Swift Boat Specifications

Test how much you know about your heritage and why I need your help preserving it!

You are alloted 20 minutes to take this test, notice the clock ticking it off above.

A MARK I swift boat dimensions are (length x beam):
1. 50ft 1.5in x 13ft 6.5in
2. 51ft 3.75in x 13ft 7in
3. 31ft 11.5in x 11ft 7.5in
4. 52ft 4.5in x 14ft 9.25in
What was the recommended navigational water depth for a MARK I PCF?
1. 5ft 10in
2. 4ft 10in
3. 3ft 10in
4. 6ft 4in
What was the vertical clearance (go under a bridge) of a MARK I swift boat?
1. 16ft 9in
2. 11ft 6in
3. 13ft 2in
4. 15ft 11in
A swift boat was divided into a number of distinct areas. These included:
1. Forepeak & lazarette
2. Crew quarters, engine room & pilothouse
3. Stowage compartment, deckhouse & ready storage locker
4. All are correct!
The stowage compartment on a MARK I swift was reached via:
1. Forward bulkhead hatch in the engine room.
2. After bulkhead hatch in the crew quarters.
3. Through the bilge hatch located in the deckhouse, under the ladder going up to the pilothouse.
4. Hatch underneath the lower rack in the deckhouse.
What was contained in the stowage compartment.
1. Ammunition & bulk storage
2. Forward fuel tank
3. Two engine control units
4. All these items
Inside the deckhouse were many extremely useful items. These included:
1. Berthing for two people and a small arms locker
2. Three CO2 fire extinguishers
3. Hot plate, sink, refrigerator and reefer
4. Radios & radar
Contained in the lazarette were:
1. The two aft fuel tanks and the fresh water tank
2. Two five gallon lube oil cans
3. Steering gear and the rudder tillers
4. Onan generator
Access to the lazarette was through:
1. A hatch at the rear of the engine compartment.
2. A hatch located on the aft port corner of the rear deck.
3. A hatch located on the aft starboard corner of the rear deck.
4. A hatch located under the ready service locker.
Access to the two aft fuel tanks was:
1. Through two soft-patches on the aft deck.
2. Through the lazarette.
3. Through the hatch in the rear bulkhead of the engine room.
4. All are correct.
The hull and supersturcture of a swift boat were constructed of:
1. An all welded, 1/4" aluminum alloy construction.
2. Molded fiberglass construction.
3. Butt joint, rivetted 1/4" aluminum alloy construction.
4. An all welded, 1/4" steel alloy construction.
What was the factory applied color of swift boat?
1. Haze-gray overall
2. Deck gray with varying amounts of black stripping added.
3. Dull green with black camouflage patterns.
The aluminum used in the major construction of a swift boat was 5086-H311 alloy?
1. True
2. False
The engine compartment of a swift boat contained three diesel engines.
1. True
2. False
The main propulsion engines of a swift boat were two General Motors 12V71"N" Detroit marine diesels ... tell me more
1. They were equipped with two 4-71 blowers each
2. They were rated at 480 bhp each
3. They used N70 type fuel injectors
4. Port engine was a model 7122-7000 while the starboard engine was a model 7122-3000
How did these two engines accomplish boat movement?
1. Direct coupling to the shaft and screw.
2. SM-118 Hydraulic gear clutch with 1.15:1 reduction gears. Port shaft turning clockwise and starboard turning counter-clockwise.
3. SM-118 Hydraulic gear clutch with 1.15:1 reduction gears. Port shaft turning clockwise and starboard turning counter-clockwise.
4. Direct coupling to the shaft and waterjet.
A swift boat had two 24 volt battery stings to power some of its equipment, these items included:
1. Main engine starting
2. URC-58 SSB radio in normal mode
3. General purpose lighting, search light and navigational lights
4. Decca 202 radar
The 3.0kw Onan AC generator allowed you to use all AC powered electrical equipment at one time?
1. NO!
2. Absolutely
A swift boat traveling at maximum speed could stop in:
1. 2.25 boat lengths
2. 112 ft
3. 9 seconds
A swift boat traveling at 20 knots, had a turning radius of?
1. 75 yards
2. 67 ft
3. 125 ft
4. 20 leagues
The controls and indicators for the two propulsion engines were located ...
1. On the console in the pilothouse
2. In the deckhouse, with the radio/radar controls
3. On the forward bulkhead of the engine room, between the two engines
The forepeak compartment was used for what purposes?
1. Anchor & towing line stowage
2. The forward M60 gunner
3. Ammunition storage
4. Life jacket storage
The crew quarters contained?
1. Berthing for three personnel
2. A head (toilet to you non-navy personnel)
3. Personal effects storage for the crew
4. Food stuff storage
A MARK I swift weighted approximately 37,000lbs empty, what did it weight with a full warload of fuel and ammunition onboard?
1. 47,047lbs
2. 54,221lbs
3. 23.5 tons
4. 45,093.8lbs
MARK I swift boats carried four magnesium anodes that provided a means of reducing electrolytic corrosion. Where were they located?
1. Two in the engine room bilges and two in the bilges below the deckhouse.
2. In the lazarette.
3. On the stern, right at the waterline.
4. They were located on the stern, below the water line.
The two General Motors 12V71"N" Detroit marine diesels could use various fuels in norrmal/emergency situations.
1. Diesel fuel
2. JP-5
3. AV-gas
4. Gasoline
A swiftboat carried potable water in a tank back aft, have many gallons did it hold?
