Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) ships arrived in Barcelona yesterday for a port visit and to prepare to join forces with France’s Charles de Gaulle Carrier Strike Group for a short period of combined exercises. SNMG2 leadership will meet with local Allied authorities to discuss items of mutua
On Sunday 11 January during one of her counter-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden, EU Naval Force warship, ESPS Rayo, sighted several fishing vessels. In order to develop a greater understanding of the pattern of life of local seafarers and any concerns they may have about piracy, the Spanish Navy w
Royal Navy Submariners have spent a week in the fires of hell to ensure they can deal with the biggest threat to the Silent Service. Despite the public perception of submarines, fire – or rather smoke – will knock you out long before your boat floods. So experienced submariners from across the RN Su
An independent audit found the cost of the department’s 11 biggest equipment programmes fell by £397 million in the past year. The defence equipment plan is an annual update to Parliament on the MOD’s spending plans over the next decade. The update sets out plans to spend around £163 billion on new
The ‘Juan Sebastián de Elcano’ has set sail from Cádiz to start her 86th midshipmen training cruise. On this occasion, 76 midshipmen from the Spanish Naval Academy in their fourth academic year, and 14 candidates to become Leading Seamen from the Ferrol Specialties School have embarked on the traini
A solemn ceremony commemorating the 100th anniversary of the loss of three Royal Navy ships and 57 Royal Naval reservists from Newfoundland during the First World War was held today at Bowring Park in St. John’s. In attendance was the Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Justice, who laid a wreath a
The Royal Navy’s Ice Patrol Ship has carried out her first inspection of a fishing vessel in Antarctic Waters. HMS Protector met the fishing vessel while on patrol in Antarctic waters and made arrangements to carry out the inspection. It was conducted under the Convention for the Conservation of Ant
Today’s sailors joined relatives of some of the 547 men lost 100 years ago to remember a Naval tragedy in Lyme Bay. Exactly a century to the minute that some of the victims of HMS Formidable were laid to rest in Lyme Regis, 130 people gathered for a service of commemoration. In 1915, the Dorset [&he
On Friday, 9th January 2015, EU Naval Force warship, ESPS Rayo, successfully conducted a Replenishment-at-Sea (RAS) with United States supply ship USNS Charles Drew in the Gulf of Aden. Task Force 53, to which the US ship is attached, provides regular replenishment support to the EU Naval Force’s co
During a recent port visit to The Seychelles, the EU Naval Force flagship, ITS Andrea Doria, conducted a counter-piracy exercise called ‘Exchange 2015’ with members of the Seychelles Coast Guard and Maritime Police. The exercise was planned and coordinated with staff from EUCAP Nestor. One of the ma
Three Chinese Naval ships were given a rapturous welcome as they arrived in Portsmouth for a formal visit aimed at enhancing military understanding between the UK and China. Chinese Ambassador Liu Xiaoming and hundreds of flag-waving UK-based Chinese residents welcomed the ships into the city’s Nava
HMAS Success has conducted her first replenishment at sea as part of Operation MANITOU. Spanish Meteoro class corvette ESPS Rayo was off the coast of Djibouti on 2 January assigned to Combined Task Force 465, the European Union Naval Force, conducting anti-piracy patrols off the Horn of Africa. The
