German patrol boat Potsdam
German coast guard vessel
Potsdam (BP 81) is an 86-meter (282 ft) offshore patrol vessel of the German Federal Coast Guard operated by the German Federal Police. It is named after the city of Potsdam, the capital of Brandenburg. She is the lead ship of the Potsdam-class patrol vessels and is homeported at Cuxhaven, Lower Saxony.
Construction and description
The contract for three completed vessels of the class was awarded in December 2016 to Fassmer in Berne, Germany. The keel of Potsdam was laid on 14 August 2017, and the vessel was launched on 8 December 2018, with yard number 7040. Final outfitting took place at Fassmer and the vessel was handed over to the Federal Coast Guard in May 2019 while the vessel was finally commissioned into service on 22 July 2019, at Neustadt in Holstein. The decision to arm the vessel was announced at its christening on 14 December 2018. She was subsequently refitted with a permanent armament in 2020, with the installation of a BAE Systems/Bofors Mk. 110 57 mm naval gun, as well as two 12.7 mm M3 heavy machine guns allowing her to target hostile vessels over 18,000 yards (16,000 m) away.
The vessel has an overall length of 86.02 m (282 ft 3 in) with a beam of 13.42 m (44 ft 0 in) and a draft of 3.95 m (13 ft 0 in).
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