The Royal Navy’s Caribbean-based patrol vessel HMS Medway has conducted live gunnery exercises in equatorial waters while crossing the Line, marking a traditional milestone for sailors and a routine test of the ship’s weapon readiness.
HMS Medway’s crew released footage and images on social media showing the 30mm DS30B cannon firing during what the ship described as “professional, prepared, and always ready†training. The offshore patrol vessel, normally stationed in the Caribbean for counter-narcotics missions and disaster response, remained in the region after this year’s hurricane season before transiting south.
Nothing like the sound of the 30mm. 🔥
HMS MEDWAY conducted live-firing in equatorial waters
Professional, prepared, and always ready. âš“ï¸#RoyalNavy #RN #gunneryisfunnery #ForwardDeployed pic.twitter.com/DPsH1n9Lod— HMS Medway (@HMS_Medway) December 7, 2025
The ship also held the long-standing naval ceremony of Crossing the Line, overseen by the character of King Neptune, where “first-timers paid tribute and earned their Shellback status,†the ship said. The event is a rite of passage for sailors who cross the Equator for the first time.
Routine firing of the 30mm system allows crews to practise against simulated threats such as fast craft, drones and small surface targets, ensuring rapid response in the event of real-world incidents.
HMS Medway, a 2,000-tonne Batch 2 River-class offshore patrol vessel, carries a crew of around 40 and is equipped with a 30mm cannon, Browning .50 calibre heavy machine guns and advanced navigation radars. Regular gunnery training is central to forward-deployed patrol ships, which operate far from UK support and often at short notice in hurricane zones or during regional security missions. HMS Medway was relieved this autumn on its primary Caribbean tasking by HMS Trent, but has continued operations in the wider region before heading south through equatorial waters.
See the barrel whip in that slo-mo!
Is she visiting Rio? More navy business to discuss with Brazil?
So, where next for HMS Medway?
Newhaven!
RNR Sussex?
Just Joking. They are restricting overseas training. That’s all I meant but how good is that for recruiting?
Could do with up arming all of these batch 2’s
It sort of depends on what you are doing with them..if you want them to trot around safe EEZs like the Caribbean or local UK EEZ work then they are fine as they are.
The problem has come about due to the UK having about 19 to few major escorts, in that HMG has tasked the RN with presence patrols around Africa, the Middle East, west and east pacific.. and the reality is those presence patrols are really the job of a patrol or GP frigate, even at the best of times and we are now at the worst of times.. so any ship doing that needs to be able to defend itself against deniable kinetic attacks.. so that means a good meduim gun 57-76mm as well as some self defence AAW missiles ( a patrol frigate).
So the answer is for those rivers2s doing the job of a GP or escort frigate they should have the defensive armaments of a GP/Patrol frigate.
“..so any ship doing that needs to be able to defend itself against deniable kinetic attacks.. so that means a good meduim gun 57-76mm as well as some self defence AAW missiles ( a patrol frigate)…”
Agreed Jonathan!
As I read in an previous article on here, the River Class have the potential to be upgraded, let’s call them ‘pocket patrol frigates’ PPFs’?
As they come through the PIP program and since we won’t be swanning around the ‘Indo- Pacific’, we will also have the T45s to cover for the GP frigate gap. I think enhancing the R2s will fall into the ‘nice to have’ category.
She’s the tonnage of a WW2 ‘destroyer’ like the Tribal Class. In those days we armed our ships with actual Guns. 8 x4.7″ and 5 x 21″ Torpedoes and various anti- aircraft etc. 36Kn. In effect a small ‘cruiser’! in the terminology of the day.
Good too see the Barrel locked in ,with no BBC filming a documentary .Flying barrels not this time ,then again it was on X ,not main stream media.
Have Brazil started construction of their new OPVs? They are planning 11 new NPa500MB…3 of which they want for MCMV. Maybe the batch 1 Rivers would suit?