Royal Navy’s longest-serving frigate retires

December 9, 2025, by Fatima Bahtić

The Royal Navy’s longest-serving frigate, HMS Lancaster, has been retired after 34 years of operational service.

The 4,500-tonne warship powered down its engines in Bahrain after completing 4,097 days at sea and travelling 816,000 nautical miles.

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Launched by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on the Clyde in 1990 and named after the Duke of Lancaster, HMS Lancaster was commissioned into the Royal Navy in May 1992.

Based in Portsmouth for the vast majority of its career before transferring to Plymouth, HMS Lancaster spent the final three years operating from the UK Naval Support Facility in Bahrain. According to the navy, it was the first ship on task in the Red Sea during heightened threat activity in December 2023, and completed numerous narcotics seizures totalling around £150 million.

UK’s Type 23 frigate HMS Lancaster departs on a three-year mission

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“This final period at sea has proved the ship continues to perform at the same exceptional standard as when she first commissioned, which stands as a testament, not only to this crew, but to every crew who have served in her over the past 34 years of distinguished service,” Commander Sam Stephens said.

The fourth Type 23 frigate built for the Fleet, HMS Lancaster, was designed to track hostile submarines as well as perform general duties around the globe. The bulk of the ship’s active career has been spent either in the Caribbean or the Middle East, interspersed with duties in the USA, South Atlantic, Arctic, Mediterranean and Baltic.