The first of two new patrol ships have arrived in Gibraltar ready for trials.

The Royal Navy say here that HMS Cutlass has been delivered to the naval base ahead of patrols of territorial waters – part of a £10m investment in the Gibraltar Squadron to upgrade its craft.

Cutlass – and her sister Dagger, due to be delivered in the spring of 2022 – are the permanent replacements for HMS Sabre and Scimitar which safeguarded Gibraltar’s waters for nearly two decades.

“We are delighted with the arrival of HMS Cutlass”, said the boat’s first Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Adam Colman.

“She increases the Squadron’s capability in providing maritime security and enforcing UK sovereignty of British Gibraltar Territorial Waters. This week, she will begin a series of trials under the Blue Ensign to further test her capabilities in the theatre she will operate in. Once these trials are complete, she will conduct the Royal Navy’s safety and readiness checks which will ensure the vessel and crew are ready to conduct operations.”

The press release adds:

“Built by Merseyside-based Marine Specialised Technology, whose team is working with the RN squadron to introduce Cutlass into service, the new boats are 19 metres long – slightly longer than Sabre and Scimitar, slightly shorter than Dasher and Pursuer – can hit speeds of 40 knots and are equipped with three machine-guns and the latest electronic/optical equipment to assist in identifying potential threats.”

Once the training and trials are complete, Cutlass will be commissioned and hoist the White Ensign.

You can read more here.

Tom Dunlop
Tom Dunlop
Tom has spent the last 13 years working in the defence industry, specifically military and commercial shipbuilding. His work has taken him around Europe and the Far East, he is currently based in Scotland.

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108 COMMENTS

  2. Gosh. That seemed to be very quick, only feels like a few pages ago that there was mention of the new boats. It seems to be quite dumpy and aggressive?
    Nice to see the m/g mounts and more importantly shields in place.

    I hope they last as well as the others.

  4. I thought these were supposed to be a more substantial, credible patrol craft? The Spanish OPVs are somewhat larger and certainly not going to be bothered in the slightest by these.

    • Is it the Metro Class you’re referring to? Six built I believe, not sure on the final count for this type of vessel. I seem to recall Morocco had an interest in them as well.

      I wonder if ours are fitted for but not with as the picture seems to suggest!

    • Not really necessary when you consider that if the Spanish used force to take Gibraltar it would result in a war between them and the rest of NATO.
      So instead they have to resort to lawfare and try to create situations where they assert their claim and are unchallenged by Britain.
      All this is meant to be is a floating flag bearer saying “actually it belongs to us.”

      • The real threat isn’t the Spanish…it’s the risk of Islamic terrorist attack using RIBS. There must have been 3 or 4 such attacks onto tourist beaches in the Med and the Red Sea in last decade or so COVID halted the opportunity for attacks in tourist beaches in the southern Mediterranean lands..not inconceivable that extremists would attack one of the closest western locations in a similar manner. The ability to respond robustly and lightning fast would be key.

    • I don’t think they are intended to form a line of battle and slug it out with the Spanish navy 🙂 – there is an OPV based at Gibraltar, HMS Trent. These are to patrol the narrow sliver of sovereign waters – they are very fast and just fine for that task.

    • Let’s hope not. And vice versa. They are not going to be firming on Spanish vessels. Spain, like France is a close NATO ally. We should ignore the tub thumping stupidity of duplicitous politicos making white noise and trying to make themselves look tough , draping themselves in flags and pretending they care about fish or borders or anything else. Given the choice between their own expenses or cuts to the military, their expenses will win every time . Away from their tedious posturing, the quiet professionals of Nato militaries work closely together, whether in Mali, Poland, the forthcoming French naval exercise or more recently the QE carrier group deployment. Countries and allies will always have a few issues with each other, they’re not insurmountable.

      As for Spanish OPV’s and Royal Navy patrol craft? There is nothing to see here.

      Smart looking craft BTW.

    • Afternoon.

      I don’t think that the idea is to bother the Spanish. Their silly games are just that, games. Changes nothing of who controls Gibraltar that they occasionally make a point by sailing through the waters.

      Going head to head with a fellow European ally is not needed or even necessary unless they act dangerously. If they do, the size and armament of the vessel hardly ,matters, we won’t be playing dodgems with them.

      These are a welcome improvement over the old Archers and fine for CT.

  5. Did this really cost £5m for one boat? (Saw In another news article). If so why does it cost so much for a small boat with just some.ligjt weaponry?

  6. Instead of retiring/giving away our mine sweepers/minehunter they could station a few in Gib to act as the Gib squadron, there is still plenty of life left in those hulls.

    • Maintenance cost of very old hulls is high.

      Fibreglass isn’t great for patch n mend situations contrary to what other think. It is also very dependent on the workmanship of repairs and how clean dry surfaces being worked on are.

      Fibreglass doesn’t last for ever and requires an increasing amount of maintenance. The resins used were very good quality. How do I know? I certified them as compliant. So I also know exactly what their lifetime characteristics were. Don’t get me, wrong VT did a fine job making them.