A swift boats maximum design speed was 32 knots, in reality most boats because of dirty bottoms, off-peak efficiency engines and sea state could only do about 28 knots maximum resulting in a maximum endurance of about 200 nautical miles. At what speed was the maximum nautical miles endurance?
1. 8.1 knots for 840 nautical miles
2. 9.8 knots for 840 nautical miles
3. 11.2 knots for 840 nautical miles
4. 7.8 knots fo 910 nautical miles
If a swift boat is turning 1800rpm on it's two engines, how many gallons of diesel fuel is it using per hour?
All swift boats had three fuel tanks. Could either engine draw fuel from all three tanks?
1. Yes, they all could
2. No, only PCFs after PCF-82 had the proper plumbling to allow this.
3. No, only PCFs after PCF-17 had the proper plumbling to allow this.
4. No, only PCFs after PCF-16 had the proper plumbling to allow this.
In order to keep the proper trim on the boats, PCFs transferred fuel between tanks.
1. Yes
2. No
Swift boats were originally fitted with only one type of radar, it was?
1. DECCA 200, X-band, 5cm surface search
2. Raytheon 1900ND surface search
3. Raytheon DE176A
4. DECCA 202, X-band, 3cm surface search
The long range communications on a swift boat were done over what radio?
1. AN/URC-58 SSB, 2-15 Mhz radio
2. AN/PRC-10/25 FM, 30 to 79.99 Mhz
3. AN/URC-4
4. AN/VRC-46 FM
What was the AN/UIH-5 used for?
1. Short range radio used to communicate with aircraft.
2. Short range boat to boat communication.
3. It was the Emergency/Survival radio that hopefully worked if the boat got shot up and lost electrical power.
4. PSYOPS warfare loud hailer system.
Danfort/White made only one item used on board a swift boat, what was it?
1. Magnetic compass installed on the pilothouse console.
2. Portable searchlight
3. Hand held observers compass
4. Spotlight mounted on pilothouse roof and controlled from inside the pilothouse by the boat's driver.
A swiftboat carried three .50cal machine guns, who was the designer?
1. Browning
2. Ithaca
3. Colt
4. Ruger
What was the typical number of rounds of .50 caliber ammunition carried onboard the PCF.
1. 20 to 25,000
2. 5,000
3. 10,000
4. 8,000
The maximum range of the .50 cal machine guns was 7,000 yds and at 1,000 yds the accuracy was excellant. At what range did the accuracy really fall off?
1. 2,850yds
2. 2k yds
3. 4,250 yds
4. 7,500 feet
What did the "Over and under weapon" weapon consist of?
1. 81mm Mark 1 mortar
2. Mark 2/MOD 0 mortar
3. .50-caliber, semi-automatic capable, Browning machine gun
4. Twin .50-caliber Browning machine guns, with heavy barrels, on a Mark 17/Mod 1 manually operated, twin-scarf-ring mount.
There was one very distinct difference between a normal mortar and the 81mm, naval mortar, installed on the swift boats, it was?
1. The ability to trigger fire a naval mortar.
2. The ability to vary the distance being fired on by removing powder bags or changing the elevation of the mortar tube.
3. Being able to fire as far as 3,950 yards.
In the direct fire mode, what was the maximum distance the 81mm mortar could fire, in yards?
How many power bags constituted a full charge load on an 81mm mortar round?
In late 1969, a different type grenade launcher was made available for swift boat use, it was?
1. M-79 grenade launcher
2. Mark 19
3. M-14
4. M16A1
What types of rounds were available for use with the M-79 grenade launcher?
1. Illumination (ILLUM)
2. High explosive (HE)
3. Flechette
4. 00 buck shot
Various type of hand grenades were carried about swiftboats, they included:
1. Fragmentation
2. Concussion
3. Thermite
4. Colored smoke (red, yellow and green)
The previous few questions have talked about personal weapons carried on board a swift but they have left out a few, these included:
1. Very pistol
2. M-60 machine gun
3. .38 revolver or .45 caliber handguns
4. C-4
The bow height of a MARK II was higher than a MARK I and the pilothouse was moved back somewhat from that of a MARK I. What were these two dimensions?
1. 1 foot higher and 3 foot farther forward
2. 1 foot higher and 3 foot farther aft
3. 3 foot higher and 1 foot farther aft
4. 1 foot lower and 3 foot farther aft
A MARK II swift boat was fairly easy to tell from a Mark I because:
1. A Mark II was 1 ft 2.25 in longer
2. A Mark II was 0.5 in wider
3. Bow height was raised by one foot and the pilothouse was moved aft by approximately three feet, from the Mark I design.
4. The MARK II had a broken main deck, with a step down just before the aft end of the deckhouse.
The MARK II swift boat had one electrical problem that the MARK I boat's never had, it was:
1. The twin .50-caliber Browning machine gun's mount was electrically operated.
2. A 3.0kw Onan, model 3DJA-1E 2236, 120 volt, 25 amp, AC generator, air cooled was used in the boats.
3. 120 volt 60 cycle AC, single phase electrical power, was used for operation of the URC-58 radio.
4. The Decca D202 (X-band, 3cm) surface search radar was DC powered on the MARK II.
Surprisingly there was one specification about the MARK II swift boat that seems out of wack with the other more obvious differences with a MARK I, it was:
1. The MARK II was 1,979lbs lighter.
2. The MARK II had three diesel engines.
3. Th MARK II had a crew of eight because of it's bigger size.
4. The MARK II drew 1ft 4in more water than a MARK I.