HMS Explorer (P164)
HMS Explorer, 2004
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Explorer |
| Operator: | Royal Navy |
| Builder: | Vosper Thornycroft |
| Commissioned: | 1986 |
| Reclassified: | 1994 |
| Homeport: | Kingston-upon-Hull |
| Identification: | Pennant number: P164 International callsign: GABB |
| Status: | in active service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Archer-class patrol vessel |
| Displacement: | 54 tonnes |
| Length: | 20.8 m |
| Beam: | 5.8 m |
| Draught: | 1.8 m |
| Propulsion: | 2 shafts, Cat C18 ACERT diesels, 873 bhp per shaft |
| Speed: | |
| Range: | 550 nmi (1,020 km) |
| Complement: |
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| Sensors and processing systems: |
Decca 1216 navigation radar |
| Armament: | |
HMS Explorer is an Archer-class P2000-type patrol and training vessel of the British Royal Navy. The ship is primarily assigned to the Yorkshire Universities Royal Naval Unit (URNU), serving the universities of Hull, Sheffield and Leeds. The ship is based in Kingston-Upon-Hull and mainly operates on the East coast of the UK, particularly in and around the river Humber.
HMS Explorer is the second ship to bear the name; her predecessor was an unarmed experimental Walter-turbine submarine based on the captured German high test peroxide (HTP) powered U-boat U-1407 launched in 1956 and scrapped in 1965.
The ship's current commanding officer is Lt. Simon Ricketts RN, who took over command from Lt. Fiona Stephenson RN in October 2017.
Explorer was built in 1986 by the now-defunct Watercraft Marine for the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service (RNXS) as an Example class tender, to the same design as the Royal Navy Archer class, as XSV Explorer. The Example class were distinguishable from their Royal Navy counterparts by their black painted hull until 2005, though they shared the same characteristics as them, being twin screw vessels constructed from moulded glass-reinforced plastic (GRP).
Explorer served for eight years as a RNXS tender with the pennant number A154 before being transferred to the Royal Navy upon the disbanding of the service in 1994. Upon joining the Naval service, the ship was assigned to the recently formed Yorkshire Universities Royal Navy Unit as its designated training vessel.
The ships primary role is undergraduate sea training in support of the units programme of navigational skills and seamanship training, and this is accomplished through designated 'sea weekends' as well as Easter and Summer deployments, during which the ship deploys for up to five weeks. During these deployments, the five person ships company remain 'in theatre' while students are transported out to the ships location. After receiving a significant engine upgrade in 2014, the ships range was greatly enhanced, as a result in recent years Explorer has deployed as far East as the Baltics, in summer 2015 and 2016, where the ship conducted a range of training and local engagements.
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