In fact, the Royal Navy Gibraltar Squadron marine capabilities will increase with the arrival this morning of two much needed vessels/patrol launches for the protection of BGTW.

Reliable sources have informed Panorama that ‘HMS Pursuer and HMS Dasher’ will probably have arrived in Port this morning as you read this report, after piggy-backing it from the UK on board the cargo vessel ‘Hurst Point’.

Sources also confirm the new arrivals have been sent to replace HMS Sabre and HMS Scimitar brought to Gibraltar in 2003 where both have enjoyed an eventful and demanding service activity. The vessels are now considered beyond their service life as both vessels, we understand, are susceptible to break downs.

HMS Pursuer P273 and HMS Dasher P280 are both Archer-class P2000 patrol and training vessels. Both were built by Vosper Thorneycroft and commissioned in 1988. Fully fuelled and victualled they have an unsupported endurance of over 240nm.

They are one of the Royal Navy’s smaller ships at just 20.8 meters long, weighing 54 tonnes, with a speed of 22+ knots. They carry L7 7.62mm Light Machine Guns as on-board weapons.

Although, the arriving vessels are larger than Sabre and Scimitar with a greater operational range, allowing them to be deployed further afield if required. They are, as I am told by those who know much more than me, slightly slower and less manoeuvrable.

HMS Pursuer was until recently the training vessel of Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities Royal Naval Unit based at HMNB Clyde where she was until 2012 part of the Faslane Patrol Boat Squadron.

HMS Dasher was the training vessel for Bristol and Devon University Royal Naval Units (URNU) based at HMNB Devonport in Plymouth where it was deployed delivering engaging and invaluable hands-on training for departments across the Royal Navy and Royal Marines.

Both vessels have also served in Cyprus and at the Submarine Naval Base in Faslane Scotland. They have also taken part on missions in both UK and European waters, flying the White Ensign in places larger vessels cannot reach.

As we understand the situation, HMS Dasher and HMS Pursuer will provide cover for 2 years pending the arrival in Gibraltar of the 2 new Patrol vessels due to enter service with the Gib Squadron. News that was also exclusively reported in Panorama in 2018 while these vessels are being built it seems!

MORE IN PANORAMA PRINT EDITION

22-06-2020 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR