Diving into Support Vessels for USMC

Silver Ships, Inc. has had the privilege of building two new Dive Support vessels for the U.S. Marine Corps.

The vessels were designed specifically for transporting students in the Marine Corps Combatant Dive Detachment training program off shore in Panama City Beach, FL, for dive training and evaluated events. These vessels aid students in learning how to conduct underwater searches, underwater navigation, diving medicine, diving fundamentals, diving physiology, open circuit SCUBA employment and closed circuit UBA employment.

Because each military vessel is capable of transporting 20 students each, having two new Dive Support Vessels allows the USMC to increase their training throughput to 40 divers per class. All USMC divers are required to complete this training before conducting dive operations, and these additions to the program allow the Marines to significantly increase their student capacity.

The two vessels are variants of the Navy Warfare (NSW) Swimmer Support Craft. The 11M NSW Swimmer Support Craft is already designed with an open center console and full cabin, but with the USMC specification to the program, a forward center console variant was implemented.

We are honored to be able to assist the U.S. Marine Corps by providing specialized vessels that benefit the programs they are operating and expand the programs for the future of the military.

Silver Ships, Inc. produces high-quality aluminum boats for military, federal, state and municipal government as well as commercial applications. The company’s vision is to provide customers with a boat designed, built, outfitted and best-suited to meet their operational needs while offering the maximum in crew safety and outstanding performance. For more information, contact us at (251) 973-0000 or fill out a contact form.