''Rayo'' (P-42) is the second ship of the Meteoro class, a new kind of

offshore patrol vessel A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...

created for the

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, ...

and called BAMs.

Operational history

It was laid down on September 3, 2009, at the Puerto Real-San Fernando shipyard. It was launched on Tuesday, May 18, 2010, sponsored by Defense Minister

Carme Chacón Carme Maria Chacón Piqueras (; March 13, 1971April 9, 2017) was a Spanish lawyer, lecturer and politician who was minister of Defence from 2008 to 2011 in the cabinet led by Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Member of Sp ...

, after which, it continued its construction process afloat. Between May 27 and July 1, 2011, it performed its sea trials as far as the platform is concerned. It was delivered to the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

on October 26, 2011, at the naval base in Rota, in a ceremony chaired by Constantino Méndez, Secretary of State for Defense, and Manuel Rebollo, Admiral Chief of Staff of the Navy. After arriving in Cartagena at the end of November, he arrived at his home port in the Arsenal of Las Palmas on December 20, 2011,El segundo buque de acción marítima ‘Rayo’ llega a su base de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
small>(Spanish) where he remained until January 16, 2012, when he sailed to perform his resistance cruiser, in which carried out surveillance exercises, transshipment of weights and communications with the Atalaya (P-74) in the

Alborán Sea The Alboran Sea (from Arabic , ''al-Baḥrān'') is the westernmost portion of the Mediterranean Sea, lying between the Iberian Peninsula and the north of Africa (Spain on the north and Morocco and Algeria on the south). The Strait of Gibraltar, w ...

, to go later to

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

(Italy), where he made a stopover on January 23, 2012, subsequently sailing with destination to Izmir,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. In December 2013, it participated in the operation that led to the capture in waters near the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

of the Triton 2000 sailing vessel, carrying 550 kg of

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

on board. In December 2014 he relieved ''Navarre'' in the Atalanta operation to combat piracy in a deployment that has an estimated six months, deployment during which, personnel of the navy of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, to return to his base on May 26, 2015. At the end of October 2015 participated in the tasks of rescue of a Superpuma Helicopter of the Service of Search and Rescue (SAR) of the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

that had crashed in the Atlantic while returning to Canarias and was in charge of the transfer of the bodies of the three members of the helicopter crew to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rayo (P-42), Spanish patrol vessel Ships of the Spanish Navy Buque de Acción Marítima Ships built in Spain 2010 ships