T Craft-class patrol vessel

The T Craft-class patrol vessels are a class of inshore patrol boat currently in service with the South African Navy. Comprising three vessels, the class was constructed in South Africa and entered service in 1992. Known just as T craft or by their pennant numbers until 2003 when the vessels received new names.
Design.
These boats are twin-hulled catamarans of glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) sandwich construction, with a complement of 16 personnel including one officer. The displace fully loaded and are long overall with a beam of and a draught of . The boats are propelled by two Hamilton water-jets powered by two ADE 444 Tl 12V diesel engines creating . This gives the vessels a maximum speed of and a range of at . Each vessel possesses a Racal-Decca I-band surface search radar unit and a single heavy Browning machine gun. Each boat is designed to carry a small seaborne complement of commandos as well as a rigid-hulled inflatable boat in the stern well in order to board other vessels at sea.
History.
Three vessels were ordered in mid-1991, and were built by T Craft International in Cape Town. The first vessel was commissioned into the South African Navy as "P1552" in June 1992. The second vessel was commissioned as "P1553" in June 1996 and the third as "P1554" in December 1996. Three vessels of this type were also built for Israel in 1997. In 2003, the three vessels were given new names, keeping their old names as pennant numbers. "P1152" became SAS "Tobie" (P1552), "P1553" became SAS "Tern" (P1553) and "P1554" became SAS "Tekwane" (P1554).