Scimitar-class patrol vessel

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

HMS Sabre, 2011
Class overview
Builders:	Halmatic
Operators:	Royal Navy
Preceded by:	Archer class
In commission:	2003 –
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 (37 mph; 59 km/h)
Range:	260 nmi (480 km) at 19 kn (35 km/h)
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 are 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.