US Navy’s Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55) arrived to Souda Bay, Greece, on December 10. The vessel pulled into the Marathi NATO pier facility during a scheduled port visit. Leyte Gulf, homeported in Norfolk, is conducting naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of
849 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) has set off for the Gulf this week to support Royal Navy and coalition forces on operations in the Middle East. 849 NAS has played an essential role in training the Culdrose Sea King Force aircrew and engineers as well as supporting frontline operations. It has also supp
Representatives from international counter-piracy organisations, as well as nations deploying warships independently, have gathered in Bahrain to discuss how they can best work together to combat the threat posed to shipping by criminal gangs from Somalia. NATO chaired the 34th Shared Awareness and
Off the coast of Chile the heads of the Royal, Canadian, German and Chilean Navies saluted the fallen of the Great War. Nearly 1,600 British and Commonwealth sailors who were killed when their ships went down at the Battle of Coronel in 1914 – the Royal Navy’s first major defeat in more than a centu
With less than a week to go before they arrive back in the UK, HMS Bulwark’s embarked Royal Marines put on a showstopper by storming a beach in Gibraltar. Exercise Sea Snake saw commandos from Charlie Company 40 Commando and 4 Assault Squadron Royal Marines (ASRM) land on East Beach in Gibraltar for
Whilst deployed on operations in the Middle East, HMS Defender’s helicopter Miss Adventure has celebrated her 35th birthday. The Westland Lynx Mk 8 helicopter normally based at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovil has been embarked on the fifth Type 45 Destroyer since the Ship departed Portsmouth at the b
On 10 December 2014 Spanish Navy warship ESPS Navarra headed for home after completing a deployment with the EU Naval Force in the Indian Ocean. ESPS Navarra joined Operation Atalanta, the EU’s counter-piracy mission off the coast of Somalia, on 23rd July. Since then she has completed a range of dut
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon today visited Defence facilities in Plymouth and Devonport, meeting key Royal Navy personnel and engaging with city officials and industrial partners over forthcoming investment plans to transform part of the naval base for commercial use. The visit marks a number of
On Monday 8 December Spanish warship ESPS Rayo joined the EU Naval Force. The ship will be deployed at sea in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden for the next 6 months. Following an intense period of operational sea training, ESPS Rayo departed her home port of Las Palmas on 17 November, with an [&hel
On Friday 5 December EU Naval Force Spanish frigate, ESPS Navarra, rendezvoused at sea with the EU Naval Force flagship, ITS Andrea Doria, off the coast of Somalia. After sailing near to each other, the Commanding Officer of ESPS Navarra, Commander Alejandro Cuerda Lorenzo, and two Spanish journalis
General Dynamics UK has been awarded a contract by AgustaWestland to provide mission system equipment for UK AW101 Merlin Mk4/4a helicopters. This contract is part of the Merlin Life Sustainment Programme (MLSP), which was awarded to AgustaWestland by the UK Ministry of Defence in January 2014 to co
Pyotr Velikiy, Russian Navy’s fourth Kirov-class battle cruiser, yesterday deployed on a mission to undertake submarine seeking exercises. The main goal of these drills is to provide the crew of Pyotr Velikiy, as well as the submarines involved in the exercise, with practical experience. The exercis
On Sunday 7 December Djiboutian Prime Minister Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed awarded Commander Bernard Baron (French Navy) the rank and dignity of Officer of the National Order of 27th of June. Commander Baron was presented with the award for his ‘outstanding service and assistance given to the Djibouti
The Royal Navy’s drug busting warship HMS Argyll is heading home for Christmas having dealt another blow to the drugs trade in the North Atlantic. The frigate has been deployed for six months and the final nine weeks of this have been spent on highly successful counter narcotics operations in the Ca
