The Osprey 55-class gunboat is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

-designed class of naval ship currently in service in the

Hellenic Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; el, Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, War Navy, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of vari ...

and

Royal Moroccan Navy ber, ⴰⴷⵡⴰⵙ ⴰⴳⴻⵍⴷⴰⵏ ⵏ ⵢⵉⵍⴻⵍ , image = , caption = Royal Moroccan Navy Seal , start_date = active since: 11th century current form: 30 Apr ...

. Two ships were ordered by

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

in March 1988 and built by

Hellenic Shipyards Hellenic Shipyards S.A. is a large shipyard in Skaramagas, in West Athens regional unit, Greece. History Commonly known as Skaramaga Shipyards (Greek: Ναυπηγεία Σκαραμαγκά), from the area where they are located, its origin ...

. The first one was laid down on 8 May 1989 and launched on 19 December 1989. The second ship was laid down on 9 November 1989 and launched on 16 May 1990. Armament is of modular design and therefore can be changed. guns replaced the Bofors guns in 1995, after being taken from decommissioned s. Options on more of the class were shelved in favour of the slightly larger . Four other ships were ordered by the

Royal Moroccan Navy ber, ⴰⴷⵡⴰⵙ ⴰⴳⴻⵍⴷⴰⵏ ⵏ ⵢⵉⵍⴻⵍ , image = , caption = Royal Moroccan Navy Seal , start_date = active since: 11th century current form: 30 Apr ...

all received between 1987 and 1990. Built in

Frederikshavn Frederikshavn () is a Danish town in Frederikshavn municipality, Region Nordjylland, on the northeast coast of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. Its name translates to "Frederik's harbor". It was originally named Fladstrand. The town h ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, they were only armed with one Bofors 40 mm and two

Oerlikon 20 mm cannon The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models emplo ...

.Saunders 2002, p. 471. ''El Lahiq'' is equipped with a cartographic sonar and North American navigation systems for hydrographic research.

Incidents at sea

On 4 May 2018 a Turkish-flagged cargo ship named ''Karmate'' (IMO: 8135461, MMSI: 271002030) collided with HS ''Armatolos'' P-18 off the coast of the island of

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( el, Λέσβος, Lésvos ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece. It is separated from Anatolia, Asia Minor ...

, while the gunboat was participating in a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

mission (called Aegean Activity for controlling migrant flows into the Aegean) in the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...

.Turkish Cargo Ship, Greek Warship Collide in Aegean, nytimes.com (04/05/2018)
/ref> According to available information, before the collision the captain of the gunboat sounded warning horns and sent repeated radio messages but there was no response from the Turkish ship while the Turkish ship violated maritime safety rules (like giving priority to a military vessel). The damage to the Greek gunboat was very small according to the available information from the Greek minister of defence.

Ships

References

Sources

* *
Hellenic Navy website
{{Ship classes of the Royal Moroccan Navy Gunboat classes Naval ships of Greece Patrol vessels of the Hellenic Navy Patrol vessels of Morocco Patrol boat classes