Offshore Raiding Craft

Royal Marine Offshore Raiding Craft
Class overview
BuildersHolyhead Marine Services
ActiveSeveral dozen CRC/ORC as of 2024 (troop-carrying and fire-support variants)[1]
General characteristics
TypeFast Assault Craft
DisplacementLight Load 4760 kg inc fuel & 2 crew & armour, Full load 6000 kg
Length9.1m
Beam2.9m
DraughtLight 0.56 m, Loaded 0.69 m
PropulsionTwin Steyr M0256K43 high speed diesel engines each developing 250Hp/184Kw at 4300rpm.
SpeedLight load 39 knots, Full load 32 knots (ORC); "up to 40 knots" (CRC)
RangeIn excess of 200 nautical miles (370 km) (ORC and CRC)
Complement12 Royal Marines (1 driver, 3 gunners, 8 fully equipped troops)
ArmamentFwd; single or twin GPMG. Aft 2 off; .50 cal, GPMG or 40mm grenade launchers, Gau mini gun
ArmourDynema ballistic protection to defeat 7.62mm x 39 Ball at 20m. (optional)
Royal Marines Offshore Raiding Craft during exercise Corsican Lion in 2012. Note the two ORCs -top and bottom right- fitted with armour.

The Offshore Raiding Craft (ORC) is a small, fast boat used by the Royal Marines for troop insertion, and patrols.[2] The ORC is primarily used when undertaking strategic raiding missions, where speed and covertness is desired.[according to whom?] However, it is equally capable when conducting larger scale amphibious operations alongside the larger and more traditional LCACs, LCUs and LCVPs.[according to whom?] [3]

There are two variants of the ORC:[4][5]

  • Mid Console Variant (MCV), a.k.a. the Fire Support Variant
  • Aft Console Variant (ACV), a.k.a. the Troop Carrying Variant

Commando Raiding Craft

In 2023, 23 of the original 35 ORC were reportedly donated to Ukraine. They were replaced in U.K. service by the upgraded Commando Raiding Craft (CRC). The CRC is fitted with three general purpose machine guns or .50 heavy machine gun mounts, as well as protection against enemy fire for the troops inside. The CRC has a speed of up to 40 knots, a range of 200 nautical miles and can be underslung from a helicopter or deployed from ships of various sizes. They incorporate a new configuration with driving position moved from the back to front for better manoeuvrability and employ a more sophisticated electronic suite for communications and navigation.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Royal Navy Fleet Poster" (PDF). Navy News. Ministry of Defence. February 2023. p. 21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  2. ^ "9m Offshore Raiding Craft". Shoreham-by-Sea: Amgram. Archived from the original on 27 October 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  3. ^ Royal Marines - Landing Craft, royalnavy.mod.uk, Retrieved 15 June 2014
  4. ^ "Green men in a boat" (PDF). Navy News. March 2009. p. 24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023. ...a new model of their offshore raiding craft (ORC) - the somewhat uninspiringly-named mid-console variant, but let's call it the gunboat as that sums up its role so much more graphically. The existing ORCs - the troop-carrying variant - are designed with the console (the bit where you drive the thing) at the back of the craft, with seats for up to eight men in front...In these new ORCs, the console sits in the middle, allowing the gunners to be arrayed to cover every angle; this gunboat lives up to that title
  5. ^ "On land and sea - NATO's Marine forces". NATO Multimedia. 11 January 2023. Archived from the original on 13 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023. So the ORC is our jet boat and we've got two variants. We've got the troop carrying variant, which can take six people and deliver them onto a beach, and then we've also got the fire support variant and that's our kind of protection while we're out on the water.
  6. ^ "UK Royal Navy revamp their amphibious raiding craft". Naval Technology. 8 February 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2024.


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