RN Frigates: Type 23 Duke Class

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British warship tracks Russian submarines into North Sea

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/british ... north-sea/

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Six of the best from Kent as frigate is cleared for action

HMS Kent is the navy’s ‘high-readiness frigate’ cleared for action – and autumn deployment – after intensive training in the Channel.
The Portsmouth-based frigate – one of the escorts for the nation’s flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth on her maiden deployment to the Pacific Rim last year – has come through the most demanding assessment the Royal Navy can make of the ship and her 180 men and women.

Having undergone some maintenance following last year’s exertions, the frigate headed to Plymouth, home of Fleet Operational Sea Training which determines whether British – and many NATO – warships are capable of operating on the front line.

Includes:

Week 1: the ship is assessed to see if she’s in the right material condition for the rigours of training, sensors are checked and aligned, and crew are tested on their ability to deal with fires, floods and breakdowns. Engineers fix any faults spotted by the FOST team and warfare specialists hit the simulators to hone individual and team skills ahead of facing real aircraft and submarines.

Week 2: the nuts and bolts of naval warfare: machinery breakdowns, air defence exercises, running out the towed array sonar, a helicopter crash on deck, a Thursday War and running aground.

Week 3: increased battle-damage – a fire in the engine room; weapons systems and sensors failures; a StingRay torpedo malfunctioning on board; a live weekend-long submarine hunt against a Dutch Walrus-class boat; missile hits, multiple fires, floods, a swarm attack from fast inshore craft; and an emergency breakaway while taking on fuel from a tanker.

Week 4: holes in the bow after running into a container lost from a merchant ship, forcing the crew to abandon some compartments; night-time hunts for suspicious vessels; helicopter operations in the dark; radar failures during air raids; more missile hits; the ship’s protection force fending off a mob alongside; another Thursday war; a disaster-relief effort in the wake of ‘Storm Jude’, working in tandem with Kent Police, Fire and Rescue Services.

Week 5: a simulated grounding which demanded Kent was refloated and fully operational again; board-and-search operations involving suspect craft; intense air attacks and serious damage; a search and rescue mission; another, more intense, Thursday war; some gunnery funnery, from 30mm cannons engaging the killer tomato target to a shoot from the main 4.5in.

Week 6: the emphasis is on Tuesday (the most complex air defence exercise yet) and Thursday (final assessment, with crew tested on everything they’d learned since the beginning of June.

See - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... for-action

Link from Tim.

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Navy Lookout

HMS LANCASTER off the UHAF yesterday after receiving a full outfit of Harpoon missiles ahead of her eventual deployment to the Gulf.

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Navy Lookout

HMS LANCASTER off the UHAF yesterday after receiving a full outfit of Harpoon missiles ahead of her eventual deployment to the Gulf.

HMS LANCASTER

Harpoons.

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Navy Lookout 47m ago 2300 on 11th August 2022

HMS LANCASTER, HMS Westminster and HMS KENT alongside at Fountain Lake Jetty, Portsmouth today. Flying ensigns at half mast - reason unknown.
See - https://twitter.com/NavyLookout/status/ ... 1826539520

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HMS Lancaster sails for three years forward-deployed in the Gulf


HMS Lancaster sails from Portsmouth on Monday 15th August and will not return home for three years, being forward-deployed in the Middle East and based in Bahrain.

HMS Montrose arrived in Bahrain in April 2019 after a six-month journey using the westward route through the Panama Canal, taking in visits to Asia-Pacific nations. Lancaster will eventually relive Montrose but not before serving with Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1) in the waters of Northern Europe and then later joining SNMG2 in the Mediterranean.

Between serving with the maritime groups, Lancaster will participate in NATO exercise REP(MUS) 22 (Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping augmented by Maritime Unmanned Systems) and Dynamic Messenger 22 to be held off the coast of Portugal in September. More than 40 uncrewed systems are due to be tested at REP(MUS) – NATO’s largest autonomous experimentation forum. Dynamic Messenger (23-30 September) is an opportunity for NATO operational communities to work together with industry and academia. The aim of the two exercises is to test how new systems can operate safely and effectively with NATO assets, and how collectively allied nations can exploit the technology and harness the information autonomous systems gather.

Continues at - https://www.navylookout.com/hms-lancast ... -the-gulf/

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Royal Navy frigate HMS Argyll – first to have post-LIFEX upkeep period


Babcock International has started the first upkeep period of a Type 23 frigate that has already undergone a major life-extension (LIFEX) refit.

Commissioned in 1991, HMS Argyll is the oldest remaining frigate in service. Having completed the first LIFEX refit carried out at Devonport (Jun 2015 – Feb 2017), she was subsequently worked hard, serving all over the world. By September 2021, when this author visited her, she was looking distinctly tired. In May 2022 she was handed over to Babcock and her ship’s company moved over to HMS Iron Duke (due to emerge soon from the basin on completion of her LIFEX).

Argyll is in the Frigate Support Centre in Devonport undergoing work that will see her serving until around 2027-28 when she will effectively be replaced by either HMS Glasgow (the first Type 26) or HMS Venturer (the first Type 31).

A new approach to re-certification is being adopted, she is being prepared for a Lloyds structural survey to achieve a full ship assessment in just 9 weeks. Sarah Hilder, Project Manager said: “by implementing new efficient and innovative processes we are striving to complete the project in a vastly reduced timescale compared to a standard upkeep”.

Due to her limited time left in service, she will not receive the diesel engine replacement – Power Generation Machinery Upgrade (PGMU) that will be applied to many of her sisters but key equipment is being overhauled and there will be various minor capability improvements. Formerly a ‘stag ship’, there will also be modifications to accommodation to allow mixed crewing and she will be completely repainted before she re-joins the fleet in 2023.

See - https://www.navylookout.com/royal-navy- ... ep-period/

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HMS Somerset suffers major systems failure after leak

The Type 23 Frigate remains alongside at Rosyth after an emergency drydocking following “a major leak” earlier in the year and a recent “major failure” of her systems, with her becoming a “dead ship” for a short time.

Continues at - https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/hms-som ... 9sJPAk75pY

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Ship's company HMS Northumberland and HMS Westminster honour the new king and conduct 21-gun salutes at sea.

See video at - https://twitter.com/NavyLookout/status/ ... 9676827656

[Seems even Killicks have Twizzle sticks these days!]

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HMA LANCASTER

Autogryo flies over HMS LANCASTER alongside in Portugal - one of the aircraft types being tested during NATO exercise REPMUS22
See - https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_207293.htm

HMS Lancaster due to embark the RN's first RWUAV for her future deployment in the Gulf. Camcopter is S-100 a prime candidate.