Training & Education
Estonian Vessel Protection Detachment Operating on French Vessel
Some contributing nations support the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia – Operation Atalanta with specialised assets to counter piracy off the Horn of Africa. Estonia supports Operation Atalanta with a Vessel Protection Detachment (VPD) on board the French frigate FS Courbet. VPDs are ready to emba
UK: HMS Edinburgh Heads Home
The Royal Navy’s last Type 42 destroyer has left New York and is heading home following a highly successful visit to the Big Apple. At the end of this month, HMS Edinburgh will return to her home port of Portsmouth and bring to an end 30 years of loyal service to the Royal Navy as […]
HMS Monmouth Hits Five-Month Mark on Her Maritime Security Patrol of the Gulf
As HMS Monmouth hits the five-month mark on her Maritime Security patrol of the Gulf, it is worth taking stock of what is required to keep a Type 23 frigate and her Ship’s company of over 200 sailors and Royal Marines continuously on task and ready for action. Sustainability is the key theme running
EU NAVFOR Reaffirms Counter Piracy Cooperation with Oman
On 17 March, during a visit by the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta flagship ESPS Méndez Núnez to Salalah, the Force Commander, Rear Admiral Pedro García de Paredes, met with Omani officials in Salalah. The EU NAVFOR Force Commander met the Commander of the Royal Navy of Oman’s
UK: Royal Navy Sailor Gets Medal for 17 Years of Service
A Portchester sailor has been presented with a medal for 17 years of service to the Royal Navy while serving on the icebreaker HMS Protector. In an unusual setting, Leading Seaman Scott Black was given the medal standing on an iceberg off Detaille Island on the edge of Antarctica – one of the most r
UK: HMS Sultan Sailors to Take Part in Freedom Parade
Two hundred sailors from HMS Sultan will exercise their freedom of the borough of Gosport by marching through the town on Friday (March 22). The parade – the first in eight years – marks Gosport Borough Council’s recent updating of the original freedom status granted to the engineering training scho
Finland Takes Over Responsibility over WTP’s Protection
On 15 March, the German Autonomous Vessel Protection Detachment (AVPD), deployed with the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta, transferred the responsibility for the protection of the World Food Programme (WFP) ship MV Caroline Scan to an AVPD from Finland. The German AVPD returns
USS Farragut Pays Visit to Montenegro
The guided-missile destroyer USS Farragut (DDG 99) visited Bar, Montenegro, for a port visit March 11-14. Sailors had the opportunity to experience Montenegro’s culture and spend time engaging with the community, including sporting events with Montenegrin sailors, tours of the towns of Perast, Kotor
UK: HMS Richmond Trains Specialist Navigators
Nudging between the rocks in the Kyle Akin, HMS Richmond is safely guided through narrow waters separating the Scottish mainland from the Isle of Skye by specialist navigators. The navigators have been tested to the limit over the past fortnight aboard the Portsmouth-based frigate, which has sailed
HMS Westminster Sails into London, UK
Royal Navy warship HMS Westminster, which is affiliated to its namesake borough, has arrived on the Thames alongside HMS Belfast for a six-day regional engagement visit. Sailing through the Thames barrier, beneath Tower bridge and past the O2, the Type-23 frigate gracefully transited through the cap
Top News of the Week of Mar 11 – Mar 16, 2013
Three Crew Members of US Navy EA-6B Prowler Jet Die in Aircraft Crash (UPDATE) All three crew members aboard a Navy EA-6B Prowler jet assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron 129 (VAQ-129) at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash., were killed when the aircraft crashed Monday morning in an unpopulate
ESPS Rayo Ensures Safety of MV Royal Grace on Way to Salalah
After MV Royal Grace was released by pirates on Friday 8 March, it was EU Naval Force Spanish Offshore Patrol Vessel ESPS Rayo who ensured that the chemical tanker and her crew stayed safe as the vessel sailed north towards Omani waters. ESPS Rayo was conducting counter piracy patrols last Friday 8
HMS Northumberland Takes Part in Major Exercise Hosted by Pakistani Navy
HMS Northumberland flew the flag for Britain when she was Britain’s participant in a major naval exercise involving more than two dozen nations in Karachi. Hosted by the Pakistani Navy, Exercise Aman – Urdu for ‘peace’ – demonstrates the united resolve of the nations taking part to combat criminal a
UK: Royal Naval Lynx Returns Home after Hunting Pirates
A Royal Naval Lynx returns from its four month embarkation following a unique and successful deployment with a French warship in the Indian Ocean on Counter Piracy Operations. 217 Flight of 815 Naval Air Squadron arrived back at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton to a family welcome following their d