There are 16 Archer Class boats:
| Displacement | 40 tonnes |
| Length | 20m |
| Beam | 5.8m |
| Crew | 10 |
| Armament | 20mm close-range gun. (Not fitted in peacetime) |
| Aircraft | None. |
The Archer Class is commonly referred to as a Fast Training Boat but they are fully commissioned ships of the Royal Navy, albeit the smallest ones in commission. As commissioned ships, they must undergo the same amount of tests and trials as all other Royal Navy vessels.
In peacetime the Archer class is used as a training boat, but in times of conflict it switches to its war-role of a Patrol vessel (hence the P designation in its pennant number).
Archer craft are Lieutenant's commands, and are stationed throughout the country at RNR and URNU bases. The captain of the vessel (an officer in command of one of Her Majesty's ships is always given the customary title of "captain" regardless of their substantive rank. The rank of captain is actually post-captain, although referred to as captain) is normally also the officer-in-charge of the RNR/URNU base. (He or She would not be the captain of the RNR / URNU base as one of the RNR officers will undoubtedly be more senior, but the officer-in-charge will be the only regular officer there and so responsible for the full-time upkeep of the base. Note Royal Naval bases are also commissioned as "ships" and so have a "captain.")
There are normally 2 Royal Naval officers assigned to the ships (the captain, and an engineer - who may be a Warrant Officer) and then 4 ratings (at least one of which will be a senior rate). Those officers and ratings who belong to the RNR/URNU would take in turns to crew the ship and the officers in particular would learn basic sea-keeping skills. During the summer a selection of Midshipmen of the URNU normally crew the ship along with its normal complement and they take the vessel overseas. In recent years Archer class vessels have visited France, Germany, Norway and Russia.
An interesting quirk of the Archer class is that although the regular crew have their own cabins, the Midshipmen sleep in the gun-room. Traditionally this is where midshipmen have always been berthed but in the Archer class it is literally true as they sleep in the magazine of the Archer class. Since such trips only occur in times of peace, the gun which an Archer class vessel is capable of carrying is not fitted and so there is no other use for the magazine.
In times of conflict the Archer class would perform the usual duties of patrol vessels; guard the entrances to port, support MCM operations and patrol the territorial waters of the United Kingdom. It is likely that in those circumstances the vessels would be crewed entirely from members of the RNR as the regular officers and ratings would probably be required in other vessels.
