Riding in and Driving My Friend Palmer's Mark V Special Operations Craft
I recently had the opportunity to ride in and drive my friend Palmer Luckey’s Mark V Special Operations Craft (SOC).?
These naval vessels served as marine security, patrol, and special forces insertion boats for the United States Navy from 1995 until they were removed in 2013.
Commonly referred to as the “Mark V.1 Patrol Boat” in official United States Navy documents, the Mark V SOC was developed surprisingly quickly, taking only 18 months from the beginning of the program to the final delivery of the first Mark V on September 4, 1995.?
Designed to be the first specifically conceived SEAL insertion craft, this boat is a remarkable piece of machinery. Not only does the Mark V have the capacity to carry 16 fully equipped SEALs to missions 500 miles away, it can reach its top speed of over 50 knots as fast as a Tesla.?
A fully equipped Mark V has enough room to carry four Combat Rubber Raiding Crafts (CRRCs), as well as five gun mounts providing 360 degrees of firing coverage. Later improvements introduced mounting stations for miniguns, .50 cal machine guns, MK 38 chain guns, and more. Additionally, the boat’s sleek design and low silhouette reduces its radar signature, while its V shaped hull allows for excellent handling in rough water.?
Forgive me for getting so caught up in the details, but being able to ride around in one of these remarkable vessels and hear all about how they were used so effectively by SEAL teams was an absolute treat. Thank you again to my friend Palmer for letting me be a part of this.
PhD Statistics, MSc Comp Sci Data Science professional with Financial Risk Modelling experience
1 周I was listening to the Shawn Ryan Show and I wanted to see what the Mark V looked like
RETIRED USN/MBA
1 个月I realize that this post is 3 years old, but…Does he need any crew with MKVSOC experience???????????????????
Environmental & Mechanical Engineer ;ADA certified Handicap Mobility device and Accessibility Senior specialist
7 个月I just saw an advertisement and auction bids on one of the mark fives up for sale with a current bid of 51,000 I know if I had 100G laying around I top that bid in a second, and developing a new type of marine census device for solitary pelagic Oceanic species such as white Marlin blue marlin yellowfin tuna mako sharks great white sharks Etc Noah's current counting and numbers procedure and attempts have an accuracy of plus or minus 50 to 60% positive which isn't much considering that will also be 40 to 50% negative or incorrect and trying to find perfect vessel to launch these Marine census devices I know the mark 5 would be the ideal candidate from having served in the Navy from 88 to 91 I remember the saying it's a rough ride sure just remember this isn't the Princess Cruise Line
Expert Generalist, Ecopreneur, Treemason, Adventurer and Pirate.
1 年Amazing, what a floating piece of history!