Archer Class Patrol Vessels - Hms's Blazer and Express

Hms's Blazer (P280)  and Express (P164)

The Archer class (or P2000) is a class of patrol and training vessel in service with the Royal Navy, commonly referred to as a Fast Training Boat.‪

Most are assigned to University Royal Naval Units, although HMS Tracker and HMS Raider are armed and provide maritime force protection to high value shipping in the Firth of Clyde although are most commonly employed as escorts for submarines transiting to Faslane.

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 still 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 Loyal Watcher and 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 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 two 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.

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 the Queens Diamond Jubilee. Unlike the remainder of the class, both these ships remain capable of being mounted with a 20 mm cannon on the fo'c'sle.

The NATO designation of a P2000 is "PBR", denoting a "Patrol Boat - Riverine and Harbours"

Blazer is seen ahead of Express as they arrive in Leith on the 15th July 2015.

Barentshav Class OPV - KV Bergen

Kv Bergen

Kv Bergen is a Barentshav class of offshore patrol vessels consists of three vessels powered by liquefied natural gas. Ordered for the Norwegian Coast Guard, their main tasks are EEZ patrol, fishery inspection, search and rescue as well as tug readiness along the shore of Norway which is seeing increasing traffic from tankers.

Bergen is seen alongside in Leith on the 15th July 2015

Wodnik Class - Orp Wodnik

ORP Wodnik  251

Wodnik is a training ship, which was built in Northern Shipyard in Gdansk. She entered service on 28th May 1976. 

During the 1st Gulf War, she was rebuilt as an evacuation hospital ship.

Wodnik was sent to the Persian Gulf waters with Orp Piast, as a hospital ship. On the night  of February 16th 1991, Wodnik was alongside, in the safe harbour of Jubail in Saudi Arabia,  berthed next to her was the amphibious assault ship Uss Tarawa which became the target of a rocket attack by the Iraqis. 

About 02:07 one Al Hussein missile fell into the dock, just 125 meters from the Wodnik, luckily the missile head did not explode, so the ship escaped serious damage.

Wodnik is seen here arriving and alongside in Leith on the 14th July 2015.