HMS ''Example'' is an patrol and training vessel of 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 ...

, based at in Gateshead,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. ''Example'' was originally built for the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service, and was transferred to the Royal Navy when the RNXS disbanded in 1994. On transfer, she retained her name, and became the first ship in the Royal Navy to bear that name. HMS ''Example'' is currently part of the Coastal Forces Squadron, formerly 1st Patrol Boat Squadron. The mission statement of the CFS is to "provide support to allow the conduct of safe and effective P2000 operations in support of the URNU sea-training syllabus"; URNU is acronym for University Royal Naval Unit. ''Example'' is attached to the Northumbrian URNU, is based at the shore establishment HMS ''Calliope'' in Gateshead, and has a crew of 5 (plus up to 12 students). ''Example'' acts as a training ship for students at Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria, Teesside and Sunderland universities. The ship takes part in deployments over the university summer and Easter holidays, giving the students an opportunity to spend a longer amount of time living on board the ship and to experience larger scale naval operations with other URNUs.

Operational history

''Example'' was built by Watercraft Ltd of Shoreham by Sea and launched in 1985. She was initially delivered to the Royal Navy Auxiliary Service (RNXS) as an auxiliary service vessel with the

pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

A153. She was the lead vessel of a batch of four vessels known as the ''Example'' class, but was identical in design to the ''Archer'' class of patrol boats being simultaneously built for the Royal Navy. ''Example'' and her

sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...

were transferred to the Royal Navy when the RNXS disbanded in 1994. She retained her existing name, but was reclassified as a patrol boat of the ''Archer'' class, and was given the new pennant number of P165. The ship played a prominent role in the 2004 '' Entente Cordiale'' celebrations, and escorted in the 2005 International Fleet Review. In summer 2006 the ship celebrated its 21st birthday with divisions at HMS ''Calliope'' with the salute taken by N Sherlock, Lord Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear. In 2008, ''Example'' took a prominent role in the Tyneside celebrations to mark the centenary of the Territorial Army centred on the Gateshead Millennium Bridge. In 2012, in the company of sister ships , and , ''Example'' undertook a 12-week deployment visiting

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, 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

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

before transiting the Kiel Canal and attending Kiel Week. The deployment continued to

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, St Petersburg and

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

before returning to the UK. In November 2016, ''Example'' rejoined the fleet after a prolonged refit during which she received new engines allowing the ship to reach speeds of up to . Current Commanding Officer Lt. Oliver Thomas RN

Notes

References

External links

HMS Example Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Example, HMS Patrol vessels of the Royal Navy Archer-class patrol vessels Durham University Newcastle University Northumbria University University of Sunderland Teesside University 1985 ships

Operational history

See also

Notes

References

External links