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List of active Royal Marines military watercraft


List of active Royal Marines military watercraft is a list of landing craft and other watercraft in service with the Royal Marines. It consist of a varied fleet of transport vessels, patrol vessels and special forces watercraft (I.e mini submarines etc.) maintained by the Royal Navy and designed to transport the Royal Marines or special forces from ship to shore as well as conduct river or estuary patrols.

As of 2014, there are presently 33 Landing Craft in service with the Royal Marines; 10 LCUs, 19 LCVPs and 4 LCACs. Total displacement is approximately 3,000 tonnes.

The Offshore Raiding Craft (ORC) is a recent addition to the Royal Marines inventory. The ORC is primarily employed for 'Strategic Raiding' where speed and covertness is desired, however, the Offshore Raiding Craft is equally as capable when conducting amphibious operations alongside the larger and more traditional LCACs, LCUs and LCVPs. The ORC is fitted with several general purpose machine guns as well as protection against enemy fire for the troops inside. The ORC can be underslung from a helicopter or deployed from ships of various sizes. 39 ORC are currently in service with the Royal Marines

The Raiding Craft (RC) are operated in large numbers by the Royal Marines and can be divided into two groups; The Rigid Raider (RRC), and the smaller Inflatable Raiding Craft (IRC). Despite being the smallest of the amphibious craft, the Raiding Craft are the most widely used due to their mobility and versatility. As such, the RCs often find themselves deployed in amphibious and riverine operations around the globe, in environments ranging from the Arctic to the tropics. Examples of these craft are not only embarked on all amphibious warfare vessels, but are also carried aboard other Royal Navy ships for use on patrol duties, such as searching ships or anti-piracy.

The Royal Navy operate three SDV Mk8 Mod 1 mini-submarines for use by the Special Boat Service. They are designed to deliver special forces personnel and their equipment for covert special operations missions on hostile shores. The British SDV Mk8 Mod 1 is the same as used by the United States Navy SEALs.


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