Royal Navy monitors Russian frigate in UK waters for entire month
Patrol ships HMS Tyne, HMS Mersey and HMS Severn have watched the frigate Admiral Grigorovich. Source link
All posts tagged: Royal Navy
Royal Navy warship HMS Iron Duke ‘quietly withdrawn’ to leave Britain with just five active frigates
The Royal Navy’s active frigate fleet has reportedly shrunk to just five vessels after HMS Iron Duke was effectively taken out of service, despite no official decommissioning announcement. The Type 23 warship has been stripped of its weapons and sensors and has not been operational at sea since last October, according to specialist news website Navy Lookout. This development comes as the Ministry of Defence (MoD) progresses plans to replace its Type 23 frigates, including HMS Iron Duke, with a new generation of warships. Eight anti-submarine warfare Type 26 frigates are expected to join the fleet before 2030, complemented by five general-purpose Type 31 frigates. The MoD plans to replace Type 23 frigates, including HMS Iron Duke, with a new generation of warships (PA Media) The modernisation aims to build a “hybrid” force, integrating crewed ships with drones and other advanced technology, a vision outlined by First Sea Lord General Sir Gwyn Jenkins. The decision to effectively sideline HMS Iron Duke follows the government’s confirmation last November that a planned conversion project for the vessel …
Humiliation for Starmer as UK warship HMS Iron Duke taken out of service | Politics | News
The Royal Navy has been left with only five active frigates after another warship was withdrawn, it has emerged. It is believed HMS Iron Duke is unlikely to set sail again, heaping further pressure on the stretched Senior Service. HMS Iron Duke has reportedly been stripped of her weapons and sensors. The Type 23 frigate has not been to sea since October and has been effectively withdrawn from active service, according to specialist website Navy Lookout. It comes less than three years after the warship completed a five-year life extension programme, costing £103 million. The Navy’s Duke-class Type 23 frigates have an end of service date in 2035 but are gradually being retired. There has been no formal decommissioning announcement regarding HMS Iron Duke. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said any decision will be announced “in the usual way”. Retiring HMS Iron Duke would leave the Navy with just five frigates, with HMS Richmond’s decommissioning this year confirmed. The Type 23s are mainly used to monitor potential Russian activity in waters around the UK, with …
HMS Queen Elizabeth sails under Forth Bridge for post-maintenance sea trials
The aircraft carrier has been docked at Rosyth in Fife since July. Source link
Record-breaking nuclear submarine patrol shows ‘something is wrong’ | UK | News
A record-breaking deployment of a Royal Navy nuclear-armed submarine shows there is “something wrong”, a former chief has warned. HMS Vanguard returned to her Faslane base on Saturday following 205 days under the waves. The huge patrol beats the previous record of 204 days, also set by HMS Vanguard, last year. The ageing Vanguard-class submarines, which carry the UK’s Trident nuclear deterrent missiles, have suffered from repeated availability issues in recent years amid maintenance delays. Former Navy chief Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, who was Chief of the Defence Staff between 2021 and 2025, said HMS Vanguard’s deployment is concerning. Speaking to The Sun, who broke the story, he said: “There is something wrong when sailors are having to put to sea for extraordinarily long patrols in complex machines beyond their original design life.” The Navy has four Vanguard-class submarines which first entered service 33 years ago, designed to deploy for up to between three to four months at a time. At least one of the boats is always on patrol upholding the UK’s Continuous At-Sea …
Express readers say youngsters on benefits should do national service | Politics | News
Most Express readers believe young Britons not in work or education should take part in national service, according to a new poll. It comes after a former senior Army officer suggested the idea to counter Britain’s shrinking military. In a poll of nearly 3,100 Express readers, around 95% (2,920) answered ‘yes’ when asked whether youngsters on benefits should take part in national service. Almost 5% (146) answered ‘no’, while less than 1% (23) said ‘don’t know’. Britain ended national service in 1960 but there have been growing calls for it to be re-introduced amid concerns over the size of the UK Armed Forces, with the Army the smallest it has been since the Napoleonic era. Major General Tim Cross, a retired logistics officer, said the Government should consider introducing options for young people not working or studying to serve in the military as part of a national service programme. Mr Cross, who said he was not calling for conscription, told Times Radio: “I understand there are something like 800,000 youngsters between the ages of about …
Benefit-claiming Brits should face military service, ex-Major General says | Politics | News
The calls have grown louder in past months due to soaring tensions and concerns over the size of the UK Armed Forces. Germany and France are among the nations to have recently reintroduced new forms of military service to beef up their militaries, while other European nations continue to have conscription programmes. Retired logistics officer Mr Cross said he was not calling for conscription, but instead for options to serve in the Armed Forces as part of a national service programme. He told Times Radio: “I understand there are something like 800,000 youngsters between the ages of about 18 and 25 who are not in work, not in training, not in education. “We are short of soldiers, sailors and airmen. What are we doing paying these youngsters welfare money when we could be saying to them: ‘You’re going to join the military’?” He admitted the military would struggle to welcome a significant number of young people on national service, but said: “We can do something and we can begin that process.” France, Germany, the Netherlands …
‘Real reason’ Navy won’t board Russian ships revealed as Putin keeps defying UK | UK | News
Vladimir Putin uses the shadow fleet to circumnavigate sanctions and help fuel the war in Ukraine (Image: Getty) The Royal Navy is yet to seize any suspected Russian shadow fleet vessels because of Government fears it would breach international law, it has been claimed. It comes just two weeks after Sir Keir Starmer gave UK forces the green light to intercept the sanctioned vessels in British waters. However, no interceptions have occurred despite dozens of the ships continuing to transit off the UK coast. On Wednesday, Vladimir Putin sent a warship to escort two sanctioned tankers through the English Channel. The incident raised new concerns over the Government’s attempts to stop the shadow fleet and why no interdictions had been carried out despite the Prime Minister’s boarding threat. READ MORE: Putin laughing after throwing down the gauntlet to Starmer on our doorstep READ MORE: I was in the room as a Royal Navy deployment to face Putin’s thugs was announced Navy support ship RFA Tideforce tracked the Russian warship and sanctioned vessels on Wednesday (Image: …
Exclusive: Putin mocks Starmer with warship in Channel
Vladimir Putin has openly defied Sir Keir Starmer’s threat to seize sanctioned Russian vessels by sending a warship to escort them through the Channel. The Admiral Grigorovich, a Black Sea fleet frigate, accompanied a pair of shadow fleet ships on Wednesday while a British naval vessel followed behind. Positioned on the Royal Charlotte, a boat almost 10 miles from Dover, The Telegraph observed Putin’s flotilla cruising past the south coast while RFA Tideforce, a Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker, trailed in their wake. Last month, Sir Keir gave special forces the authority to capture the armada of rusted ships illegally ferrying oil to support Russia’s war in Ukraine, saying he would hit the shadow fleet “even harder” if they sailed through British waters. However, Britain is yet to seize a single Russian vessel. The Prime Minister has repeatedly faced criticism regarding the state of the Royal Navy and Britain’s Armed Forces. After an Iranian-made drone hit RAF Akrotiri, HMS Dragon, Britain’s only deployable destroyer, was sent to the Middle East, but took three weeks to arrive …
SNP calls for inquiry into Trident security after Joani Reid reports
The party wants an probe after the Labour MP, whose husband is accused of spying for China, allegedly behaved inappropriately with Navy officers. Source link