Name HMS Dasher Commissioned 1988 Identification Pennant number P280 Weight 54 tons Builder VT Group | Operator Royal Navy Homeport HMNB Devonport Status in active service Displacement 54,000 kg | |
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HMS Dasher is an Archer-class P2000 patrol and training vessel of the British Royal Navy. She is currently the training vessel for Bristol URNU, based at HMNB Devonport in Plymouth, but in the past has served in Cyprus and at Faslane.
History
Dasher was built at Vosper Thorneycroft and commissioned in 1988. Prior to 2004 Dasher was based at Devonport as the training vessel for Bristol University Royal Naval Unit (URNU).
Dasher and HMS Pursuer were sent to Cyprus ahead of Operation Telic, the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, transported on board the CEC Mayflower. The Royal Navy Cyprus Squadron was created in February 2003 to protect ships around the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus, a vital staging post in the British logistic chain to Iraq. Both were fitted with Kevlar armour and three FN MAG General Purpose Machine Guns, with an extra crew member (compared to the P2000s assigned to URNU duties) employed as a Gunners Yeoman.
The Cyprus Squadron was disbanded in 2010 and Dasher was assigned to the Faslane Patrol Boat Squadron, protecting the ballistic missile submarines at HMNB Clyde. In September 2012 she swapped places with the more modern HMS Raider and returned to Devonport as the training vessel of Bristol URNU.