The Attacker class (also referred to as the Tracker class) is a class of patrol boats. Formerly operated by the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 and the HM Customs, seven of the class are currently operated by the Lebanese Navy

Lebanese navy

The Lebanese Navy is the Navy of the Lebanese Armed Forces. It was formed in 1950 and based in Beirut Naval Base, Lebanon’s first naval base. The navy, which currently lacks the proper number of equipment, has a number of approximately 50 vessels of various sizes and roles; however, the navy is...

 and two by Lebanese Customs

Design and construction

The Attacker class was constructed by Fairey Allday (Fairey Marine Ltd), on the River Hamble

River Hamble

The River Hamble is a river in Hampshire, England. It rises near Bishop's Waltham and flows for some 7.5 miles through Botley, Bursledon and Swanwick before entering Southampton Water near Hamble-le-Rice and Warsash....

 in Hampshire, England. HMS Attacker was built in Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, while the rest of the class were built in Southhampton.

The ships have glass-reinforced plastic

Glass-reinforced plastic

Fiberglass , is a fiber reinforced polymer made of a plastic matrix reinforced by fine fibers of glass. It is also known as GFK ....

 hulls.
The Vessels were allocated to various RNR Divisions. HMS Striker being based in Liverpool as a tender to HMS Eaglet. Eventually the vessels were re allocated to the URNUs.

Operational history

HMS Attacker, Hunter and Striker formed the Cypress Squadron and were used for patrol and harbour protection. HMS Attacker, was the training ship for the University Royal Naval Unit

University Royal Naval Unit

A University Royal Naval Unit is a Royal Navy training establishment connected to a university, or a number of universities concentrated in one area...

 serving Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities, while HMS Chaser performed this role at Aberdeen University and HMS Fencer performed the same role for Southampton University. Patrol ships carried three General purpose machine gun

General purpose machine gun

A general-purpose machine gun is a multi-purpose weapon: it is a machine gun firing a full-power rifle cartridge and which can be used in a variety of roles, from a bipod- or tripod-mounted infantry support weapon to a helicopter door gun or a vehicle-mounted support weapon...

s, while the training ships were unarmed.

The Attacker class was decommissioned from the Royal Navy during 1991 and 1992. All five ships were sold to the Lebanese Navy in July 1992. Two Attackers formerly operated by the British Customs Service were also sold to Lebanon in March 1994.

List of ships

- Transferred to the Lebanese Navy and renamed Trablous in 1992. - Transferred to the Lebanese Navy and renamed Jbeil in 1992. - Transferred to the Lebanese Navy and renamed Jounieh in 1992. - Transferred to the Lebanese Navy and renamed Arz in 1992. - Transferred to the Lebanese Navy and renamed Saida in 1992.

• Safeguard (Customs) - Transferred to the Lebanese Navy and renamed Batroun in 1994.
• Swift (Customs) - Transferred to the Lebanese Navy and renamed Sarafand in 1994.
• Libnan II (Lebanese Customs)
• Arz II (Lebanese Customs)