HMAS Jervis Bay was a wave piercing catamaran that operated in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
HMAS Jervis Bay in 2000
HMAS Jervis Bay in Dili in October 1999
SpeedOne in Dover
A catamaran is a watercraft with two parallel hulls of equal size. The distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts resistance to rolling and overturning. Catamarans typically have less hull volume, smaller displacement, and shallower draft (draught) than monohulls of comparable length. The two hulls combined also often have a smaller hydrodynamic resistance than comparable monohulls, requiring less propulsive power from either sails or motors. The catamaran's wider stance on the water can reduce both heeling and wave-induced motion, as compared with a monohull, and can give reduced wakes.
A Formula 16 beachable catamaran
Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States
A carved and painted voyaging catamaran with tanja sails of the Micronesian inhabitants of Hermit Islands, Bismarck Archipelago (c. 1914)
1827 depiction of Tahitian pahi war-canoes