HMS ''Kingfisher'' (P260) was a of the British

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 ...

Construction and design

''Kingfisher'' was laid down at the

Richard Dunston Richard Dunston was a shipbuilder on the Humber, England. The company started building wooden barges miles from the sea and evolved to pioneer fully welded steel ships of a single design. The yard is now closed, although the name continues in a ...

shipyard at

Hessle Hessle () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, west of Kingston upon Hull. Geographically it is part of a larger urban area consisting of the city of Kingston upon Hull, the town of H ...

, near

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

in July 1973, was launched on 20 September 1974 and commissioned on 8 October 1975.

Service

In 1978, ''Kingfisher'' and sister ship were deployed on Operation ''Grenada'', the Royal Navy's standing patrol off the coast of

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

to stop arms smuggling to paramilitary groups during

the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

. ''Kingfisher'' continued her patrol duties as part of the

Northern Ireland Squadron The Northern Ireland Squadron was a unit of the British Royal Navy. It was established during the conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles to interdict the movement by sea of illegal arms for paramilitaries and to provide other material ...

through the 1980s and into the 1990s.

Citations

References

* * Bird-class patrol vessels 1974 ships {{UK-mil-ship-stub