HMS Trent (P224)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Trent.

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Trent
Operator	Royal Navy
Ordered	August 2014
Builder	BAE Systems Naval Ships
Laid down	7 October 2015 (Steel cut)
Launched	20 March 2018
Sponsored by	Pamela Potts
Christened	13 March 2018
Homeport	HMNB Portsmouth
Identification	IMO number: 9752072 Pennant number: P224
Status	Fitting Out
General characteristics
Class and type	Batch 2 Template:Sclass2-
Displacement	2,000 tonnes
Length	90.5 m (296 ft 11 in)
Beam	13 m (42 ft 8 in)
Draught	3.8 m (12 ft 6 in)
Speed	24 kn (44 km/h)
Range	5,500 nmi (10,200 km)
Endurance	35 days
Boats & landing craft carried	Two rigid inflatable boats
Capacity	70
Complement	34
Armament	1 × 30 mm cannon 2 × General purpose machine guns 2 × Miniguns
Aircraft carried	Merlin capable flight deck

HMS Trent is a Batch 2 Template:Sclass2- offshore patrol vessel currently under construction for the British Royal Navy. Named after the River Trent, she will be the third Batch 2 River-class vessel to commission.

Construction

On 6 November 2013 it was announced that the Royal Navy had signed an Agreement in Principle to build three new offshore patrol vessels, based on the River-class design, at a fixed price of £348 million including spares and support. In August 2014, BAE Systems signed the contract to build the ships on the Clyde in Scotland. The Ministry of Defence stated that the Batch 2 ships are capable of being used for constabulary duties such as "counter-terrorism, counter-piracy and anti-smuggling operations". According to BAE Systems, the vessels are designed to deploy globally, conducting anti-piracy, counter-terrorism and anti-smuggling tasks currently conducted by frigates and destroyers.

Trent includes some 29 modifications and enhancements over the Template:Sclass- built by BAE Systems for the Brazilian Navy.

Steel was cut, marking the start of construction of Trent, on 7 October 2015 at the BAE Systems Govan shipyard in Glasgow. Trent was officially named – the equivalent to a traditional slipway launch – on the south bank of the Clyde at BAE’s Govan yard on 13 March 2018.