"We may be small but pack a mighty punch": Tiny Portsmouth Royal Navy ships deployed to huge mission

Four P2000 patrol boats will spend ten weeks between Kattegat and Gulf of Finland- conducting a string of exercises. HMS Dasher, Express, Puncher, and Pursuer, left HMNB Portsmouth last week for the two-month workout.

Lieutenant Jack Mason, Commanding Officer of HMS Dasher, said: “We’re very excited to be deploying back into the Baltic Sea after a well-earned summer leave period having returned only five weeks ago. The Baltic Sea is becoming a bit of a home away from home for the Coastal Forces Squadron as we deploy into the region for the second time this year, this time with some very different strategic objectives.

“We are looking forward to working with both NATO and Joint Expeditionary Force partners as we continue to strengthen our relationships with these nations.”

“Pack a mighty punch”

The fast patrol craft will practise a range of missions including harbour defence and escort duties. They will be acting as launchpads for mine-hunting drones, with Nato ships treating them as enemy forces to intercept shipping.

Royal Navy sailors will join 13 other NATO nations off Germany’s Baltic shore for Exercise Northern Coasts, testing land, sea, and air forces to their limits. More than 2,700 personnel and 40 warships will be participating.

Ships will host experts from the Royal Navy’s Mine Threat Exploitation Group, who have been working with them to launch autonomous mine-hunting kit. The action will then shift further east with the ships taking part in exercises with Finnish, Swedish and Latvian counterparts.

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These exercises are under the banner of the Joint Expeditionary Force, the coalition of northern European nations committed to regional defence and security. HMS Dasher and HMS Pursuer only returned from the Baltic fairly recently. They took part in Nato’s spring exercise in the region, with HMS Puncher and HMS Express conducting winter war games in the Arctic. P2000 patrol boats have been taking on more of a frontline role, moving away from being navigation training platforms.

Each ship has a crew of five sailors, but these numbers will be bolstered with additional officers and sailors undergoing training. Leading Engineering Technician Thomas Hargreaves, who is tasked with keeping HMS Dasher running, is extremely excited ahead of his return to the Baltic.

He said: “Once again the Coastal Forces Squadron can prove to both NATO and the Joint Expeditionary Force that P2000s may be small but pack a mighty punch. Having the opportunity to travel to different countries in the Eastern Baltic with my shipmates is an opportunity like no other and I can’t wait continue building those memories.”