U.S. Navy boat from Norfolk found floating off......Ireland

[kscarbel2]

Associated Press  /  September 5, 2019

Crew members of western Ireland’s Doolin Ferry Co. were headed to Inis Oirr, a small island in Galway Bay, on Monday afternoon when they spotted something bright orange floating in the water.

“First I had a feeling of fear, (wondering) if there was people in difficulty 'cause we could only see about a meter of the bow sticking out of the water,” Tom Noel, one of the crew members, said Thursday. “Then once we got closer and could see the amount of growth on it, I knew it was a long time in the water and that it was only a danger to navigation."

Upon investigating, Noel and the rest of the Doolin Express crew found the boat covered in goose barnacles — it had clearly been in the water for awhile — and along with a local fishing boat, towed the boat to the beach at Inis Oirr, where many islanders helped pull it ashore.

A day later, Doolin Ferry Co., which is based near Ireland’s famed Cliffs of Moher, posted the account on Facebook. At that point they guessed the boat was a U.S. Coast Guard rescue boat, but were hoping for any details on what brought it so far. The post blew up online.

“We couldn’t have predicted the interest from the public that there has been in this boat,” Liam O’Brien, the ferry company’s owner, later said in a news release. “There was a lot of growth on it, it had clearly been there for a long time. We already have a shipwreck on the island, so everyone’s saying this is the new one. This is definitely the most unusual thing we have discovered and it’s drawing in lots of tourists to the area.”

News outlets across Ireland picked up the mystery. Thousands of people shared their theories on social media. Was it a drug-running boat masqueraded as law enforcement? Was it an American military vessel used to spy on the Irish?

Within a day the answer came. A representative for Silver Ships Inc., an Alabama-based shipbuilding company, confirmed it had manufactured the boat in 2015 for the U.S. Navy, the ferry company’s Siobhan Nolan said in an email.

It’s a High Speed Maneuverable Surface Target that can be used remotely and is used as target practice by the Navy.

“We believe the boat originated in Norfolk, Virginia,” Doolin Ferry Co. said. “It’s likely that it was lost during a training exercise and it remained in the water drifting until it ended up in the water close to Inis Oirr. … How cool is that?!”

That’s more than 3,400 miles of drifting.

Turns out, it’s true. Timothy Boulay, a spokesman for the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, said Thursday that the vessel was lost during a missile test and evaluation event about 75 miles off the coast of Norfolk last September.

After realizing the target was lost, the Atlantic Target and Maritime Operations team searched for five hours but couldn’t find it and notified the Coast Guard of the potential navigation hazard.

Is it shocking the boat made it across the Atlantic? Not very, Boulay said, because the test vessels are foam-filled so that they don’t sink. Navy folks hadn’t heard of the recent discovery until coming across a story on Facebook Wednesday.

“Our people are not surprised it made it to Ireland."

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[kscarbel2]

These 26-foot Metal Shark "Relentless" based High Speed Maneuverable Surface Target (HSMST) boats, um.........they blow these up?  How much do they cost with twin Mercury's???

Wouldn't it be free, and equally effective, to blow up the similar sized pirate boats off Somalia?  Or the Iranian speed boats plaguing the international shipping channel in the Straight of Hormuz?

http://www.metalsharkboats.com/pdf/Relentless 26.pdf

https://www.workboat.com/archive/navy-orders-target-vessels-from-two-boatyards/

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[41chevy]

 

3 hours ago, kscarbel2 said:

These 26-foot Metal Shark "Relentless" based High Speed Maneuverable Surface Target (HSMST) boats, um.........they blow these up?  How much do they cost with twin Mercury's???

Wouldn't it be free, and equally effective, to blow up the similar sized pirate boats off Somalia?  Or the Iranian speed boats plaguing the international shipping channel in the Straight of Hormuz?

http://www.metalsharkboats.com/pdf/Relentless 26.pdf

https://www.workboat.com/archive/navy-orders-target-vessels-from-two-boatyards/

.

Except that the Irani speed boats now mount a brace of SAFAR  laser and GPS guided anti shipping missiles that they can launch at speed.  We're going to need something higher tech like  Metal Storm System. 36 barrel system capable of from 600 to 1 million rounds per minute.  We don't want it .

 

Edited September 7, 2019 by 41chevy

[Prowrench]

4 hours ago, kscarbel2 said:

These 26-foot Metal Shark "Relentless" based High Speed Maneuverable Surface Target (HSMST) boats, um.........they blow these up?  How much do they cost with twin Mercury's???

Wouldn't it be free, and equally effective, to blow up the similar sized pirate boats off Somalia?  Or the Iranian speed boats plaguing the international shipping channel in the Straight of Hormuz?

http://www.metalsharkboats.com/pdf/Relentless 26.pdf

https://www.workboat.com/archive/navy-orders-target-vessels-from-two-boatyards/

.

I hate to see our government wasting money, but when it comes to the military I keep my mind open and my mouth shut until I know all of the facts. How much of a price tag do you want to place on our freedom, and the safety of our troops? These 26-foot Metal Shark "Relentless" based High Speed Maneuverable Surface Target (HSMST) don't shoot back like the Somali's and Iranians so I fully support the Navy practicing until everything they do is FIRST nature. It is very easy to sit here and state our military "KILLS PEOPLE AND DESTROYS THINGS" well they do plenty more and they do it better than any military in the history of the world and I am very thankful for the very difficult and hard work they do. So next time you want to make an off the cuff comment about our military please do as my father always preached to me "ENGAGE BRAIN BEFORE PUTTING MOUTH IN GEAR"

[kscarbel2]

19 hours ago, Prowrench said:

I hate to see our government wasting money, but when it comes to the military I keep my mind open and my mouth shut until I know all of the facts. How much of a price tag do you want to place on our freedom, and the safety of our troops? These 26-foot Metal Shark "Relentless" based High Speed Maneuverable Surface Target (HSMST) don't shoot back like the Somali's and Iranians so I fully support the Navy practicing until everything they do is FIRST nature. It is very easy to sit here and state our military "KILLS PEOPLE AND DESTROYS THINGS" well they do plenty more and they do it better than any military in the history of the world and I am very thankful for the very difficult and hard work they do. So next time you want to make an off the cuff comment about our military please do as my father always preached to me "ENGAGE BRAIN BEFORE PUTTING MOUTH IN GEAR"

You're right, that's a nice center console. I wonder what size Mercury engines are on it.

