Scimitar-class patrol vessel

The Scimitar class were a class of fast patrol boat formerly in service with the British Royal Navy.

HMS Sabre, 2011
Class overview
Builders	Halmatic
Operators	Royal Navy
Preceded by	Archer class
Succeeded by	Cutlass class
In commission	2003–2022
Retired	2
General characteristics
Type	Patrol boat
Displacement	24 tonnes (24 long tons)
Length	16 m (52 ft 6 in)
Beam	3.1 m (10 ft 2 in)
Draught	1.2 m (3 ft 11 in)
Propulsion	2 × MAN 2480LXE diesels, 2 shafts
Speed	32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Range	260 nmi (480 km; 300 mi) at 19 kn (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Complement	5 (1 officer, 4 ratings)
Sensors and processing systems	Racal-Decca Bridgemaster 360, I band navigation radar
Armament	2 × General purpose machine guns (stern-mounted)

The two vessels of this class were of a commercial design known as the Lifespan Patrol Vessel built by Halmatic (now BAE Systems Surface Ships), and formerly served in an inshore waterways anti-terrorist role in Northern Ireland. They were acquired for the Royal Navy in 2003 for service with the Gibraltar Squadron, releasing two Archer-class boats that had filled this role for service with the Cyprus Squadron.[1]

With the decommissioning of the survey launch HMS Gleaner in February 2018, the two Scimitar-class boats became the smallest commissioned vessels in the Royal Navy.[2] The two vessels were returned to the U.K. from Gibraltar in 2020, having been replaced there by two Archer-class boats, but were reported as still operational in Portsmouth at the end of 2020. Both vessels were decommissioned in a joint ceremony at Portsmouth Naval Base on 30 March 2022.[3]