1.26- Seals in Raccoon Creek

An 11 meter Naval Special Warfare Rigid Inflatable Boat cruises up Raccoon Creek
(Click on image or here for full size)

I usually see these 11m NSW-RIBs way out in the Neuse River cruising at 45 knots between the Cherry Point Marine Station and the Piney Island / BT-11 target range...(see related prior postings re: NSW-RIBs and the BT-11 target range)

I was watching this one headed back up-river towards Cherry Point when it surprisingly turned into the Oriental Harbor channel.

So I grabbed a camera and headed down to the Oriental Yacht Club in time to find the boat slowly cruising up and down Raccoon Creek...

One guy on board was pointing out various things around the harbor and creek-sides... I wonder if it was some sort of tactical orientation or a simple sightseeing side-trip after a day of storming Piney Island?

I have noticed a lot of U.S. Marine air traffic over the river the past couple of days, including Harriers, CH-35E Sea Stallion helicopters (see related prior posting re:CH-35E), CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters, and MV-22B Osprey VTOL/STOLs.

I'm guessing these guys are U.S. Navy SEALS, as the NSW-RIB's primary mission is SEAL insertion and extraction, and I have not found any reference to the U.S. Marine Corps using them.

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8.18- Navy Special Warfare R.I.B.'s

Two U.S. Navy "NSW RIB"s ("Naval Special Warfare Rigid Inflatable Boats") cruising down the Neuse River, about three miles across from Oriental's Lou-Mac Park.

According to the U.S. Navy (see NSW RIB page at NavySeals.com):

"The 11-Meter Naval Special Warfare Rigid Inflatable Boat (11M NSW RIB) is a high speed, high buoyancy, extreme weather craft with the primary mission of insertion and extraction of SEAL and other Special Operations personnel from enemy occupied beaches. The RIB hull is made of glass reinforced plastic. The 11-Meter RIB has demonstrated the ability to operate in light-loaded conditions in Sea State 6 and winds of 45 knots..."

These boats carry a crew of three, plus up to an eight person SEAL team, at upwards of 45 knots. Looked like they were cruising at 40 plus knots when I took this picture. They are powered by two 470 horsepower inboard Caterpillar 3126 diesel engines.

The boats feature a radar mast (the tallest structure sticking up from the boats), plus fore and aft weapons mounts, each capable of holding .50 cal., M60 or MK19 grenade launcher. I'm guessing that is either an M60 or a .50 cal. mounted forward on these two.

Periodically, Navy personnel stay in a hotel here in Oriental while they undergo training or exercises on these boats, and I have spoken with some of them at Oriental watering holes in the past ... apparently, the training and exercises launch from the U.S. Coast Guard Station at Hobucken, NC (on the Intra-Coastal Waterway where it meets Jones Bay, just north of the mouth of the Neuse River) and go shooting targets at the "BT-11 Multipurpose Electronic Target Complex" on Piney Island (on the south side of the mouth of the Neuse ... for more about BT-11, see my prior post of July 28.)

Since Hobucken has no hotel (or watering holes) the NSW RIB crews generally stay here in Oriental during exercises, though the boats do not.

For more about the NSW RIB, check out the following links:

• U.S. Marine Inc. (manufacturers of NSW RIB) page with pictures and videos of NSW RIBs in action (and as a background for G.W.Bush photo op.)
• Federation of American Scientists profile of NSW RIBs

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