RWS), two 12.7 mm machine guns, a new surveillance radar, a Miltech Hellas electro-optical sensor, and new communications equipment.

The Island-class cutters were built by Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, Louisiana, in the 1980s. They have an overall length of 33.5 m, a top speed of 29 kt, and a standard range of 1,600 n mile at 10 kt. They carry a crew complement of 16.

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