The ''Attacker'' class (also referred to as the ''Tracker'' class) is a class of patrol boats. Formerly operated by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

and

HM Customs HM Customs (His or Her Majesty's Customs) was the national Customs service of England (and then of Great Britain from 1707, the United Kingdom from 1801) until a merger with the Department of Excise in 1909. The phrase 'HM Customs', in use s ...

, seven of the class are currently operated by the

Lebanese Navy The Lebanese Navy ( ar, القوات البحرية اللبنانية ''Al-qūwātu al-Baḥriyya al-Lubnāniyya'', literally "the Lebanese Sea Forces") is the Navy of the Lebanese Armed Forces. It was formed in 1950 and based in Beirut Naval Ba ...

and two by Lebanese Customs

Design and construction

The ''Attacker'' class was constructed by Fairey Allday ( Fairey Marine Ltd), on the River Hamble in Hampshire, England. HMS Attacker was built in Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, while the rest of the class were built in Southampton. The ships have

glass-reinforced plastic Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

hulls. The vessels were allocated to various RNR Divisions. HMS ''Striker'' being based in Liverpool as a tender to HMS ''Eaglet''. Eventually the vessels were re allocated to the

URNU The University Royal Naval Units (URNU) ( , less commonly ) (formerly Universities' Royal Naval Units) are Royal Navy training establishments who recruit Officer Cadets from a university or a number of universities, usually concentrated in o ...

Operational history

HMS ''Attacker'', ''Hunter'' and ''Striker'' formed the Cyprus Squadron and were used for patrol and harbour protection. HMS ''Attacker'' was the training ship for the

University Royal Naval Unit The University Royal Naval Units (URNU) ( , less commonly ) (formerly Universities' Royal Naval Units) are Royal Navy training establishments who recruit Officer Cadets from a university or a number of universities, usually concentrated in one ...

serving Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities, while HMS ''Chaser'' performed this role at the

Aberdeen URNU , image = URNUES Crest.png , caption = Crest Of URNU East Scotland , country = , branch = , colours = Navy Blue Gold , ...

and HMS ''Fencer'' performed the same role for

Southampton University , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

. Patrol ships carried three

general purpose machine gun A general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) is an air-cooled, usually belt-fed machine gun that can be adapted flexibly to various tactical roles for light and medium machine guns. A GPMG typically features a quick-change barrel design calibered for ...

s, while the training ships were unarmed. The ''Attacker'' class was decommissioned from the Royal Navy during 1991 and 1992. All five ships were sold to the

in July 1992. Two ''Attackers'' formerly operated by the British Customs Service were also sold to

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

in March 1994.

List of ships

* - Transferred to the Lebanese Navy and renamed ''Trablous'' in 1992. * - Transferred to the Lebanese Navy and renamed ''Jbeil'' in 1992. * - Transferred to the Lebanese Navy and renamed ''Jounieh'' in 1992. * - Transferred to the Lebanese Navy and renamed ''Arz'' in 1992. * - Transferred to the Lebanese Navy and renamed ''Saida'' in 1992. * ''Safeguard'' (Customs) - Transferred to the Lebanese Navy and renamed ''Batroun'' in 1994. * ''Swift'' (Customs) - Transferred to the Lebanese Navy and renamed ''Sarafand'' in 1994. * ''Libnan II'' (Lebanese Customs) * ''Arz II'' (Lebanese Customs)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Attacker Class Patrol Boat Military equipment of Lebanon Patrol boat classes Patrol vessels of the Royal Navy Ship classes of the Royal Navy