SHANGHAI CLASS GUN PATROL BOAT TYPE 62C

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18 April 1981, Sierra Leone issued four stamps commemorating the 20th Anniversary of Independence and the 10th Anniversary of the Republic. One of these stamps features a coastal patrol boat of the Sierra Leone Navy which is identified as one of the three ex-Chinese SHANGHAI II class, which were transferred to Sierra Leone in June 1973.
1979 Transferred to the Freetown Port Authority.
They are identified only as “001”, “002” and “003”. The stamp provides no visible clue as to its numerical identify.

The Type 62C was built on various yards in China for the China Navy and many Third World Countries. The class was named by NATO “Shanghai II class”.

Displacement 120 ton standard and 155 tons full load. Dim.39.0 x 5.5 x 1.7m. (draught).
Powered by two M 50F diesel engines, 2,415 hp. and two type 12D6 diesels ,1,810 hp, four shafts, speed 30 knots.
Range 930 miles by a speed of 17 knots.
Armament 4 – 37mm AA guns and 4 – 25mm AA guns. Depth charges and mine rails.
Crew 30.

They were not longer listed in 1979 and reportedly discarded in the early 1980s.

Sierra Leone 1981 1Le sg667, scott?

Source: Small Craft Navies by Christopher Chant. Crown Agent release.