The Royal Naval Auxiliary Service (RNXS) was a uniformed, unarmed, civilian volunteer service, administered and trained by the Royal Navy to operate in the ports and anchorages of the United Kingdom in an emergency. Although the abbreviated title would logically have been RNAS this abbreviation had long been taken by the various Royal Naval Air Stations, so RNXS it was. It maintained training units, and vessels at most major ports in the UK. and was formed in 1963 from the amalgamation of the Royal Naval Mine-watching Service (RNMWS) and Admiralty Ferry Crew Association in response to the perceived nuclear threat to British ports. The service was disbanded on 31 March 1994 due to Ministry of Defence (MOD) cuts. Most vessels from its fleet were transferred to the Royal Navy or sold, with the exception of XSV Loyal Volunteer , which was struck by a ro-ro ferry while berthed in Ipswich Harbour and was later scrapped.
33-672: (Redirected from Archer-class ) Archer class may refer to: Archer -class patrol vessel , a class of patrol and training vessel of the Royal Navy Archer -class submarine , a class of submarines of the Republic of Singapore Navy Archer -class sloop , a 19th-century class of Royal Navy screw sloop Archer -class (1801 batch) gun brigs , 18th-century Royal Navy gun brigs Archer -class (1804 batch) gun brigs , 18th-century Royal Navy gun brigs Archer (character class) ,
66-778: A HM Armed Forces Veteran card and a Veterans Badge from the UK Ministry of Defence, upon application. In 1990 the RNXS had a personnel of 3,200. The day after the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service was disbanded on 31 March 1994, its members formed the Maritime Volunteer Service (MVS) Of the 93 Ham-class minesweepers built in the 1950s for the RN, and commissioned in 1956 (none of which saw active service) ten were later allocated in 1964 to
99-566: A P2000 is "PBR", denoting a "patrol boat - riverine and harbours" . Royal Naval Auxiliary Service The service was divided into 'Afloat' and 'Ashore' sections, The 'Afloat' personnel manned the service's dedicated ships and the 'Ashore' personnel manned the Port Headquarters (PHQ) which were positioned around the United Kingdom (UK). The 'Afloat' section contained engineers, seamen and communications personnel, while
132-579: A fantasy archetype See also [ edit ] Archer (disambiguation) Archer (ship) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Archer class . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Archer_class&oldid=1047757830 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Ship disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
165-463: A naval escort. RNXS personnel were required at these assembly anchorages to assist in routing of vessels, intelligence, and communications both ashore and afloat. The service also provided craft and crews to support the Navy in these ports and anchorages. These craft ranged from ex inshore minesweepers , fleet tenders (Loyal class) to fast patrol boats (P2000 or the shortened P20), permanently on loan to
198-487: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Archer-class patrol vessel The Archer class (or P2000 ) is a class of patrol and training vessel in service with the United Kingdom 's Royal Navy , commonly referred to as a "fast training boat". Most are assigned to Coastal Forces Squadron . HMS Tracker and HMS Raider are armed and provide maritime force protection to high value shipping in
231-801: The Clovelly -class supply fleet tenders. Following the disbandment of the RNXS, the Loyal-class fleet tenders and the P2000 were sold or reassigned within the Royal Navy. On 18 October 1993 Malcolm Rifkind ( Secretary of State For Defence 1992–1995) announced in the House of Commons that proposals set out in June regarding the future of the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service and Royal Auxiliary Air Force had been confirmed, and as no role could be found for
264-712: The Firth of Clyde and are most commonly employed as escorts for submarines transiting to Faslane . Pursuer and Dasher were also armed during their deployment on maritime force protection duties with the Gibraltar Squadron from 2020-2022. Ten vessels were ordered as the P2000 class, based on a design of an Omani coastguard cutter, from Watercraft Marine. They are twin-shaft vessels with moulded glass-reinforced plastic hulls of 54 tonnes (53 long tons ) displacement . After that company went into liquidation ,
297-541: The Gibraltar Squadron for guard ship and search and rescue duties, but were replaced by the dedicated Scimitar class . These two ships were also used during the Thames River Pageant, escorting the Royal Barge during Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee . Unlike the remainder of the class, both these ships remain capable of mounting a 20 mm cannon on the fo'c'sle. The NATO designation of
330-487: The Maritime Volunteer Service , a civilian but uniformed organisation, as a national maritime training organisation, with charitable status. Designed to perpetuate maritime skills, in order to continue and develop those skills it has taken over and expanded many RNXS roles. Four years after its formation in 1994, the Maritime Volunteer Service was officially recognised by the Royal Navy. The decision
363-556: The Royal Naval Mine-watching Service (RNMWS) had two main tasks in war. First, to observe, plot and report the fall of mines laid by enemy aircraft in port approaches and main waterways. Second, to provide the basic local organisation for naval officers in charge at strategic ports around the UK in war. These tasks were not new, indeed they had been performed by naval and merchant naval personnel throughout
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#1732794220546396-524: The 'Ashore' section consisted of communications and plotting staff, later amalgamated into an 'Operations' section. There was an element of cross-fertilization whereby some people of the 'Afloat' section worked in PHQs as communicators, drivers and security staff and some of the 'Ashore' section worked afloat as engineers, seamen, communicators and, indeed, cooks. RNXS personnel, known as auxiliarymen regardless of gender, were to be readily available to assist in
429-821: The Communications Centre connected via teleprinter and, latterly computer, to all UK MOD Communications Nodes and, unassisted, performed these tasks solely within the RNXS structure on behalf of the overall PHQ Command and Naval Officer In Command (NOIC). For some of these purposes, the RNXS operated a small fleet of inshore vessels. Initially, the vessels were 45-foot (14 m) and 61.5-foot (18.7 m) Motor Fishing Vessels. These smaller boats were soon replaced by ten inshore minesweepers ( Ham class ). RNXS vessel names were prefixed 'XSV' for Auxiliary Service Vessel. The minesweepers were de-armed and converted to enable larger training crews to be embarked. The 20 mm Oerlikon cannon or 40 mm Bofors guns were removed but
462-478: The Navy The RNXS had a pleasant family flavour and in many units were husbands and wives, sons and daughters training together for the job best suited to former experience and physical abilities. James Erskine, Earl of Mar and Kellie was a member of the RNXS in the 1980s Those who served in the RNXS were volunteer reservists and are therefore veterans of HM Armed Forces and are eligible to receive
495-492: The RNXS, they would be disbanded the following year. On 18 February 1994 it was confirmed in the House of Commons as part of that same review that there was no continuing defence role for the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service, and after a properly managed rundown the RNXS would disband from 31 March 1994. A serious machinery space fire occurred on XSV Exploit approximately 30 miles of Lundy island , at 0645 19 March 1994, as she
528-506: The Royal Navy did. The first female skipper was Denise St Aubyn Hubbard in 1978. The men and women of the RNXS, or auxiliary-men as they were known, were between the ages of 21 and 60 and came from various backgrounds as civilians or prior service personnel. Members undertook weekly classroom training, in their chosen departments, Engineering, Seamanship, Communications, and Operations. ashore and afloat, and worked towards qualifications, members also took part in extended formal training with
561-488: The Royal Navy for similar duties as their Archer -class brethren (under the same names under which they served as "XSVs", all of which begin with the first syllable "Ex"). Until 2005, the four Example s were painted with a black hull. In 1998 two additional vessels ( Raider and Tracker ) of this design were commissioned into the Royal Navy from Ailsa Shipbuilding Company , to replace HMS Loyal Watcher and HMS Loyal Chancellor as URNU training vessels for
594-1130: The UK Grimsby, Thorne, Hull, Stockton & Tees-port, Hartlepool, Sunderland, Newcastle, Blyth, Leith, Rosyth, Dundee, Aberdeen, Elgin, Inverness, Invergordon, Thurso, Kirkwall, Greenock & Clyde port, Ayr, Bangor, Belfast. RAF Pitreavie Castle near Dunfermline, Fife, was the Headquarters of the Scotland, Northern Ireland & N.E England, RNXS Group, consisting of both permanent and volunteer staff Bexhill, Chatham, Chelmsford, Dover, Felixstowe. Gravesend, Greenwich, Harwich, Isle of Wight, Ipswich, London, Margate, Poole, Portland, Portsmouth, Sheerness, Shoreham Southampton, Southend, Great Yarmouth, Littlehampton. Exeter, Guernsey, Jersey, Torbay (based in Brixham), Plymouth, Fowley, Falmouth, Penzance, Barnstaple, Bristol, Gloucester, Sully, Swansea, Pembroke Dock, Holyhead, Menai Bridge, Conwy, Liverpool, Inskip. The RNXS accepted women among its crews before
627-623: The balance of the order was completed by Vosper Thornycroft . The Archer s were initially used as Royal Navy patrol craft and as training tenders for the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) and University Royal Naval Units (URNU). Four identical vessels were ordered for the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service (RNXS) as Example -class tenders. When that service was disbanded in 1994, the Example s were transferred to
660-528: The clearance of oil pollution; search and rescue and many other tasks. The Ensign was originally created in 1954 for the Royal Naval Mine-watching Service , but when the service was amalgamated with the Admiralty Ferry Crews Association, to become the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service (RNXS) in 1963, the flag inscription was altered to reflect the name change. The RNXS command structure was divided in to geographical areas within
693-796: The command of a lieutenant . The remaining two vessels ( Pursuer and Dasher ), having formed the Cyprus Squadron from 2003 to 2010, and URNU vessels before that, returned to the UK in April 2010 to form the Faslane Patrol Boat Squadron, performing security duties within HMNB Clyde . In 2012 Dasher and Pursuer were replaced by Raider and Tracker - these can be identified by a number of pintle-mounted L7 7.62 mm GPMG machine guns and armour plating. Ranger and Trumpeter were also formerly allocated to
