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The Pacific class (also known as the Pacific Forum class〔Toppan & Walsh, ''World Navies Today: Other Asia-Pacific Navies''〕 and the ASI 315 class〔) is a class of 22 patrol boats built by Australia and donated to twelve South Pacific countries. Constructed from 1985 to 1997 and operated by militaries, coast guards or police forces of the twelve island nations, these boats are supported by the Pacific Patrol Boat Program. They are used primarily for maritime surveillance and fisheries protection. ==Design and construction== Following the introduction of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982, which introduced a Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to the territories of all nations with an ocean coastline, several Southwest Pacific island nations found themselves responsible for policing an area of ocean that was beyond their maritime capability, and often significantly larger than their land territories (at its most extreme, the EEZ of Tuvalu dwarfs its landmass by a ratio of almost 1:28,000).〔Bergin & Bateman, ''Law and order at sea in the South Pacific'', p. 558〕〔Sea Power Centre, ''The Pacific Patrol Boat Project''〕 Following requests by several Pacific nations for assistance from the governments of Australia and New Zealand, the Australian government created a Defence Cooperation Project, the Pacific Patrol Boat Program to design and provide suitable patrol boats to nearby island nations, along with training and infrastructure to support these ships.〔 The Program was officially announced by Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke during the South Pacific Forum meeting held in Canberra on 29 and 30 August 1983.〔Bergin & Bateman, ''Law and order at sea in the South Pacific'', p. 556〕 Requests for tenders were issued in August 1984, and the contract was awarded to Australian Shipbuilding Industries (ASI), who had designed a small vessel capable of maritime surveillance and interdiction, search and rescue operations, and fisheries protection on 9 May 1985.〔〔 A prototype was constructed by ASI in 1984; smaller than the Pacific class, the craft was later sold to the Solomon Islands Police Force and named ''Savo''.〔Sharpe (ed.), ''Jane's Fighting Ships'', p. 637〕 Construction of the Pacific class began in September 1985.〔 It was initially planned that ten ships would be produced for eight countries, with the first ship, HMPNGS ''Tarangau'' delivered to the Papua New Guinea Defence Force on 16 May 1987.〔 The program continued until 15 ships were ordered, then was terminated before being reopened in February 1993.〔Sharpe (ed.), ''Jane's Fighting Ships'', p. 746〕 By the time the program concluded, 22 ships had been delivered to 12 countries, with the final ship, FSS ''Independence'', delivered to the Federated States of Micronesia in June 1997.〔 The Pacific Patrol Boat Project is the largest and most complex defence co-operation project ever funded by Australia.〔 Each patrol boat has a length of , a beam of , a draught of , and a full load displacement of 162 tonnes.〔 They are fitted with two Caterpillar 3516TA diesel engines, which provide 2,820 horsepower to two propeller shafts, driving the vessel at a maximum of . Pacific-class vessels have a maximum range of at , and can remain at sea for up to ten days.〔 Armament varies depending on the operating nation; the patrol boats may carry GAM-BO1 20 mm guns, 7.62 mm machine guns, or 12.7 mm machine guns, and these may not be permanently fitted.〔 Each ship carries a Furuno 1011 surface search radar, which operates in the I band.〔 The ship's company varies between 14 and 18, depending on the operating nation.〔 In order to reduce construction and maintenance costs, the vessels were built to commercial, as opposed to military, standards, and with the need for companies in the operating nations to be capable of providing parts and minor maintenance in mind.〔 There were initial problems with the propellers, engine cooling systems, and air conditioning, but these were fixed before the completion of the third ship of the class.〔 The class underwent refits during each ship's seventh or eighth year of operation, and again at the fifteenth year (which was ongoing until 2012).〔 This has extended the predicted service life of the class to 2027.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pacific-class patrol boat」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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