The Brave fast patrol boats were a class of patrol boats that were the last of their type for the Royal Navy (RN) "Coastal Forces". A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. ... Categories: Ship types ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ...

They followed the Bold class boats which were a couple of experimental turbojet powered boats. Only two Braves would be built for the RN but the design was simplified and improved for export sales to West Germany, Denmark (5 of the Søløven class), Greece, Malaysia, Brunei and Libya, and was also the basis for the Scimitar class fast training boat. Turbojets are the simplest and oldest kind of general purpose jet engine. ...

Power came from three engines; maritime versions of the Bristol Proteus turboprop, delivering a total of 10,500 hp. These gave these 100 ft long, 100 ton boats a cruising speed of about 40 knots. Their maximum speed was 52 knots. Bristol Proteus engine The Proteus was the Bristol Aeroplane Companys first successful gas-turbine engine design, a turboprop that delivered just over 4,000 hp (3,000 kW). ...

They were built to be able to be used as either Motor Torpedo Boats or Motor Gun Boats. For the former role they had a 40 mm Bofors gun, four torpedoes (21 inch diameter) and two depth charges, in the latter two 40 mm guns and two torpedoes. Motor Torpedo Boats (MTB) was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the US and Royal Navies. ... Motor Gun Boat was a Royal Navy term for a small military vessel of the Second World War. ... A modern torpedo, historically called a locomotive torpedo, is a self-propelled projectile that (after being launched above or below the water surface) operates underwater and is designed to detonate on contact or in proximity to a target. ...

Boats

The two RN craft were both built by Vospers at Porchester

• HMS Brave Borderer (P1011) laid down on 7 January 1958
• HMS Brave Swordsman (P1012) 22 May 1958

January 7 is the 7th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 22 is the 142nd day of the year (143rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

http://www.btinternet.com/~warship/Postwar/Patrol/brave.htm British Military Powerboat Trust