The

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

Cyprus Squadron (RNCS) was a Royal Naval Squadron based on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

island of

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

from February 2003 until April 2010.

History

It was formed in February 2003 in support of

Operation Telic Operation Telic (Op TELIC) was the codename under which all of the United Kingdom's military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on ...

, the British invasion of

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, and disbanded in April 2010. The squadron comprised two P2000-class patrol ships, and ; these ships were reassigned to the Clyde Naval Base at Faslane in 2010. The ships were based at Akrotiri Mole near

RAF Akrotiri Royal Air Force Akrotiri, commonly abbreviated RAF Akrotiri (; ) is a large Royal Air Force (RAF) military airbase on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. It is located in the Western Sovereign Base Area, one of two areas which comprise Akroti ...

and were employed in the protection of visiting ships and other

British Forces Cyprus British Forces Cyprus (BFC) is the name given to the British Armed Forces stationed in the UK Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia on the island of Cyprus and at a number of related 'retained sites' in the Republic of Cyprus. The United ...

equipment designated as high value. The Squadron was also employed in Internal Security patrols of the

Sovereign Base Areas Akrotiri and Dhekelia (), officially the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (SBA), is a British Overseas Territory made of two non-contiguous areas on the island of Cyprus. The areas, which include British military bases and instal ...

(SBA), and training for visiting

ships. They had a secondary role supporting the police and customs and excise of the Sovereign Base Area.

Commanding officer

The last commanding officer (December 2009) was Lieutenant Commander Charlie Barrow. He assumed command of the Cyprus Squadron in July 2009.

RN Ships

The two ships of the squadron—''Dasher'' and ''Pursuer''—were fitted with

Kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s as ...

armour and the armament consisted of three FN MAG General Purpose Machine Guns, the ships' crews had one extra member (compared to the P2000s assigned to URNU duties) employed as a Gunners Yeoman, because of the weapons fitted.

Specifications

*16m Fast Patrol Class Statistics Displacement: *Length: *Beam: *Draught: *Complement: 6 *Top Speed: *Cruising Speed: *Propulsion: 2 x Perkins CV 12 (

Challenger 2 tank The FV4034 Challenger 2 (MoD designation "CR2") is a third generation British main battle tank (MBT) in service with the armies of the United Kingdom, Oman, and Ukraine. It was designed by Vickers Defence Systems (now Rheinmetall BAE Systems ...

Engines)

Footnotes

Sources

The Cyprus Squadron at royal-navy.mod.uk
{{Royal Navy ships Royal Navy squadrons