RN Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) - River Class

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HMS Trent seen in dry Dock in Gibraltar yesterday with RFA Tidesurge in the harbour beyond.

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HMS Spey conducts patrol in Pacific


Offshore patrol ship HMS Spey joined navies, coast guards and police in the southwest Pacific on a concerted effort to protect local fishing stocks, say the Royal Navy.
“Over ten days Spey took part in Operation Island Chief, one of four concerted efforts every year focusing on detecting, reporting, apprehending and deterring illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. Illegal fishing is estimated to cost the Pacific Island nations more than US $150m (£127m) every year in lost revenue.

Seventeen nations have joined forces to monitor activities across a vast area of the Pacific – more than 18.4 million square kilometers of ocean, 30 times larger than the North Sea and rich with tuna – covering waters in the economic exclusion zones of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu amongst others.

It’s the first time the Royal Navy has taken part in the operation, one of many varied missions as part of the broader five-year Pacific mission by sister patrol ships HMS Spey and Tamar.”

Source UKDJ
Link from Tim.

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Latest article:

The first year – Royal Navy OPVs deployed in the Pacific

https://navylookout.com/the-first-year- ... e-pacific/

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HMS Forth alongside in Brazil at the conclusion of exercise UNITAS 2022
See - https://twitter.com/HMS_Forth/status/15 ... 6762133504

Brazil Hosts the 63rd Edition of Exercise UNITAS
See - https://dialogo-americas.com/articles/b ... y2_NS1Q2DU

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Patrol ship HMS Spey joined Australia’s largest military exercise – the first time a Royal Navy warship has taken part.

Staged every two years, Exercise Kakadu – in 2022 played out in the northern Australia with the port city of Darwin as the hub – focuses on the ability of the Royal Australian Navy and her partners/allies to operate and fight together.
See - https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/british ... n-pacific/

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HMS SPey participates in multi-nation naval exercise Sama Sama-Lumbas with UK, US, JAPAN, HOLLAND AND PHILLIPINE ships and aircraft held off Cebu. Including boat transfer with JMSDF ShinMaywa US-2 amphibious SAR aircraft.

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Royal Navy Ship torches smuggler’s boat carrying £24m of cocaine in Caribbean

Dramatic images show the torching of a drug smugglers' boat after a tense chase with a naval warship in the Caribbean.

See - https://news.sky.com/story/royal-navy-s ... n-12732650

Link from Tim.

[Brian James]

Batch 2 River Class OPV HMS Spey pictured on arrival at Kure on November 19th 2022.

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SPEY

British patrol ship HMS Spey has taken part in one of the Pacific’s largest military exercises – the first time the Royal Navy has joined in Exercise Keen Sword.
With 36,000 military personnel, 30 ships and 370 aircraft participating – drawn primarily from Japan and the USA, with Australia and Canada also joining in, the ten-day exercise is a major test of forces by land, sea and air.

This year the ten-day military workout focused on a combined response to armed attacks aimed at testing the readiness of participating countries whilst improving the ability of the participating nations to work seamlessly together.

Continues at - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... glorzMXG7o

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The first year – Royal Navy OPVs deployed in the Pacific


HMS Tamar and HMS Spey sailed from Portsmouth on 7th September 2021 to be forward deployed in the Pacific for at least the next five years. A year on from their departure we look at what has been achieved and the benefits of a permanent Royal Navy presence in the region.

SpeyMar
Officially called Task Group 326.03, unofficially called ‘SpeyMar’, the RN’s two newest OPVs left Portsmouth to considerable fanfare. They are the most tangible representation of the UK’s new ‘Pacific tilt’ policy and the deployment has been subject of some misunderstanding and controversy. OPVs armed with a 30mm gun and other light defensive weaponry are neither capable of, nor intended to, affect the military balance in the region. Notably, neither ship was assigned to RIMPAC 2022 – the world’s largest multi-national naval exercise held in July. Underlining that they are not intended as combat vessels, they have instead concentrated on constabulary, humanitarian, conservation and diplomatic work.

These ships may, however, significantly contribute to the RN’s future effectiveness by rekindling a network of relationships which includes other militaries, diplomats, friends and partners in the region. What may be dismissed as merely ‘showing the flag’ has a deeper value, should the RN want to deploy more capable combat ships to the Pacific in future the, RN is already on the front foot with allies and partners who can help with logistical and base support. As Pinstripe blog notes, for navies that aspire to global reach such as China, this can only be achieved with access to local airports and harbours. “China lacks much in the way of meaningful access to do this – beyond Djibouti, there is no military base that hosts Chinese forces in the Indian Ocean, and no known arrangements to share fuel and supplies from third-party nations. By contrast, the Royal Navy enjoys excellent global logistical arrangements thanks to decades of defence diplomacy helping ensure that when an RN vessel pulls into ports, it can carry out the full range of resupply and storing. This isn’t something that can be taken for granted”.

The RN is also growing a small cadre of officers with recent operating experience in the very different conditions of the Pacific beyond the usual areas of operations. For the sailors, there is now a chance of a varied assignment that offers the opportunity to see exotic and unusual places beyond the more commonly visited places in Europe and the Gulf. Both ships have also hosted Officers Under Training for their initial sea time, lucky enough to be selected to get their first experience at sea in the Pacific.

https://www.navylookout.com/the-first-y ... e-pacific/