HMC ''Searcher'' is one of four cutter ships operated by

UK Border Force Border Force (BF) is a British law enforcement command within the Home Office, responsible for frontline border control operations at air, sea and rail ports in the United Kingdom. The force was part of the now defunct UK Border Agency from it ...

in the role of patrolling the waters of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. She was launched by Damen Shipyards in the Netherlands in 2002.

History

HMC ''Searcher'' entered service in 2002 with what was then

HM Customs and Excise HM Customs and Excise (properly known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at the time of its dissolution) was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was the ...

(HMCE). HMCE merged with the

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation ta ...

in 2005, and the cutter fleet became part of the newly founded

HM Revenue and Customs His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (commonly HM Revenue and Customs, or HMRC, and formerly Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) is a department of the UK government responsible for the collection of taxes, the payment of some forms of stat ...

. In 2008, the fleet transferred to the

UK Border Agency The UK Border Agency (UKBA) was the border control agency of the Government of the United Kingdom and part of the Home Office that was superseded by UK Visas and Immigration, Border Force and Immigration Enforcement in April 2013. It was forme ...

, which was established to maintain the UK border. She now operates as part of the

fleet of five cutters.

Prefix

From the merger of the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise into HM Revenue and Customs on 18 April 2005, customs cutters changed their prefix from "HMRC" (His Majesty's Revenue Cutter) to "HMCC" (His Majesty's Customs Cutter). Following the transfer to the UK Border Agency this was shortened to the present "HMC" (His Majesty's Cutter) and a new livery was applied to the fleet.

Construction

HMC ''Searcher'' is the third of the Customs and Excise's fleet of customs patrol vessels. She was built in 2002 in the Damen Shipyards in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, and has a steel hull with an aluminium superstructure. Her

Rigid Inflatable Boat A rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid-hull inflatable boat or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull bottom joined to side-forming air tubes that are ...

is launched and recovered from her stern

slipway A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving smal ...

Propulsion

She is fitted with twin Caterpillar diesel engines, with a top speed of .

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Searcher Ships built in Vlissingen 2002 ships Customs cutters of the United Kingdom