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HMS Smiter (P272)

HMS Smiter (P272) is one of 16 Archer-class patrol vessels assigned to the Coastal Forces Squadron, providing maritime security and operations within Europe’s coastal waters. 

Smiter

Role

HMS Smiter’s primary role is to provide naval experience and training to Officer Cadets from the universities of Oxford, Oxford Brookes and Reading.

The ship’s company support young Officers and students to develop their navigation and seamanship skills in preparation for a career in the Royal Navy.

Capability

Thanks to her diminutive size, HMS Smiter can navigate into smaller ports around the UK which the Royal Navy cannot normally access.

She also supports Royal Navy and NATO exercises at home and abroad.
Archer class

Crew

Led by Lieutenant Sam Smale, HMS Smiter can accommodate up to ten additional personnel in addition to her five ship’s Company already embarked. Her activities and responsibilities include:

• Maritime Security
• Force Protection
• Supporting NATO Operations and Exercises including JOINT WARRIOR and TYPHOON WARRIOR
• Navigation and Seamanship Training
• Regional Engagement

Unit history

1943

The First Smiter

The first HMS Smiter was an 11,420-ton escort carrier launched at Seattle on 27 September 1943 and built under the Lend-Lease programme. The ship returned to the States in April 1946.
1947

The Second Smiter

The LST 3514, a tank landing ship launched in October 1944, was renamed HMS Smiter in 1947. She received a Battle Honour for the Battle of the Atlantic.
1949

Sold

The second Smiter was sold in March 1949, only to sink a month later while under tow to Portugal.
1949

The Third Smiter

The third Smiter was launched in October 1990, serving with the Clyde Division of the Royal Naval Reserve.
1990

Glasgow

HMS Smiter was transferred to the University Royal Naval Unit (URNU) of Glasgow.
2012

Oxford

Smiter replaced HMS Tracker as the training vessel of the Oxford URNU.
2012

Baltops

Along with HMS Archer, HMS Ranger and HMS Exploit, HMS Smiter is deployed to the Baltic in order to take part in NATO’s Exercise BALTOPS.

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