HMS Anglesey (P277) is one of five Island-class offshore patrol vessels charged with policing fishery protection legislation around the coast of the United Kingdom - an area of around 80,000 square miles. Patrol work is carried out in conjunction with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

She entered service with the Royal Navy in June 1979, and her design is based on that of deep-sea trawlers, allowing her to patrol in all weathers up to 200 miles out to sea.

Designated officers on board are trained in the details of British and European fishery laws, allowing them to take to the ship's boats and board fishing vessels to ensure that they are keeping within the law in terms of size of catch, type of fish caught, size and gauge of net and type of gear, among other rules.

Among the ship's other tasks are search and rescue, when called upon, and gathering data on fish stocks and patterns of fishing.

Anglesey, which was built by Hall Russell in Aberdeen, displaces 1,250 tons when fully loaded, and can steam at just over 16 knots. She has a ship's company of around 40.

Large cold stores on board allow supplies to be carried for up to five weeks away from base port. The normal pattern of patrol is two periods at sea, each of ten days, separated by a port visit to enable the ship's company to relax and recharge their batteries.

In an average year, ships like HMS Anglesey will patrol around 35,000 miles.

The five Island-class ships are part of the Fishery Protection Squadron, the oldest squadron in the Royal Navy.

In 1379 Yarmouth, in Norfolk, established a force of armed fishery protection vessels, and by 1586 the admiralty was paying for a ship to patrol North Sea herring fishing grounds, settling disputes between English and foreign fishermen.

Nelson was a captain in the Squadron - in the Albermarle in 1781 - and gunboat HMS Hearty became the first full-time fishery protection vessel in 1891.

The Squadron has been based in Portsmouth since 1994.

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