The Archer class (or P2000) is a class of patrol and training vessels in service with the Royal Navy, commonly referred to as a Fast Training Boat. They are twin-shaft vessels with moulded glass-reinforced plastic hulls.
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. Until 2005, the 4 Examples were still painted with a black hull.
In 1998 two additional vessels (Raider and Tracker) of this design were commissioned into the Royal Navy as URNU training vessels to the two newest URNUs, serving Cambridge and Oxford Universities respectively. This brought the total of Archer class vessels in the Royal Navy to 16, of which 14 form the 1st Patrol Boat Squadron (formerly the Inshore Training Squadron), each one attached to an URNU (one per unit) under the command of a Lieutenant. The remaining 2 vessels (Pursuer and Dasher), having formed the Cyprus Squadron from 2003 to 2010, and URNU vessels before that, returned to the UK in April 2010 to form the Faslane Patrol Boat Squadron, performing security duties within HMNB Clyde - 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. Unlike the remainder of the class, both these ships remain capable of being mounted with a 20mm cannon on the fo'c'sle.
Vessels
| Archer | P264 | Aberdeen |
| Biter | P270 | Manchester |
| Smiter | P272 | Glasgow |
| Pursuer | P273 | HMNB Clyde |
| Tracker | P274 | Oxford |
| Raider | P275 | Bristol |
| Blazer | P279 | Southampton |
| Dasher | P280 | HMNB Clyde |
| Puncher | P291 | London |
| Charger | P292 | Liverpool |
| Ranger | P293 | Sussex |
| Trumpeter | P294 | Cambridge |
| Example | P165 | Northumbrian |
| Explorer | P164 | Yorkshire |
| Express | P163 | Wales |
| Exploit | P167 | Birmingham |
HMS Archer is the first and lead ship of the Archer / P2000 class of Fast patrol Boat and is also known as "The Original and Best".
She is seen here in Leith
