Mark V Special Operations Craft (SOC) Wooden Boat Model

Item#: GM9-1004

This Mark V Special Operations Craft (SOC) Wooden Boat Model comes with an elegant stand and a personalized brass inscription plaque that adds beauty to this collectible masterpiece.

Custom Made Mark V Special Operations Craft (SOC) History

The Mark V SOC (Special Operations Craft) is a small marine security/patrol/transport boat manufactured by Halter Marine Inc (Gulfport, Mississippi). The Mark V is one of the newest additions to the United States Naval Special Warfare Command.

The development of the Mark V SOC was very fast, taking only 18 months from the initiation of the Program, to actual possession of the first boat on September 4, 1995. The USSOCOM Contracting Directorate and a dedicated Program Management team executed this effort in record time, specifically because USSOCOM was given Agency level contracting authority. The contract was fulfilled when full operational capability was met in 1999. In all, 20 Mk V SOC units were delivered to USSOCOM at a unit cost of $3.7 million. The Mark V SOC deployment was not without its problems, including instances of the windshield and entire pilothouse assembly collapsing on wave impact. However, these issues have been resolved and the Mark V SOC has markedly improved maritime special operations capabilities.

The original Mk V SOC was designed to mitigate the lack of any specifically conceived SEAL insertion craft. Prior to the Mk V SOC, SEALs were transported on any form of surface transport available, often resorting to taping lawn furniture to the deck of the available craft. The original Mk V competition included three different designs, one Kevlar composite monohull, one aluminum monohull and one aluminum catamaran hull. The winning design was the aluminum monohull. The Mk V SOC specifically incorporated a modular shock mitigated seating design to minimize injury. However, after much training and operational usage, the aluminum monohul was observed to tend to transmit the impact with the water's surface to the occupants of the boat more readily than a composite hull might. Therefore a new replacement design was sought.