Romanian Frigate ROS Regina Maria is returning to Romania.
The vessel was part of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2).
On the 9th of November the crew was tested for COVID-19 and it was found that a significant number of the crew had tested positive, resulting in the vessel being withdrawn from operations.
The Regina Maria is a Type 22 Frigate, formerly HMS London. She was sold to Romania in 2003.
According to a NATO statement:
“Upon arrival in the Port of Constanta, Romania, containment and quarantine measures will be applied to the entire crew on board the ship and the health of crew will be monitored on an ongoing basis. If the health of some crew members requires additional measures, they will be evacuated and admitted to medical treatment facilities in accordance with the national procedures in force.
The health of our forces is vitally important to maintaining readiness to deter and defend our homelands. The NATO naval forces continue to adapt their methods and procedures of action to the current health context caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The Alliance say that SNMG2 is one of four standing forces that comprise the maritime component of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, which is part of the NATO Response Force.
“To respond to contingency situations additional forces can be added to these groups, with the NATO command staff on board and the ships of the group as the nucleus, capable of providing timely support to NATO operations. The Group continues their mission of high readiness patrol in the Mediterranean.”
Loved the T22s. I see they’ve stuck a gun on it!
Yes, they were well thought out ships.
Unless you wanted naval gunfire support!
I suspect the gun is more for constabulary duties where a big grey hull pointing a gun like thing is enough to get the other party to heave to and do as its is told. Or maybe a few warning shots.
Wonder what the gun is? I suspect it is non deck penetrating with a small inbuilt magazine.
What you see is what you get. She has an Oto 76mm and that’s pretty much if you don’t include the helicopter. The 76 is her main offensive weapon and the primary one for air defence.
It seems these Ex Type 22’s were pending an Upgrade that never Happened,now still being used as they are NATO Compatible.Romania faffed about trying to Buy Four New Corvettes from Damen (Sigma) but now has Four Ordered with Naval Group ( Gowind Class )
The Romanians have been running her since 2003!! Why oh why did we ever get rid of the batch 3’s so early? Granted they were somewhat shy of noise reduction features for a TA frigate, but as a GP unit – great looking ships.
Blair’s 1997 SDSR. I think some of the earlier batch 2s had already gone with the 1995 cuts before London Sheffield and Coventry joined them out the door.
Was always strange to me that they were built without a main gun.
The B3s rectified that, they were my favs.
Gunbuster on here served on them and comes out with fascinating details.
I have in my Collection a Glass Paperweight with a Holographic Etch of this very same Ship.
Agreed, a fine looking ship, Daniele.
The Batch 3s were scrapped far too early.
Gunbuster knows his shit on these ships…..in fact all ships, and when he posts, we all read and learn.
Really interesting, disease and public health has always had a massive impact on a national ability to fight a war. Covid-19 will focus military planners back to something that I think western nations especially are not very good at understanding at the visceral level and that’s the impact of infectious disease on organisations and the ability of an organisation to achieve its objectives.
We have been so effective at managing disease for a couple of generations that most have forgotten the monumentally hard challenge controlling infectious disease actually is.
Any student of warfare needs to understand the impact of infectious disease and public health on warfare ( disease has ended countless field armies Ability to fight before a battle was ever fought and the health of entire populations has been shattered by war )
for anyone interested a bit of reading into the health of the nation at the end of the Victorian age and it’s impact on British army recruitment during the second boer war is worth exploring.
Also a look at and gaining an understanding of:
1) the impact of infectious disease on the Crimea campaign.
2) how this then changed during the First World War ( but don’t just look at numbers killed, look at the specific diseases related to that war and also start to look at mental health, as you can see the begins of the understanding around mental health impacts on solders as well as subtle effects of lower level blast injury on the brain).
3) A look at the 1918 pandemic as there is some good evidence this was driven by the after effects of WW1 ( poor conditions especially for solders, lots of movement of people).
4) Public health in the Second World War, this is a great area for anyone interested in defence to study. As the focus of war moved to attacking a whole nation ability to support a field army and not just attacking the field army itself. So the impact of disease and the fight against it moved in the civilian domain, as we now shatter infrastructure as part of war ( we now have a couple of modern example to study as well).
Many, many, moons ago, was their not a Defence School of Medicine or some such, near Millbank, Westminster?