Archer-class patrol vessel

For other ship classes of the same name, see Archer class.

The Archer class (or P2000) is a class of patrol and training vessel in service with the United Kingdom's Royal Navy, commonly referred to as a "fast training boat".^[1] Most are assigned to Coastal Forces Squadron. HMS Tracker and HMS Raider are armed and provide maritime force protection to high value shipping in the Firth of Clyde and are most commonly employed as escorts for submarines transiting to Faslane. Pursuer and Dasher were also armed during their deployment on maritime force protection duties with the Gibraltar Squadron from 2020-2022.

HMS Raider, 2009
Class overview
Name	Archer class
Builders	Watercraft Marine Vosper Thornycroft Ailsa Shipbuilding Company
Operators	Royal Navy Royal Oman Police
Succeeded by	Scimitar class; Cutlass class
In commission	1985–present
Active	17 (16 Royal Navy, 1 Royal Oman Police)
General characteristics
Type	Patrol boat & training vessel
Displacement	54 t (53 long tons)
Length	20.8 m (68 ft 3 in)
Beam	5.8 m (19 ft 0 in)
Draught	1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)
Propulsion	2 shafts, Cat C18 ACERT diesels
Speed	25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) 45 knots (83 km/h; 52 mph) (Hull design, but limited due to engine fitted)
Range	550 nmi (1,020 km; 630 mi)
Complement	18 (training)[N 1] 12 (operational)
Sensors and processing systems	Decca 1216 navigation radar
Armament	1 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon on fo'c'sle ("for but not with") 3 × General purpose machine guns (Tracker, Raider, Dasher & Pursuer)

Development

Ten vessels were ordered as the P2000 class, based on a design of an Omani coastguard cutter, from Watercraft Marine. They are twin-shaft vessels with moulded glass-reinforced plastic hulls of 54 tonnes (53 long tons) displacement.^[2][3] After that company went into liquidation, the balance of the order was completed by Vosper Thornycroft.

The Archers were initially used as Royal Navy patrol craft and as training tenders for the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) and University Royal Naval Units (URNU). Four identical vessels were ordered for the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service (RNXS) as Example-class tenders. When that service was disbanded in 1994, the Examples were transferred to the Royal Navy for similar duties as their Archer-class brethren (under the same names under which they served as "XSVs", all of which begin with the first syllable "Ex"). Until 2005, the four Examples were painted with a black hull.

In 1998 two additional vessels (Raider and Tracker) of this design were commissioned into the Royal Navy from Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, to replace HMS Loyal Watcher and HMS Loyal Chancellor as URNU training vessels for the two newest URNUs, serving Cambridge and Oxford Universities respectively (Raider was later transferred to Bristol URNU whilst Trumpeter became the ship of Cambridge URNU). This brought the total of Archer-class vessels in the Royal Navy to sixteen, of which fourteen form the Coastal Forces Squadron Squadron (formerly the 1st Patrol Boat Squadron), each one formerly attached to an URNU (one per unit) under the command of a lieutenant.^[4] The remaining two vessels (Pursuer and Dasher), having formed the Cyprus Squadron from 2003 to 2010, and URNU vessels before that,^{[N 2]} returned to the UK in April 2010 to form the Faslane Patrol Boat Squadron, performing security duties within HMNB Clyde.

In 2012 Dasher and Pursuer were replaced by Raider and Tracker - these can be identified by a number of pintle-mounted L7 7.62 mm GPMG machine guns and armour plating. Ranger and Trumpeter were also formerly allocated to the Gibraltar Squadron for guard ship and search and rescue duties, but were replaced by the dedicated Scimitar class. These two ships were also used during the Thames River Pageant, escorting the Royal Barge during Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. Unlike the remainder of the class, both these ships remain capable of mounting a 20 mm cannon on the fo'c'sle.

The NATO designation of a P2000 is "PBR", denoting a "patrol boat - riverine and harbours"^{[citation needed]}.

Vessels in the class

HMS Dasher pictured whilst escorting the nuclear submarine HMS Vanguard to her berth at HMNB Clyde

Royal Oman Police
Name	Pennant number	Builder	Commissioned	Attached to	Status
Dheeb Al Bahari		Watercraft Marine, Shoreham-by-Sea	1985	Police Coastguard Command	In active service
Royal Navy
Name	Pennant number	Builder	Commissioned	Attached to	Status
Archer	P264	Watercraft Marine	1985	Coastal Forces Squadron	In active service
Biter	P270	Watercraft Marine	1986	Coastal Forces Squadron	In active service
Smiter	P272	Watercraft Marine	1988	Coastal Forces Squadron	In active service
Pursuer	P273	Vosper Thornycroft, Woolston	1988	Coastal Forces Squadron[5]	In active service
Blazer	P279	Vosper Thornycroft	1988	Coastal Forces Squadron	In active service
Dasher	P280	Vosper Thornycroft	1988	Coastal Forces Squadron[5]	In active service
Puncher	P291	Vosper Thornycroft	1988	Coastal Forces Squadron	In active service
Charger	P292	Vosper Thornycroft	1988	Coastal Forces Squadron	In active service
Ranger	P293	Vosper Thornycroft	1988	Coastal Forces Squadron	In active service
Trumpeter	P294	Vosper Thornycroft	1988	Coastal Forces Squadron	In active service
Example (ex-XSV Example)	P165 (ex-A153)	Watercraft Marine	1985	Coastal Forces Squadron	In active service
Explorer (ex-XSV Explorer)	P164 (ex-A154)	Watercraft Marine	1986	Coastal Forces Squadron	In active service
Express (ex-XSV Express)	P163 (ex-A163)	Vosper Thornycroft	1988	Coastal Forces Squadron	In active service
Exploit (ex-XSV Exploit)	P167 (ex-A167)	Vosper Thornycroft	1988	Coastal Forces Squadron	In active service
Tracker	P274	Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, Troon	1998	Faslane Patrol Boat Squadron	In active service
Raider	P275	Ailsa Shipbuilding Company	1998	Faslane Patrol Boat Squadron	In active service

See also

• Harbour defence motor launch - World War II equivalent
• CB90-class fast assault craft
• Patrol Craft Fast - the "Swift Boats"

Notes

1. 5 ship's company, 1 training officer, 12 URNU students.
2. Pursuer was allocated to Sussex URNU, Dasher to Bristol URNU. They were replaced by Ranger and Trumpeter respectively in 2004.

References

1. "Archer Class Patrol and Training Vessel". Ships of the Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2010. An interesting quirk of the Archer class is that although the regular crew have their own cabins, the midshipmen sleep in the gun-room. Traditionally this is where midshipmen have always been berthed but in the Archer class it is literally true as they sleep in the magazine of the Archer class. Since such trips only occur in times of peace, the gun which an Archer class vessel is capable of carrying is not fitted and so there is no other use for the magazine.
2. "Patrol Boats – Archer class". Royal Navy. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
3. "Archer Class P2000 (URNU)". Armed Forces.net. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
4. "Coastal Forces Squadron" (PDF). whatdotheyknow.com. 6 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020. I can confirm that Ministerial approval for the change in name from 1st Patrol Boat Squadron to Coastal Forces Squadron was given on 21 May 2020.
5. "Royal Navy Gibraltar Squadron bid farewell to HMS Dasher & HMS Pursuer". gbc.gi. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.

Bibliography

• Beaver, Paul (1996). Britain's Modern Royal Navy. Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-442-5.
• Flack, Jeremy (1996). Today's Royal Navy in Colour. Greenwich Editions. ISBN 0-86288-089-0.

External links

• "Patrol Boats - Archer class". Royal Navy.