Tiny Royal Navy boat fends off Spanish warship approaching British waters near Gibraltar

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now

This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.

A TINY Royal Navy patrol boat fended off a Spanish warship as it sailed towards Gibraltar this morning.

HMS Dasher – one of the UK’s smallest naval vessels at just 68ft – shadowed a 300ft Spanish vessel, Furor P46, as it approached British sovereign waters around The Rock.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Witnesses of the incident accused the Spanish warship – which is armed with a 76mm cannon and machine guns – of ‘some really stupid shenanigans’.

Twitter user David Parody, who witnessed the interaction, praised the Royal Navy crew for ‘showing restraint’ during the encounter.

‘Some really stupid shenanigans by P46 Furor this morning,’ he added in the tweet. ‘This is the nearest I've seen an OPV (offshore patrol vessel) to our shores and some dangerous manoeuvres thrown in!’

Hide Ad
Hide Ad
Read More
Defiant Penny Mordaunt 'guilty as charged' after bitter Aquind boss Alexander Te...

Pictures show HMS Dasher sailing up next to the Furor as it escorted away from British waters.

The incident isn’t the first time the small Royal Navy vessel has been called upon to deal with Spanish warships near Gibraltar.

HMS Dasher, right, pictured escorting the Spanish patrol ship Furor P46 off the coast of Gibraltar. Photo: DM Parody / http://dotcom.gi/photosHMS Dasher, right, pictured escorting the Spanish patrol ship Furor P46 off the coast of Gibraltar. Photo: DM Parody / http://dotcom.gi/photos
HMS Dasher, right, pictured escorting the Spanish patrol ship Furor P46 off the coast of Gibraltar. Photo: DM Parody / http://dotcom.gi/photos

In January last year, Dasher was scrambled twice in as many days to deal with Spanish patrol ships off the Gibraltarian coast.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The first occasion saw Dasher intercepting the Guardia Civil patrol boat, Rio Guadalete. Then, 24 hours later, the Royal Navy boat was scrambled again, this time to deal with Rayo P42.

As previously reported, Spain made almost 4,000 unlawful incursions into British waters and airspace between 2010 and 2019

Spanish patrol ship Furor P46 pictured sailing past Gibraltar. Photo: DM Parody / http://dotcom.gi/photosSpanish patrol ship Furor P46 pictured sailing past Gibraltar. Photo: DM Parody / http://dotcom.gi/photos
Spanish patrol ship Furor P46 pictured sailing past Gibraltar. Photo: DM Parody / http://dotcom.gi/photos

The situation has prompted almost 400 complaints from the UK government.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Spain has consistently questioned British sovereignty over Gibraltar, which has been in British hands since the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.A spokesman for The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said: ‘We have no doubt about UK sovereignty over British Gibraltar Territorial Waters and airspace and we protest incursions to the Spanish authorities.’

Looking for the latest Royal Navy updates from Portsmouth? Join our new Royal Navy news Facebook group to keep up to date.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

You can subscribe here for unlimited access to our online coverage, including Pompey, with 70 per cent fewer adverts for less than 20p a day.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.