The River class is a class of offshore patrol vessels built primarily for
the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. A total of nine were built for the Royal
Navy (RN), four Batch 1 and five Batch 2. One Batch 1 (HMS Clyde ), which
was the Falklands guard ship, was decommissioned and transferred at the end of
its lease to the Royal Bahrain Naval Force.
The three remaining Batch 1 ships perform fisheries security and border patrol
tasks in UK waters. The five new Batch 2 ships provide overseas forward
presence, performing maritime security duties and disaster relief operations,
often supported by a Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel.
The Batch 1 ships of the class replaced the seven ships of the Island class
and the two Castle-class patrol vessels.