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#1732794220546726-486: The compartment three times in breathing masks when the Halon drenching system failed, to fight the fire with fire extinguishers, the ship would have been lost. The fire was later attributed to a major mechanical failure of the starboard main engine, resulting in a large hole in the sump casing. The fire spread quickly to the air ducts, igniting various rubber coolant pipes causing thick acrid, toxic smoke. The mood in
759-519: The mounts were kept. Over time, the minesweepers were replaced by fleet tenders , the Loyal class. Most of this class of ships' names were prefixed 'Loyal' apart from XSV Supporter , whose home port was Belfast , and, given Irish political tensions at the time, the prefix "Loyal" was dropped. The RNXS operated eleven purpose-built fleet tenders and various other small craft. In 1990, a specific threat of port attack by subversive and/or Special Forces
792-484: The newly formed RNXS: The Loyal-class fleet tenders were purpose built in the late seventies by Richard Dunston of Thorn, South Yorkshire, as training vessels for the RNXS, they were based on a proven MOD/RMAS design for supply tenders. In the RNXS version the hold was converted at the build stage for extra accommodation for RNXS crew. They had interior hatches down into the converted holds, now fitted with bunks and living quarters. Externally, they are very similar to
825-644: The past centuries. The nuclear threat, however, had cut the time available to the Royal Navy , and the Merchant Navy had to be developed or adapted to cope. Therefore, the RNXS was formed. In 1963 the Royal Mine-watching Service assumed a new role and name with responsibilities to provide staff to support the Navy in the various port headquarters around the UK that would be set up in a national emergency or war. A royal warrant
858-510: The service was further compounded with the loss of Loyal Volunteer , in Ipswich harbour later that year, and was seen as a sad end to a faithful vessel, and Aux Lt Cdr R.A Hare noted, "That this should be the fate of Loyal Volunteer, was not without its significance". Not all of the members of the RNXS were lost for good when the RNXS disbanded. Some 2,000 former members of the RNR and RNXS formed
891-586: The service. The craft were normally based in Naval Dockyards for the necessary maintenance and technical support from the Royal Maritime Auxiliary service but they were manned entirely by the RNXS crew. These craft were at sea most weekends for practical training, and also took part in national and NATO military exercises , as well as local and out-of-area training cruises. The craft took part in fleet reviews; and have been used in
924-418: The tasks of evacuating major ports and dispatching larger and faster merchant vessels overseas in case of an attack on the UK. Any remaining ships were to be dispersed to safe anchorages along the coasts or at nearby islands. Formation, planning and sailing of convoys were tasks undertaken in the PHQs by RNXS staff working within overall dedicated RNR control during exercises. The communications personnel operated
957-410: The tasks of evacuating major ports, and dispatching larger and faster merchant vessels overseas in case of an attack on the UK. Any remaining ships were to be dispatched to safe anchorages along the coasts or at nearby islands. Because merchant vessels would be travelling overseas in time of war, further tasks involved the setting up assembly anchorages, where ships could be formed into convoys ready for
990-512: The two newest URNUs, serving Cambridge and Oxford Universities respectively ( Raider was later transferred to Bristol URNU whilst Trumpeter became the ship of Cambridge URNU). This brought the total of Archer -class vessels in the Royal Navy to sixteen, of which fourteen form the Coastal Forces Squadron Squadron (formerly the 1st Patrol Boat Squadron), each one formerly attached to an URNU (one per unit) under
1023-560: Was being transferred to RN Portsmouth from Greenock as part of the managed run down of the service by RNXS crew. The Padstow lifeboat and the RAF SAR helicopter from Chivenor , were scrambled, and a tanker en route to Milford Haven was diverted to help, but they were not needed. If not for the coolness, professionalism, and bravery of the RNXS skipper Area Officer K Warner (Thorne unit), Charge Engineer Area Officer G Swan (Hartlepool unit), and Mate, J Smith (Rosyth unit), who entered
Archer class - Misplaced Pages Continue
1056-424: Was granted changing its name from the "Royal Naval Mine-watching Service" to the "Royal Naval Auxiliary Service" in 1962, to reflect these new functions. One of the Royal Navy's major tasks is the protection of shipping, and the RNXS played a non-combatant, but important, role in support of its parent Navy by manning port headquarters in major ports and anchorages around the UK. they were to be available to assist in
1089-657: Was identified and to help to counter this threat, the RNXS received four of P2000 fast patrol craft from the fourteen built for the Royal Navy These P2000s are still in service, as commissioned warships at University Royal Naval Units . The sailing of merchantmen both overseas and coastal sailings involved setting up assembly anchorages where ships might be formed into convoys , a naval escort or surveillance for information on routing, intelligence, and communications. Auxiliarymen were required at assembly anchorage control to assist in these tasks. Originally,
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