Royal Navy: HMS Dagger shadows Spanish ship in British Gibraltar waters amid Russian task force activity

HMS Dagger, a Cutless-class patrol vessel, monitored the movements of a Spanish police boat in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters yesterday afternoon (March 12). Pictures shared on the social media platform X by John Sanchez show the Royal Navy and Guardia Civil vessel sailing near Europa Point.

Spain’s Guardia Civil uses a variety of naval craft - patrol boats, speedboats, and other ships - for law enforcement purposes such as protecting the marine environment and fighting crime. HMS Dagger, alongside her sister ship HMS Cutless as part of the Gibraltar Squadron, are tasked with maintaining a Royal Navy presence in the region and keeping the residents of Gibraltar safe.

In August last year, the ships had to respond to an “incursion” from the Spanish patrol vessel ESPS Rayo. The Convent said at the time: “The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) makes formal diplomatic representation to Spain where appropriate. Incursions are a violation of UK sovereignty, not a threat to it.”

The Strait of Gibraltar, connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Mediterranean Sea, is an extremely busy shipping lane and a hive of activity. Recently, Russian naval craft have been spotted near Gibraltar while transiting to the Atlantic Ocean - heading towards their homeland via The English Channel and North Sea.

Images from Peter Ferrary on social media show cargo ships Sparta IV and Siyanie Severa, patrol ship Furor P 46 and the landing vessel RFS Aleksandr Shabalin 110 in the Strait of Gibraltar yesterday (March 12). Recently, Vladimir Putin’s naval forces have been transporting munitions from Syria. With this level of activity, Royal Navy sailors need to keep themselves prepared for any eventualities.

The Gibraltar Squadron, led by HMS Dagger, carried out an exercise with HMC Searcher and other vessels from Gibraltar Police to test their ability to operate in unison. They displayed impressive tactical manoeuvring as part of a training drill where they had to protect a valuable asset from harm.

Speaking about the exercise, Lt Cdr Jonathan Davies - HMS Dagger’s Commanding Officer - said: “It has been a real privilege to build on the first successful Inter-Op that occurred last year. Although pacing and riding off are routine training for RNGS, the ability to do it with vessels outside our organisation provides huge training benefit.

“The addition of the protection exercises really tested our coxswains and I’m confident they came away with heightened skills and importantly, big smiles on their faces. Outside of improving our operational capability, these exercises also go a long way to reassure Gibraltarians that our presence on the water is significant and government organisations can co-operate effectively if required.”