HMSBlazer is anArcher-classpatrol vessel of theRoyal Navy. She was built byVosper Thornycroft. She is 20.8 metres (68 ft 3 in) long and 5.8 metres (19 ft 0 in) wide and powered by two Rolls-Royce diesel engines.[1][2] The ship is based at HMNB Devonport, the shore base in Plymouth and was commissioned in 1988.
Tasking includes: officer cadet training with Britannia Royal Naval College; VVIP visits and security patrols.
On 29 March 1993Blazer was involved ina fishing incident with French trawlers at the port ofCherbourg. According to witnesses,[4]Blazer was seized by French fisherman while manoeuvring outside the port and sailed to Cherbourg harbour. Her crew of 16 were forced to remain below the deck for three hours, while the ship'sWhite Ensign was burned. French authorities subsequently put an end to the situation and forcibly expelled the fishermen fromBlazer and placed them under arrest. TheFrench Navy, meanwhile, dispatched the patrol boatCoriander to Cherbourg to restore order.[5]
In the early 2020s,Blazer, along with otherArcher-class vessels, was given a more operational role as part of the reconstitutedCoastal Forces Squadron. In early 2024,Blazer and three of her sister ships deployed to northern Norway as part of the NATO exercise "Steadfast Defender".[6]
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United Kingdom
