Royal Navy’s Sandown-class minehunter HMS Shoreham returned home after being deployed for three months to Standing NATO Mine Counter Measures Group One, operating mostly in the Baltic.
For the first time, families and friends joined their loved ones on board the Royal Navy mine hunter, HMS Shoreham, as she sailed in to her home port of HM Naval Base Clyde on Thursday, July 13.
Around 80 family and friends joined the crew on board the mine hunter at Greenock to sail across to Faslane where a few more family members stood at the dockside to welcome them home.
Captain Edward Ahlgren OBE, Captain FASFLOT was also at the dockside to welcome the ship and her crew.
He said, “We are delighted to welcome home HMS Shoreham after a very successful three month deployment with NATO. They have delivered beyond expectation and they return to their families to enjoy some well-deserved leave prior to preparing for operations again”
“The MCM fleet are a vital arm of the Royal Navy and make a significant contribution to defence as a whole and we are immensely proud of them”
HMS Shoreham worked together with minehunters from Estonia, Belgium and Norway, and at times from Sweden and Finland.
The ship conducted historical ordnance disposal around the Baltic Sea with successful visits to Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden and Poland, SNMCMG1 then took part in exercise BALTOPS 17.
Before returning to Faslane the ship stopped in at Shoreham-by-Sea for a hometown visit.
Commander Ben Evans, the Commanding Officer of HMS Shoreham said, “It is wonderful to be back in Faslane after a successful deployment with NATO, The ship’s company are looking forward to some well-deserved leave, hopefully coming back refreshed and ready to conduct training later in the year.”