Gibraltar Squadron
| Gibraltar Squadron | |
|---|---|
HMS Dagger at HM Naval Base, Gibraltar | |
| Active | 28 August 1985 – present |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Royal Navy |
| Type | Squadron |
| Role | Maritime security and Force Protection |
| Size | 1 Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) (intermittently deployed), 2 Fast Patrol Boats, 3 Rigid-hulled Inflatable Boats (RHIBS), 1 diving support boat & 28 personnel (+ c. 34-50 assigned to the OPV) |
| Garrison/HQ | PJOB Gibraltar/HQ British Forces Gibraltar |
| Website | www |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Lt Cdr Henry Kilby |
The Gibraltar Squadron is a unit of the British Royal Navy. It is the only seagoing Royal Naval unit based in Gibraltar, attached to British Forces Gibraltar. It currently includes two Cutlass-class fast patrol boats with a maximum speed of up to 41-knots. The squadron also uses four Arctic-24 rigid-hulled inflatable boats and deploys one diving support boat (DSB Crabb, named for Royal Navy diver Lionel Crabb). The 2021 defence white paper indicated that henceforth, one River-class offshore patrol vessel, HMS Trent, would also be permanently based in Gibraltar for operations in the Mediterranean and in the Gulf of Guinea, though by 2025/26 she was less often deployed from Gibraltar. As of 2023, 28 personnel were assigned to the squadron, along with additional personnel assigned to HMS Trent when operating from the territory.