Navy’s experimental vessel XV Patrick Blackett on the Thames
17th May 2023
The Royal Navy’s mysterious experimental vessel XV Patrick Blackett made her debut on the Thames in mid May 2023, as she has been visiting London.
The vessel, which is a Damen-built and -adapted Fast Crew Supplier 4008 (FCS 4008), was designed and built by Damen Group and is an experimental ship used by the Royal Navy as a testing platform for new military technologies.
Ownership of the vessel was transferred to the Royal Navy in March 2021, and the work to adapt the vessel at Damen’s shipyard facility in the Netherlands involved the conversion of passenger and cargo space into a briefing room, office and workshop.
She is capable of speeds in excess of 20 knots, with a range in excess of 3,000 nautical miles, and is named after the Royal Navy veteran and Nobel Prize winning British physicist Patrick Blackett.
Photos by Fraser Gray
The Royal Navy’s mysterious experimental vessel XV Patrick Blackett debuts on the Thames and will be visiting London. The vessel is an experimental ship used by the Royal Navy as a testing platform for new military technologies. She is named after the Royal Navy veteran and Nobel Prize winning British physicist Patrick Blackett. XV Patrick Blackett is pictured alongside HMS President RNR attending the London Seapower Series Defence Conference hosted by First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Ben Key.
The Royal Navy’s mysterious experimental vessel XV Patrick Blackett debuts on the Thames and will be visiting London. The vessel is an experimental ship used by the Royal Navy as a testing platform for new military technologies. She is named after the Royal Navy veteran and Nobel Prize winning British physicist Patrick Blackett. XV Patrick Blackett is pictured alongside HMS President RNR attending the London Seapower Series Defence Conference hosted by First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Ben Key.
