BNS Karatoa

BNS Karatoa is an Island Class Offshore patrol vessel of the Bangladesh Navy, built as the Royal Navy offshore patrol vessel, HMS Alderney (P278).

History
The Island Class offshore patrol vessels, built by Hall, Russell & Company in Aberdeen, were modelled on the ocean-going trawlers FPV Jura (1973) and FPV Westra (1974). HMS Alderney (P278) was launched on 27 February 1979.

On 4 July 1981, HMS Alderney apprehended a French trawler. Alderney’s boarding party was threatened with knives and acetylene torches. The trawler headed of France, colliding with another French fishing boat, tried to ram Alderney, and eventually hit the warship, sustaining more damage to itself than the British warship. Giving up, the trawler was towed into Grimsby, where she received a £6,796 fine plus £2,000 for the damage.

HMS Alderney was the affiliated ship for the King Edward VI Grammar School (Chelmsford) Naval Combined Cadet Force during the 1980s

In 1998, Alderney rescued the crew of a yacht 25 mi west of Lundy.

Once decommissioned by the Royal Navy, Alderney was sold to Bangladesh's Navy in 2003/04, along with 4 other ships of the same class to protect the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in Bay of Bengal. She was renamed BNS Karatoa.

Career
The island class patrol boats were built to enforce a 200 mi fishing zone around the UK, netting hundreds of thousands of pounds in fines.

The Karatoa is currently under the command of the Commodore Commanding Khulna (COMKHUL). About 100 personnel serve at Karatoa, which is categorized as Large Offshore Patrol Vessel in the Bangladesh Navy.