[Mack Technician]

Personally, I think we should learn from the past. In WW2 they had troops sit in the back of a moving truck, with shotguns, shooting cross-angle trap & skeet while moving past the throw stations at 40MPH. That’s how the B17 gunners got their eye for leading moving targets. 

Have the Navy dump 20 gallons of expired marshmallows out on the water, wait for the seagulls to bob’n hover then dump the Metal Storm on them. 

When the sharks come to clean up the mess test some guided Torpedoes on them. A cheap, AOC green, solution that makes a safer, friendlier world. 

Edited September 7, 2019 by Mack Technician

[tjc transport]

it would be more betterrer for the country to put AOC in the boat and use it for target practice.

[Quickfarms]

8 hours ago, tjc transport said:

it would be more betterrer for the country to put AOC in the boat and use it for target practice.

Just put her on the boat and...

Where we supposed to pick that boat up?

 

[tjc transport]

i wonder what those boats cost? 

[kscarbel2]

Speaking as someone who grew up on the water, why would they spend the extra money for stainless steel propellers when their intention is to obliterate these boats?

(The engines are 200hp Mercury "Optimax" units.)

https://www.workboat.com/archive/navy-orders-target-vessels-from-two-boatyards/

[kscarbel2]

1 hour ago, tjc transport said:

i wonder what those boats cost? 

The "each" price is buried.....they don't want you to easily know.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOVEMBER 22, 2013 — Silver Ships Inc., Theodore, Ala. (N00024-14-D-2205) and Gravois Aluminum Boats LLC, doing business as Metal Shark Aluminum Boats LLC, Jeanerette, La. (N00024-14-D-2207), are each being awarded separate firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) multiple award contracts for the construction of high speed maneuverable surface target boats (HSMSTs). The U.S. Navy maintains an inventory of HSMSTs to be utilized mainly for weapon system test and evaluation and fleet training exercises at nine seaborne target operating activities.

This effort also includes trailers, shipping cradles and spares for a total estimated ceiling value of $48 million for both awards. Silver Ships Inc., is being awarded $11,683,129, and Gravois Aluminum Boats LLC is being awarded $13,782,379.

Work will be performed in Theodore, AL, and Jeanerette, LA, and work is expected to be completed by November 2018. Fiscal 2013 other procurement, Navy contract funds in the amount of $25,465,508 will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively solicited as a small business set aside via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with six offers received. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

https://www.marinelog.com/news/silver-ships-metal-shark-get-target-boat-contracts/

[Mack Technician]

You ever get the creeping feeling we stay in our military occupations like Afghanistan so the military can continually freshen and play with new stuff on a live field? 

I went to the peace museum in Hiroshima and saw the monitor tubes we dropped on them before lighting off Little Boy. In a showcase. The military dropped the little transparent tubes around the outside of the city. They were about the size of a large coffee thermos. You could see they had little crude devices to record pressure, temp, time, etc. U.S. didn’t want to miss the opportunity to make it a laboratory. 

[41chevy]

2 hours ago, Mack Technician said:

You ever get the creeping feeling we stay in our military occupations like Afghanistan so the military can continually freshen and play with new stuff on a live field? 

I went to the peace museum in Hiroshima and saw the monitor tubes we dropped on them before lighting off Little Boy. In a showcase. The military dropped the little transparent tubes around the outside of the city. They were about the size of a large coffee thermos. You could see they had little crude devices to record pressure, temp, time, etc. U.S. didn’t want to miss the opportunity to make it a laboratory. 

Having been on the shooting end using using both   U.S. and IDF hardware, you really don't want to put your nuts on the line with something un proven, un tested and made by the lowest bidder The combat testing in the end saves soldier lives. Of course some weapon systems are odd, like the Ontos , the M551 and an APC that was safer riding on the out side. We even got that with the early M16's.  Was not a confidence builder seeing  Mattel inside the stock. I carried a 870 an a 1911A1.

[JoeH]

We are blessed to be the strongest country in the world, and to be honest it has led my generation (I'm 30) to become soft, never having a major war involving our country completely.  I.E. Civil War, WWI & II all happened within 40-50 years since the previous war, affecting everyone in the country. It's been about 75+ years since WWII, and while we have had the Korean war, Vietnam War, Cold War, and War on Terror, my generation is the first in a long time to not have a Draft. I am genuinely priveleged and lucky to live in the "now" when we keep an active standing army continuously "training" overseas against live targets as Mack Tech pointed out. I have no doubt that this is a contributing reason we stay a Super Power, and I have no doubt that is intentional. Playing the world's police force also gives us an excuse to have our boys anywhere in the world at a moment's notice, which could be argued as unnecessary if one has "Isolationist" preferences regarding national actions.

[tjc transport]

i was a child during the war years. and got a deferment to being drafted until i got out of school. my number was pulled, but i did not have to go. then the draft ended three days before graduation so i got a pass. 

 6 guys from my class that also got their number pulled did not use the deferment, and went off to vietnam, 5 did not came back alive. the 6th was so badly injured he committed suicide about 3 years later.