Island class patrol vessel
Encyclopedia
The Island-class patrol vessel was first designed and built for the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency
Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency
The Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency was an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government. The SFPA is responsible for both deterring illegal fishing in Scottish waters, as well as monitoring the compliance of the fisheries industry in Scotland with the relevant Scottish and European Union laws...
. As a result of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
's experiences in the so-called Cod War
Cod War
The Cod Wars, also called the Icelandic Cod Wars , were a series of confrontations in the 1950s and 1970s between the United Kingdom and Iceland regarding fishing rights in the North Atlantic....
with Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, and the success of FPV Jura (loaned to the Navy as HMS Jura) in fishery protection patrols, the Navy built a further seven. These ships were designed and built by Hall Russell
Hall, Russell & Company
Hall, Russell & Company, Limited was a shipbuilder based in Aberdeen, Scotland, UK-History:Brothers James and William Hall, Thomas Russell, a Glasgow engineer, and James Cardno Couper founded the company in 1864 to build steam engines and boilers. In 1867 the company built its first ship, the Kwang...
of Aberdeen.
Fishery Protection Cruisers
FPV Jura and FPV WestraMV Steve Irwin
The MY Steve Irwin is the flagship of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and used in their direct action campaigns against whaling and other activities the group opposes...
were built by Hall, Russell & Company
Hall, Russell & Company
Hall, Russell & Company, Limited was a shipbuilder based in Aberdeen, Scotland, UK-History:Brothers James and William Hall, Thomas Russell, a Glasgow engineer, and James Cardno Couper founded the company in 1864 to build steam engines and boilers. In 1867 the company built its first ship, the Kwang...
of Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
in 1973 and 1975 respectively. Jura was loaned to the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
between 1975 and 1977 for evaluation.
Royal Navy offshore fishery protection ships
The success of Jura encouraged the Royal Navy to build a further seven ships to the same design; these ships formed the bulk of the Fishery Protection SquadronFishery Protection Squadron
The Fishery Protection Squadron is a front-line squadron of the Royal Navy with responsibility for patrolling the UK's Extended Fisheries Zone...
, whose mission was to patrol the Atlantic fishing grounds, and ensure the security of the British oil and gas fields in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
. However, since the mid 1990s, the class has been gradually decommissioned; Jersey was sold to the Bangladesh Navy
Bangladesh Navy
The Bangladesh Navy is the naval arm of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. At present the navy is mostly limited to coastal patrolling, however it is implementing an ambitious procurement and expansion program to ensure the security of Bangladesh's maritime boundary...
in 1994, to be followed by Shetland, Alderney, Anglesey, Guernsey and Lindisfarne, with Orkney going to Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
. The Island class was replaced in the Fishery Protection Squadron by the three ships of the River class
River class patrol vessel
The River class is a class of three offshore patrol vessels in the Royal Navy, replacing the seven ships of the Island class. A fourth, modified vessel based on the River class has also been built for the Royal Navy, replacing the Castle class, for duties in the Falklands...
.
Disposal
Presently, five Island-class patrol vessels are in active service with the Bangladesh Navy. They are (ex-Alderney), (ex-Shetland), (ex-Lindisfarne), (ex-Anglesey) and (ex-Guernsey). Another ex-Royal Navy Island-class vessel, Jersey, is used as the training ship, Ruhul Amin.The Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency
Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency
The Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency was an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government. The SFPA is responsible for both deterring illegal fishing in Scottish waters, as well as monitoring the compliance of the fisheries industry in Scotland with the relevant Scottish and European Union laws...
Westra was sold to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in 2005 and is currently named MY Steve Irwin. Jura was sold in 1988 and renamed Criscilla, and then N'Madi. She was broken up in Portugal in November 2001.