HMS Blazer (P279) photographed in the Albert Dock Liverpool on 24 May 2013 as she and other naval vessels were preparing for the Battle of Atlantic celebrations being held the following day.
She is an Archer Class patrol vessel built by Watercraft Marine and was commissioned into the fleet in 1988.
She is 20.8m long with a 5.8m beam and 1.8m draught. Powered by Rolls Royce M800T Diesel Engines (1590bhp) she has a top speed of 18 knots and a range of 550 nm at 15 knots.
Armament consists of 7.62mm General Purpose Machine Guns.
She is the seventh Royal Navy ship to carry the name HMS Blazer.
The first ship to carry the name was a 12-gun vessel built by Dudman of Deptford, launched in April 1797 she was 75ft long, 22ft wide and of 159 tons. The vessel was sold in January1803.
The second ship was a 12 gun brig built by Pitcher of Northfleet. Launched in May 1804 she was 80ft long, 23ft wide and of 180 tons. She was sold in December 1814. This vessel won battle honours at Gluckstadt in 1814 where she and HMS Desiree, HMS Hearty, HMS Piercer, HMS Redbreast and HMS Shamrock together with gunboats No.1,2,3,4,5,8,10 and 12 coorperated with Russian forces to silence French heavy gun batteries at Cuxhaven at the mouth of the Elbe estuary. The squadron then moved up the Elbe and assisted Swedish forces in bombarding the fortress at Gluckstadt. This was captured on 5 January 1814 after a blockade of 16 days and a bombardment of 6 days. In addition to the bombardment some seamen and marines also operated on shore during the action. The British had 3 men killed and 16 wounded during the engagement.
The third ship to carry the name was a wooden paddle sloop. Built at Chatham Dockyard she was launched in May 1834 and was 145ft long, 28ft 6in wide and of 527 tons. She was used as a survey ship from 1843 before being broken up at Portsmouth in 1853.
The fourth ship to carry the name HMS Blazer was a mortar vessel. Equipped with a single 13 Inch mortar she was built by Mare of Blackwall and launched in May 1855, she was 66ft long, 20ft wide and of 117 tons. Renamed MV3 in Oct 1855 she also served in the Baltic.
The fifth ship was an Albacore Class, 4-gun, wooden hulled gunboat completed by Laird in Apr 1856. Renamed YC29 in 1868 she worked as a dredger and was later renamed YC4 at Gibraltar where she was eventually sold in May 1877. The Albacore class were steam powered and also had sails, they had a shallow draught for coastal bombardment and work in shallow waters. With either two cylinder horizontal single expansion trunk steam engines with two boilers or two cylinder horizontal single expansion direct acting steam engines with three boilers genarating 60 HP they had a top speed of 7.5knots via a single propeller. Armament consisted of a single 68 pounder muzzle loading smooth bore gun, a 32 pounder and two 24 pounders.
The the sixth HMS Blazer was an Ant Class, iron screw gunboat. The Ant-class was a class of twenty-four Royal Navy gunboats mounting a single 10-inch gun, they were built between 1870 and 1880 and carried no masts or sails. Built at Portsmouth Dockyard she was launched in Dec 1870. In September 1890 the vessel carried out electrical signalling in the Solent and in 1904 was acting as a seagoing tender for weapons testing. In 1914 she returned to gunboat duties before being sold in August 1919 to W Loveridge of West Hartlepool.
She is an Archer Class patrol vessel built by Watercraft Marine and was commissioned into the fleet in 1988.
She is 20.8m long with a 5.8m beam and 1.8m draught. Powered by Rolls Royce M800T Diesel Engines (1590bhp) she has a top speed of 18 knots and a range of 550 nm at 15 knots.
Armament consists of 7.62mm General Purpose Machine Guns.
She is the seventh Royal Navy ship to carry the name HMS Blazer.
The first ship to carry the name was a 12-gun vessel built by Dudman of Deptford, launched in April 1797 she was 75ft long, 22ft wide and of 159 tons. The vessel was sold in January1803.
The second ship was a 12 gun brig built by Pitcher of Northfleet. Launched in May 1804 she was 80ft long, 23ft wide and of 180 tons. She was sold in December 1814. This vessel won battle honours at Gluckstadt in 1814 where she and HMS Desiree, HMS Hearty, HMS Piercer, HMS Redbreast and HMS Shamrock together with gunboats No.1,2,3,4,5,8,10 and 12 coorperated with Russian forces to silence French heavy gun batteries at Cuxhaven at the mouth of the Elbe estuary. The squadron then moved up the Elbe and assisted Swedish forces in bombarding the fortress at Gluckstadt. This was captured on 5 January 1814 after a blockade of 16 days and a bombardment of 6 days. In addition to the bombardment some seamen and marines also operated on shore during the action. The British had 3 men killed and 16 wounded during the engagement.
The third ship to carry the name was a wooden paddle sloop. Built at Chatham Dockyard she was launched in May 1834 and was 145ft long, 28ft 6in wide and of 527 tons. She was used as a survey ship from 1843 before being broken up at Portsmouth in 1853.
The fourth ship to carry the name HMS Blazer was a mortar vessel. Equipped with a single 13 Inch mortar she was built by Mare of Blackwall and launched in May 1855, she was 66ft long, 20ft wide and of 117 tons. Renamed MV3 in Oct 1855 she also served in the Baltic.
The fifth ship was an Albacore Class, 4-gun, wooden hulled gunboat completed by Laird in Apr 1856. Renamed YC29 in 1868 she worked as a dredger and was later renamed YC4 at Gibraltar where she was eventually sold in May 1877. The Albacore class were steam powered and also had sails, they had a shallow draught for coastal bombardment and work in shallow waters. With either two cylinder horizontal single expansion trunk steam engines with two boilers or two cylinder horizontal single expansion direct acting steam engines with three boilers genarating 60 HP they had a top speed of 7.5knots via a single propeller. Armament consisted of a single 68 pounder muzzle loading smooth bore gun, a 32 pounder and two 24 pounders.
The the sixth HMS Blazer was an Ant Class, iron screw gunboat. The Ant-class was a class of twenty-four Royal Navy gunboats mounting a single 10-inch gun, they were built between 1870 and 1880 and carried no masts or sails. Built at Portsmouth Dockyard she was launched in Dec 1870. In September 1890 the vessel carried out electrical signalling in the Solent and in 1904 was acting as a seagoing tender for weapons testing. In 1914 she returned to gunboat duties before being sold in August 1919 to W Loveridge of West Hartlepool.
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