CCGS Thunder Cape

CCGS Thunder Cape is one of the Canadian Coast Guard's 36 Cape-class motor lifeboats. She was built in Kingston, Ontario, in 2000, by MetalCraft Marine and MIL Systems and was moved to Goderich, Ontario, in October 2005. Assigned to the Central and Arctic Region, the lifeboat serves the Lake Erie area. The boat is backed up by search and rescue operations from 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron (at CFB Trenton). The Thunder Cape was damaged in a collision with the breakwater at the outlet of the Mission River in Thunder Bay.

Design
Like all Cape-class motor lifeboats, Thunder Cape has a displacement of 20 ST and a total length of 47 ft and a beam of 14 ft. Constructed from marine-grade aluminium, it has a draught of 4 ft. It contains two computer-operated Detroit DDEC-III 6V-92TA diesel engines providing a combined 870 shaft horsepower. It has two 28 x 36 in four-blade propellers, and its complement is four crew members and five passengers.

The lifeboat has a maximum speed of 25 kn and a cruising speed of 22 kn. Cape-class lifeboats have fuel capacities of 400 USgal and ranges of 200 nmi when cruising. Thunder Cape is capable of operating at wind speeds of 50 kn and wave heights of 30 ft. It can tow ships with displacements of up to 150 t and can withstand 60 kn winds and 20 ft-high breaking waves.

Communication options include Raytheon 152 HF-SSB and Motorola Spectra 9000 VHF50W radios, and a Raytheon RAY 430 loudhailer system. The boat also supports the Simrad TD-L1550 VHF-FM radio direction finder. Raytheon provides a number of other electronic systems for the lifeboat, including the RAYCHART 620, the ST 30 heading indicator and ST 50 depth indicator, the NAV 398 global positioning system, a RAYPILOT 650 autopilot system, and either the R41X AN or SPS-69 radar systems.