The

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

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 north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

island of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

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,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, 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 RAF Akrotiri ( el, Βασιλική Πολεμική Αεροπορία Ακρωτηρίου) is a large Royal Air Force base on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. It is located in the Western Sovereign Base Area, one of two areas which compr ...

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),, ''Periochés Kyríarchon Váseon Akrotiríou ke Dekélias''; tr, Ağrotur ve Dikelya İngiliz Egemen Üs Bölgeleri is a British Overseas Territory ...

(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 Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

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 a ...

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 and Oman. It was designed and built by the British company Vickers Defence Systems (now known ...

Engines)

Footnotes

Sources

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