Storebro Royal Cruiser 500 Baltic

Remarks

The Storebro Royal Cruiser 500 was a modification of the SRC 470. Originally, she was developed for the Japanese market and produced only for the Japanese market in parallel to the SRC 470 since 1987. In Japan boats under 15 m in length were significantly higher taxed than longer boats. This should enable fisherman to buy new larger boats. 19 ships were delivered to Japan before the first SRC 500 was delivered in Europe.
For the growth of the SRC 470 Storebro extended the existing hull with the negative transom with bathing platform. At the beginning the extension was produced in a separate mould, later the hulls were produced in a complete modified mould. Nevertheless, the separate extension was used for upgrading several SRC 470.
The extension corresponded to the design of the current line, which started with the SRC 380 and SRC 420.

Engines

SRC 500 SS V10 with MAN-engines 820hp

The Japanese market placed higher demands on the engine. In addition to the actual standard engine (Volvo Penta TAMD 122D with 465 hp), the first nine ships were equipped with the GM diesels 6V92TA (390kW/530hp), which were popular in Japan.

The desire for more power fulfilled the yard from the end of 1991 with the installation of MAN engines. First the V10 engines with 820hp each were used, and later with the facelift, the V8 version with 680hp.
Ships with MAN engines can be recognized by the additions in the nameplate. The V10 versions have the suffix "SS V10", the V8 versions "SS V8" or simple "V8" in gold or white lettering.
With the big MAN engines, the ship was motorized very strong. The maximum speed was 35 kn (measurement with half-full fuel tanks and 700l of water). The acceleration of the V10 engines was brutal. The V8 version was certainly the more harmonious, albeit rarer variant.

The last SRC 500 (S/N 4000) was in accordance with the preference for Scania of the former shipyard boss Anders Bejting the only SRC 500 with Scania engines installed at Storebro.

Modification
Like the SRC 470, which was produced at the same time, various modifications were also made to the SRC 500. For example, the division of the side windows was also changed on the SRC 500 compared to the first ships. Later, new aluminium frames with a flat profile were installed. In a first step, from about 1989, the webs between the individual sections of the cabin windows were filled with black anodised aluminium. Later (from S/N 3594 - 1992) this was also done with the side windows of the deck saloon, analogous to the SRC 380. In the process, the deck saloon windows also received the aft rounded corners.

A major facelift was carried out in 1994. The SRC 500 received the same flybridge layout as the SRC 420 Biscay with the current radar radar arch in "Gullwing"-style. The sliding door type was also taken over from the SRC 420 Biscay. The lounge area deck saloon/aft deck gained considerably through this measure.

Others

• The boat with S/N 4000 represents an intermediate step between the SRC 500 and the SRC 515. While the ship's exterior was in line with the SRC 500's facelift model, the layout was already implemented as later on the SRC 515. However, the seating group in the deck saloon still corresponds to the SRC 500.
• Many ships were retroactively fitted with the flybridge extension of the SRC 515, which offered significantly better aft deck coverage.

2021-02-07

Technical development