BRP Artemio Ricarte ( PS - 37 ) The BRP " Artemio Ricarte " ( PS - 37 ) is one of the three " Jacinto " class of corvette s , and are considered as one of the most modern ships in the Philippine Navy . She was originally called HMS " Starling " ( P241 ) during her service with the Royal Navy . She is currently assigned with the Patrol Force of the Philippine Fleet . History . Launched as the third of five patrol vessels of the " Peacock " class , she was originally part of the Hong Kong Squadron of the Royal Navy . The ships were built by Hall , Russell & Company in the United Kingdom and were commissioned into Royal Navy service from 1983 to 1984 . The class was designed specifically for patrol duties in Hong Kong waters . As well as ‘ flying the flag ’ and providing a constant naval presence in region , they could undertake a number of different roles including Seamanship , Navigation and Gunnery training and Search - and - Rescue duties for which they had facilities to carry divers ( including a decompression chamber ) and equipment to recover vessels and aircraft . They also worked with the Marine Department of the Hong Kong Police and with Customs & Excise in order to prevent the constant flow of illegal immigrants , narcotics and electronic equipment into the Colony . Out of the five ships in its class , three of them , HMS " Peacock " ( P239 ) , HMS " Plover " ( P240 ) , and HMS " Starling " ( P241 ) , were left in Hong Kong until 1997 . They were sold to the Philippines as a sign of goodwill , and were officially turned over to the Philippine Navy on 1 August 1997 when Hong Kong was ceded back to China . Notable Deployments . Naval Exercises . The " Artemio Ricarte " was part of the Philippine Navy contingent to join CARAT 2004 , together with her sistership BRP " Emilio Jacinto " . This was followed immediately with a separate exercise with two Royal Navy ships , namely HMS " Exeter " ( D89 ) and RFA " Grey Rover " ( A269 ) . On 10 April 2007 , " Artemio Ricarte " , together with BRP " Quezon " and BRP " Bienvenido Salting " , took part in a 10 - day naval exercises with the Malaysian Navy dubbed " MALPHI LAUT 2007 " . Malaysian vessels that took part include KD " Kedah " , KD " Laksamana Tan Pusmah " , and KD " Yu " . She joined BRP " Juan Magluyan " ( PG - 392 ) and BRP " Bacolod City " ( LC - 550 ) and the Essex Expeditionary Strike Group during the sea exercise phase of the RP - US Balikatan 2008 on February 2008 . She was again included in the recently concluded CARAT 2008 exercises with the US Navy last May - June 2008 . She was joined by BRP " Nicolas Mahusay " ( PG - 116 ) , BRP " Boni Serrano " ( PG - 111 ) and the Philippine Coast Guard ship BRP " Pampanga " ( AU - 003 ) . The " Artemio Ricarte " , together with BRP Leopoldo Regis ( PG - 847 ) , BRP Dagupan City ( LC - 551 ) , BRP Rajah Humabon ( PF - 11 ) , USS Essex ( LHD - 2 ) , and USS Tortuga ( LSD - 46 ) were part of the naval component of the US - RP Balikatan 2009 bi - lateral exercises held on April 2009 . Technical details . The ships under this class are characterized by a low freeboard , an Oto - Melara 76 mm gun turret located forward , large funnel amidships and a crane and rigid - hulled inflatable boat ( RHIB ) aft . The Oto Melara 76 mm Compact DP , the ships ' primary weapon , has a range of up to and can be used against ships , aircraft or off and on - shore ground targets . It is remotely controlled from within the Combat Information Center by the gunnery officer and has no crew within the gun itself . The gun can fire 80 rounds in 60 seconds without reloading its magazine . The ship has load capacity for up to 450 rounds . Its secondary weapon located at the stern , a MSI Defense System Seahawk mount for a M242 Bushmaster 25 mm cannon , is integrated with the 76 mm primary weapon via an Ultra Electronics Command and Control System and a Radamec 1500 Series Electro - Optical Tracking / Fire Control System . This new system was installed as part of Phase 1 of the Philippine Navy JCPV upgrade program . The Radamec 1500 Series 2500 replaced the older GSA7 Sea Archer Mk 1 electro - optical director with a GEC V3800 thermal imager added in 1987 . In addition to the abovementioned guns , these ships also carry two . 50 caliber heavy machine guns at the bridgewings , and two Mk . 16 cannons at Mk . 68 mounts at the midships . The ships are powered by two APE - Crossley SEMT - Pielstick diesels ( 14 , 188 bhp combined ) driving two three - bladed propellers . It has a drop down loiter engine with a shrouded prop of used to keep station and save fuel . The main engines can propel the 664 ton ( 712 tons full load ) ship at over , with a sustained speed of . Its range is at . These corvettes were specifically designed for Asian service , having air - conditioned crew spaces and have been designed to stay at sea during typhoons and other strong weather anomalies common to Asian seas . The ships were modified soon after entering Royal Navy service with deeper bilge keels to alleviate a propensity to roll during moderate and heavy seas . The ship also carries two Avon Searaider 5 . 4 m , 30 kt , 10 - man RHIB . Upgrades . Aside from the new M242 Bushmaster 25 mm cannon and upgrade of its Command and Control & Fire Control Systems as part of the ship ' s Phase 1 upgrade , the Philippine Navy also installed a new Raytheon Gyro Compass , Sperry Marine Naval BridgeMaster E Series Surface Search Radar , GPS , Anemometer , and EM logs . These were integrated with the ship ' s existing systems . The Phase 1 upgrade was completed last 2005 . The Phase 2 is the Marine Engineering Upgrade Program , which includes the repair and remediation of the hull , overhaul and improvement of the Main Propulsion including control and monitoring systems , electrical plant , auxiliary systems , outfitting and hull furnishings and training the navy crew in the operation and maintenance of the new plant . Phase 3 , which is still under bidding , is a Service Life Extension Program ( SLEP ) . Apart from the upgrades , additional refits were made to replace the four ( 4 ) 7 . 62mm machine guns with two ( 2 ) . 50 caliber heavy machine guns and two 20 mm Mk . 16 cannons . There are plans to add anti - ship missiles to the ships , but due to top - weight problems , it would have to be a lightweight system such as Sea Skua , although no missiles have been ordered to date .