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
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
USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) had eight sailors from the Italian Marina Militare set sail with the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group (KSGARG) March 11. The Italian team is accompanying their AV-8B Harrier II to Italy after completing a scheduled Preventative Maintenance Inspection (PMI) at Marine Corps Air S
Guided-missile destroyer USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109) transited the Suez Canal, March 16 completing her first deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility (AOR). The ship and crew spent approximately six months in the 5th Fleet AOR promoting maritime security operations and theater security
Playing a key role in the EU Naval Force Somalia – Operation Atalanta are the Spanish Airforce P3-M Orion Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft (MPRA). The aircraft are based in Djibouti and have been a stalwart part of the operation since 3 January 2009, they provide an unbroken expertise ass
Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, has taken the helm of a new training facility at HMS Raleigh during his final visit to the establishment before his retirement next month. Admiral Stanhope took the controls of the Heavy Replenishment at Sea demonstrator whi
Royal Navy frigate HMS Northumberland has intercepted two high speed drug smuggling skiffs in the Gulf of Oman, carrying an estimated £5.4m of cannabis resin. Having identified two suspicious high speed skiffs during a routine patrol, the Plymouth-based frigate embarked on a 30 mile pursuit and inte
HMS Dragon sailed from Portsmouth on Tuesday (March 19) on her maiden deployment, spending seven months on operations in the Middle East where she will build on the UK’s long term commitment to allies and regional partners[ in the world’s maritime centre of gravity. The Type 45 destroyer will police
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
Babcock has been awarded a four year contract by the UK MoD for the manufacture, supply, repair and provision of technical services for maritime constructive engineering equipment for all Royal Navy ships and submarines. Under the £11m+ contract Babcock will supply a core project management service
HMS Defender – the fifth of the Royal Navy’s powerful new Type 45 destroyers – will be formally commissioned into the fleet on Thursday (March 21). Hundreds of guests including families of the 190 ship’s company will attend a colourful ‘Christening’ ceremony at Portsmouth Naval Base to mark the ship
Sailors on board a Royal Navy warship operating off the coast of Africa have saved the life of a Japanese fisherman who had suffered a serious head injury. HMS Argyll was on operations approximately 20 miles off the Cape Verde coast when she received the news that a fisherman onboard the Trawler Wak
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
One-tonne models of the Royal Navy’s future carriers and the tankers which will support them are being tested in a giant water tank in Gosport. A 1:44 scale model of HMS Queen Elizabeth and RFA Tidespring have been practising replenishments at sea in calm and rough waters at the ‘ocean basin’ test f
