SLNS Vijayabahu (P627)

SLNS Vijayabahu (P627) (Sinhala: විජයබාහු, romanized: Vijayabāhu) is an Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessel of the Sri Lanka Navy.

Douglas Munro was placed into In-Commission Special Status on March 31, 2021, beginning the process of decommissioning the final Hamilton-class cutter.

[1][2] She was commissioned by President Ranil Wickramasinghe on 20 November 2022 as SLNS Vijayabahu, becoming the second Hamilton-class cutter in Sri Lanka Navy.

In 1997, the cutter seized the Russian fishing trawler Chernyayevo in the Bering Sea for violation of the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act of 1976, setting an important precedent for law enforcement along the U.S./Russia maritime boundary.

Also in 1998, Munro interdicted the Mexican vessel Xolescuintle, seizing 11.5 tons of cocaine, one of the largest drug seizures in Coast Guard history.

During the Out of Hemisphere patrol Munro contributed in the relief efforts of the 2004 tsunami providing food and water to Indonesia and later seizing a vessel overtaken by pirates off the Horn of Africa.

On March 23, 2008, Munro rescued survivors of FV Alaska Ranger when it sank 180 miles (290 km) west of Dutch Harbor.

Douglas Munro also made an appearance in an episode of the Discovery Channel series Deadliest Catch, conducting search and rescue operations following the loss of the fishing vessel Ocean Challenger.

It was also featured in the BBC series Full Circle with Michael Palin in 1997, as the presenter was on the ship at the end of his documentary circumnavigation of the Pacific Rim.

Following her decommissioning, she was transferred to the Sri Lanka Navy on October 26, 2021 at USCG Station Seattle, where she was assigned the pennant number P 627.

Like her sister ship, she retained her Otobreda 76 mm gun and MK 92 Fire Control System, while the Phalanx CIWS was removed and will be replaced with a rear mounted dual 23mm cannon.

She underwent an extensive refit at Seattle before sailing to her new home in Sri Lanka, covering a long sea voyage of about 10,656 nautical miles (19,735 km) and transiting the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

P627 in Puget Sound, September 2022