      • I have had Sandown and Hunts in for deep maintenance and also out of the water and on the blocks. Those hulls have another 50 years in them. No osmosis. Little if any root whitening. The use of SCRIM on the Sandown was a genius decision. The hulls are of outstanding quality and also uniformity.

        Any damage is dealt with quickly and proffesionally IAW the repair guidance. So step repairs, peel backs and lay ups with plenty of time for phosgene degassing prior to painting etc. I have overseen a fair few repairs to damage and upgrades to systems on them.

        Hull maintenance is probably the least worrisome aspect of them. System obsolescence for mechanical and electronic systems is more of an issue.

    • Too slow and incredibly complex and high maintenance craft – they would find it hard to overhaul a merchant ship. Not suitable for patrolling a few square miles of inshore waters and protect the harbour from terrorists, drug smugglers and people traffickers – which despite the fixation here with our fellow NATO Allies in Spain, is the real threat they are designed to counter.

      • The most cost affective way of putting Gib out of action is to lay a few mines just out side the harbour, a routine the Russians are well versed in, having a couple of mine hunters in the squadron would be a good choice instead of giving then away I would have thought.

        • Or fly in an autonomous mine countemeasures system by C-17? That has the advantage of not tying up resources that are highly unlikely to be needed and not risking men in a minefield – which if you have ever been in a minefield, you will appreciate.

          • When they become available which is some years off at the moment and the few we do get will be permanently based on our escorts as we will not have any mine countermeasure vessels left. We are laying off vessels on the promise that these replacements “will” be coming on line soon. The same vessels which were design to have a 50 year service life and yet have only been in service since 1981 (Hunt class) and 1998 (Sandown Class)

            To answer your last comment, the quicker you can get assets to the seen of a mined area to clear a way through the safer all concerned are. So I would have thought that is would be better to have local assets in the area rather that waiting to get a delivery from an over stretched logistical support system.

          • Not years off – one Altas SEA-based system already in service at Faslane, three others under manufacture as part of the UK-French programme (arriving next year) and then a decision of whether to order more of the Thales/Harris sets developed under the UK-France agreement or the Atlas/Raytheon system in test now, which is based on the SEA workboats already in service.

          • “In Service” or do you mean “In testing” I do believe that we are still a few years off accepting into service a fully tried and tested unmanned system that will be able to replace the Mine countermeasure force and yet we are laying off these good robust vessels knowing we will not have enough systems to keep up with the commitment we have today let alone what is likely to be around the corner.

  8. I would like to make a suggestion for a catchphrase for this site. ‘It’s being so cheerful what keeps me going’ Either that or groundhog day !

  9. Wonder if Sabre & Scimitar will be paid off once both of the new boats are in service and the Archer’s can return home. I was surprised they were retained in Portsmouth once they were brought back.

  12. I wonder if an improved version of these will be the replacements for the Archer-Class. Won’t be much of a faff, there really small and cheap and are quick to build.

  13. HMS Scott in the background… Is that going to be used to help with the crashed F-35. I know they’ve already located it, but it could be quite useful for helping with salvage efforts?

  14. 40knots in the bay of Gib, that’s just nasty, I hope it’s fitted for vomit buckets and a good sick birth for suturing and backslabbing.

  17. Just a couple of 7.62mm guns??? It needs at least a deck-mounted .50cal Browning, and a couple of shoulder-fired RPG’s, to be taken seriously. And put a few of them to patrol the North Sea fishing waters and English Channel.

  18. i was drafted for twelve wonderful months onto sabre in northern ireland at the old royal navy base at londonderry. in the mid seventies never been bounced around so much in my life there was always some part of me that ached. there is a real role for ships like these many of such a size are fitted with a single torpedo tube and used to patrol in conjunction with say a corvette or light frigate. the years of the MTB are not consigned to the past many such craft are counted as part of the fleet inventory dilled into a squadron these craft can present a formidable force.

    • hi Andy!
      “With Heart and hand and Sword and Shield,
      We’ll guard old Derry’s walls!” 😄
      Small ships a-la- MTB’s and similar can cause much mischief especially in numbers. The problem of course is in their performance in blue/heavy seas. that Irish Sea for example can be a monster of note-I am sure you have seen the photo of the RNLI Lifeboat entering Portrush in huge seas-not for the fainthearted nor seasick prone-respect!!
      Cheers from Durban

        • 😂 Not guilty Andy but lived further down the Antrim road near Belfast in a little place called Jordanstown and had family each side of the Belfast Lough in Antrim and Down. Lots of graffiti down there too. Cheers

      • why don’t the M.O.D task the RN with the need to aquire and operate well drilled squadrons of such craft around the rosyth, devonport, portsmouth entrances as long as balance is maintained a single horizontal torpedo tube on the side of an archer is easily produced and maintained. the iranians are buying every fast yacht that bradstock marine can produce then banging a cruise missile on them not for us i’m sure, but a squadron working in lottorial waters with a t31 as mothership makes perfect sense,especially as they are already built

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