This List of Border Force cutters is a listing of all cutters to have been commissioned by the

Border Force Border Force (BF) is a law-enforcement command within the Home Office, responsible for frontline border control operations at air, sea and rail ports in the United Kingdom. The force was part of the now defunct UK Border Agency from its estab ...

and its predecessors since the amalgamation of

HM Customs HM Customs (His or Her Majesty's Customs) was the national Customs service of England (and then of Great Britain from 1707, the United Kingdom from 1801) until a merger with the Department of Excise in 1909. The phrase 'HM Customs', in use si ...

with the

Excise file:Lincoln Beer Stamp 1871.JPG, upright=1.2, 1871 U.S. Revenue stamp for 1/6 barrel of beer. Brewers would receive the stamp sheets, cut them into individual stamps, cancel them, and paste them over the Bunghole, bung of the beer barrel so when ...

department of the

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation t ...

in the early 20th century. During that time, the cutter service has been overseen successively by: *

Her Majesty's Customs and Excise HM Customs and Excise (properly known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at the time of its dissolution) was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was th ...

; which merged with the Inland Revenue in 2005 to form: * Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs; which in 2008 transferred its frontline customs controls to: * the

UK Border Agency The UK Border Agency (UKBA) was the border control agency of the Government of the United Kingdom and part of the Home Office that was superseded by UK Visas and Immigration, Border Force and Immigration Enforcement in April 2013. It was f ...

; which in 2012 was split to form Border Force and

Immigration Enforcement Immigration Enforcement (IE) is a law enforcement command within the Home Office, responsible for enforcing immigration law across United Kingdom. The force was part of the now defunct UK Border Agency from its establishment in 2008 until Hom ...

. Prior to the formation of HM Customs and Excise in 1909, revenue cruisers of various types were operated in UK waters by various bodies: not only the separately constituted Boards of Customs and

, but also the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

and the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

. For much of the 20th century, the Cutters were supplemented by a fleet of smaller ' launches'; but these were non-seagoing vessels, restricted to patrolling rivers and estuaries. In 1980 HMCE's Revenue Cutter Service was renamed the Customs Cutter Service. Thenceforward its vessels bore the ship prefix "HMCC" - Her Majesty's Customs Cutter (previously they had long been known as HM Revenue Cutters). Following the flotilla's transfer to the UK Border Agency they were given the prefix "HMC" - Her Majesty's Cutter; all current vessels of the UK Border Force bear this prefix. Currently the Border Force has a fleet of five ocean-going Cutters and six smaller 'Coastal Patrol Vessels' (CPVs). All eleven vessels are due to be replaced, however a schedule for their replacement has not (as of March 2023) been announced. In 2022 it was reported that additional boats and crews had been chartered (for up to six months at a time) from companies linked to the offshore wind industry.

Pre-Second World War

HM Customs Cutter Vigilant on Faversham Creek - geograph

For the first part of the 20th century HM Customs and Excise made do with a single Customs Cutter: *''Vigilant'' (1902-1920) built by Cox & Co. of Falmouth *''Vigilant'' (1919-1928) (formerly HMS ''Esther'') After 1928 no new Cutter was procured until after the Second World War, HMCE seeking instead to rely on its Launches.

Post-war

* HMRC ''Vigilant'' (1946-1962), a former Royal Navy

Isles-class trawler The Isles-class trawlers were a class of naval trawler used by the Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy during World War II. The type comprised 197 vessels built between 1939 and 1945 in the nearly identical Isles, Dance, ...

*''Valiant'' (1947-1967), a former Royal Navy

Motor Launch A Motor Launch (ML) is a small military vessel in Royal Navy service. It was designed for harbour defence and submarine chasing or for armed high-speed air-sea rescue. Some vessels for water police service are also known as motor launches. ...

*''Vincent'' (1948-1965), a former Royal Navy Motor Launch

V-class

*''Venturous'' (1962-1980) ''built to Customs specifications'' *''Vigilant'' (1965-1980) *''Valiant'' (1968-1979)

Tracker-class

*HMCC ''Active'' (1976–1988) *HMCC ''Alert'' (1976–1983) *HMCC ''Challenge'' (1977–1989) *HMCC ''Champion'' (1978–1989) *HMCC ''Safeguard'' (1979–1993) *HMCC ''Swift'' (1978–1993)

Fast patrol vessel

*HMCC ''Searcher'' (1979-2001) *HMCC ''Seeker'' (1980-2001)

Protector-class

*HMCC ''Valiant'' (1988–2003) *HMCC ''Vigilant'' (1989–2003) *HMCC ''Venturous'' (1989–2003) *HMCC ''Vincent'' (1993–2004)

Island-class

* HMC ''Sentinel'' (1993–2013)

UKBF 42m Customs Cutter

* HMC ''Seeker'' (2001) * HMC ''Searcher'' (2002) * HMC ''Vigilant'' (2003) * HMC ''Valiant'' (2004)

''Telkkä''-class

* HMC ''Protector'' (2014)

Coastal patrol vessels

''Note: These smaller vessels are not listed as Cutters by UK Border Force''. * ''Active'' (2016) * ''Alert'' (2016) * ''Eagle'' (2016) * ''Nimrod'' (2016) * ''Hunter'' (2018) * ''Speedwell'' (2018)

25m Catamaran

''Note: These chartered vessels are not listed as Cutters by UK Border Force''. * ''Hurricane'' (built 2016, previous offshore wind support vessel, transferred to Border Force in 2021) * ''Typhoon'' (built 2016, previous offshore wind support vessel, transferred to Border Force in 2021) * ''Ranger'' (built 2014, previous offshore wind support vessel, transferred to Border Force in 2021) * ''Defender'' (built 2013, previous offshore wind support vessel, transferred to Border Force in 2021)

Image gallery

File:P19 HMRC Seeker Portsmouth Harbour.jpg, HMC ''Seeker'' File:HMRC Vigilant BB.jpg, HMC ''Vigilant'' File:HMRC Valiant BB.jpg, HMC ''Valiant'' File:HMC Protector.jpg, HMC ''Protector'' File:HMCNimrod.jpg, HMC ''Nimrod''

References

External links

Revenue Cutter Association
{{Authority control Cutters, UK Border Force Border Force Cutter