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	BRP Liberato Picar (PC-377)
History
Philippines
Name	Liberato Picar
Namesake	Capt. Liberato Picar the officer of the Offshore Patrol. Graduated from the PMA Batch 1940.
Operator	; Philippine Navy
Ordered	1990
Builder	Trinity-Equitable Shipyards, New Orleans, USA
Acquired	9 October 1991
Commissioned	January 1992
Reclassified	April 2016: from PG-377 to PC-377
Status	in active service
General characteristics
Class and type	Jose Andrada class
Type	Coastal Patrol Craft
Displacement	56.4 tons full load
Length	78 ft (24 m)
Beam	20 ft (6.1 m)
Draft	5.8 ft (1.8 m)
Propulsion	2 × 1,400 bhp Detroit 16V-92TA Diesel Engines; 2 × 35-kW Diesel generators; 2 shafts;
Speed	28 knots (52 km/h) maximum
Range	1,200 nmi (2,200 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h)
Boats & landing ; craft carried	4-meter rigid inflatable boat at aft
Complement	12
Sensors and ; processing systems	Raytheon AN/SPS-64(V)11 Navigation / Surface Search Radar
Armament	4 × Mk.26 M2HB Browning 12.7 mm/50-cal. GP machine guns; 2 × M60 7.62 mm/30-cal. GP machine guns;

BRP Liberato Picar (PC-377) is the seventh ship of the Jose Andrada class coastal patrol boats of the Philippine Navy. It is part of the first batch of its class ordered through US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) in 1990, and was commissioned with the Philippine Navy in January 1992.^[3]^[4] It was initially designated as Fast Patrol Craft, and was numbered "DF-377", but later on was re-designated as Patrol Gunboat "PG-377".^[3] Another round of reclassification was made in April 2016, which redesignated the patrol gunboat as the coastal patrol craft PC-377.

Technical Details

The ship was built to US Coast Guard standards with an aluminum hull and superstructure.^[5] She is powered by two Detroit Diesel 16V-92TA Diesel Engines with a combined power of around 2,800 hp driving two propellers for a maximum speed of 28 knots (52 km/h). Maximum range is 1,200 nmi (2,200 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h), or alternatively 600 nmi (1,100 km) at 24 knots (44 km/h).^[1]

The ship was originally designed to carry one bow Mk.3 40 mm gun, one 81 mm mortar aft, and four 12.7 mm/50 caliber machine guns.^[1]^[6] Instead, she is armed with only four M2HB Browning 12.7 mm/50 caliber machine guns on Mk.26 mounts, with two positioned forward and two aft; and two M60 7.62 mm/30 caliber machine guns, both mounted amidships. The ship can carry 4,000 rounds of 12.7 mm and 2,000 rounds of 7.62 mm A large "Big Eyes" binocular is also carried on tripod mounts, one on the forecastle and one just above the mast.^[1]

As part of the first batch (PG-370 to PG-378), it is not equipped with Mk.38 Mod.0 M242 Bushmaster 25mm chain gun that her other sister ships carry.^[1]^[5]^[6]^{[N 2]} It was planned to install either a stabilized or unstabilized M242 25 mm Bushmaster chain gun on her bow after some minor modifications,^[5] but as of to date has not materialized.

She is equipped with a Raytheon AN/SPS-64(V)11 surface search and navigation radar but with a smaller antenna as those used in bigger Philippine Navy ships.^[1]^[4] In February 2009, she was installed with the Philippine Navy Vessel Tracking System (VTS) by the Naval Sea Systems Command, and was tested by the Naval Communications Electronics and Information Systems Center (NCEISC) of the Philippine Navy.^[7]

A 4-meter rigid inflatable boat powered by a 40-hp outboard motor is stowed amidships.^[1]

Exercises

On 14 to 16 of August 2012, the Naval Forces Northern Luzon (NFNL) conducted a small-scale Naval Exercise code-named SAGEX 02–12 at the waters of South China Sea. BRP Liberato Picar together with BRP Gregorio del Pilar and BRP Rajah Humabon participated under Naval Task Force (NTF) 11. The exercise includes patrol, simulated tracking of targets and interdiction and capped by live firing exercises.^[8]

Photos

BRP Liberato Picar at Naval Station Andrada
BRP Liberato Picar and BRP Heracleo Alano at Pier 13

Footnotes

^ All sources refer to the same engine, although with different horsepower rating.^[1]^[5] But official specs from manufacturer indicates a 1,400 hp rating for each engine. [1]
^ Sources vary on weapons mount of this ship, with most indicating the presence of a Bushmaster 25mm chain gun on a Mk.38 mount.^[1]^[5] Recent photos [2] does not show said weapon or mount, so are other ships from the first batch (PG-370 to PG-378)^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Wertheim, Eric: The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World 15th Edition, page 553. Naval Institute Press, 2007.
^ Shipbuildinghistory.com Equitable Shipyards, New Orleans LA
^ ^a ^b ^c GlobalSecurity.org PG Jose Andrada Class.
^ ^a ^b ^c Manokski's ORBAT @ Hueybravo. Jose Andrada class page.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Saunders, Stephen: Jane's Fighting Ships 107th Edition 2004-2005. Jane's Information Group Ltd, 2004.
^ ^a ^b ^c AFP Materiel Technical Specification Archives - PN Light Surface Warships Andrada (Halter 78) class Coastal Patrol Craft (24)
^ "NASSCOM Unveils PN Vessel Tracking System (VTS)". Philippine Navy Naval Sea Systems Command. 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-02-09. Retrieved 2011-11-24.
^ Naval Forces Northern Luzon. "NAVAL FORCES NORTHERN LUZON CONDUCTS NAVAL EXERCISE". navy.mil.ph. Philippine Navy. Archived from the original on 2012-08-23. Retrieved 2012-08-21.