Type 23 Frigate HMS Montrose today celebrates 1,000 days in the Gulf keeping sea lanes open and tackling drug smugglers.
The Royal Navy said in a news release that the frigate and her 200 sailors and Royal Marines have “provided a constant presence by a major Royal Navy warship in the Middle East since April 11 2019, working with other British and allied vessels to safeguard shipping, keep sea lanes open and stop trafficking”.
Operating out of Bahrain – where the facilities and personnel of the UK Naval Support Facility, which opened in 2018, are key to sustaining basing Royal Navy ships in the Gulf – in her 1,000 days in theatre Montrose has:
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Commodore Ed Ahlgren, Commander UK Maritime Component Command, senior Royal Navy officer in the Middle East said:
“I am delighted to mark 1000 days of HMS Montrose in theatre. She has had many successes whilst in the region, including narcotics seizures and maintaining free and safe passage for shipping around three of the busiest trade chokepoints in the world. Montrose and her crews should be proud of what they have achieved.”
According to the news release:
“Montrose was in the vanguard of a programme to deploy major Royal Navy warships around the world for several years at a time. Patrol ships have since been committed to the Caribbean, Mediterranean and, most recently, Asia-Pacific region on extended missions.
The initiative spares ships the long journey home to the UK every six or so months, with maintenance being carried out wherever the vessels are operating, and some – or, in the case of Montrose, all – crew changing every few months.”
Commander Claire Thompson, Commanding Officer of Montrose’s Starboard Crew who are in charge of the ship until spring said:
“I am immensely proud of what both crews have achieved during the past three years. Our enduring presence in this region has shown the commitment the UK has to ensure the stability and security of the Gulf region along with our allies. This couldn’t be achieved without the commitment of our personnel and their support from their families back home.”
HMS Montrose returns home later in 2022.
The Royal Navy’s fascination with the length of sausages is interesting.
Quite, how much electricity was consumed by ipads and iphones – we need to know!
Ok you need to stop this isn’t that kind of site. 😐
At 316′ or 96m that’s 9,796 feet of bangers which averages out at approximately 5″ per banger (pretty measly).
RU sure?
It passes for erotica.
In related news: Transport for London have donated the Standard London Bus to the London Transport Museum. The Routemaster RM, from which all tabloid length comparisons derive, will be kept in an evacuated dome to ensure the continuing precision of the length that now excludes the wad of chewing gum attached to the bumper since 1994. A spokesman for TfL denied that it was simply too dangerous for them to house the bus following last year’s chip riots, when fisticuffs erupted over whether the chips in the Standard Fish Supper should be fried in oil or lard. “If it was… Read more »
Hey hey are you talking about Yorkies cos if you are .. Well yeah fair enough. By the way oil is for wimps and southerners !
Best fish and chips I ever had was in the north east at an industrial museum called Beamish. Old Victroian era chippie reconditioned, coal fired and everything cooked in beef dripping. Absolutely amazing.
As a southerner with northern heritage, I can never look at London fish and chips the same way again.
Spot on. Fish n Chips the old fashioned way is unhealthy so it should be a treat not a staple. 😀
I heard that the French wouldn’t let the Standard Routemaster become an SI unit!
After such an achievement she will return home later in 2022 and be decommissioned and scrapped……
Which GP23 will take her place in role?
Think it will be HMS Lancaster. Montrose is being scrapped to avoid LIFEX but I guess it’s swings and roundabouts as some of the other T23’s will soldier on for longer than planned to (hopefully) keep 17 escorts as the rock bottom number before the fleet begins to grow around 2027 with the new classes.
HMS Montrose has been through LIFEX,she was one of the first to do so.
Yes but she didn’t get the power upgrade and she has been worked much harder than the others – so probably a good decision for her to go first – otherwise she would need a major refit and powerplant upgrade to get a few more months of service.
Thanks James. I forgot she’d been through LIFEX but towards the beginning of the program. As you say she’s been worked hard and the trade-off is extending other T23’s in service to ensure 17 escorts are available.
Montrose had LIFEX already – seems odd to decommission her on that basis. Is she totally, totally warn out or is it just to re-invest the £
well explained by James above
I remember Montrose coming out of a minor refit and going straight back in to LIFEX. She may need a maintenance period alongside but I wouldn’t have thought she was worn out by any means?
Right. Ta.
Montrose is almost certainly one of the two T23’s that HM Government is rumoured have offered to gift to Greece, as long as they buy 4 T31s from Babcock. France has claimed repeatedly since September 2021 that it had won the Greek frigate competition but apparently only a MOU was signed in December 2021, not a contract. So still a possbility of a last minute gazzump! To sweeten the deal even further, Babcock is now offering to build the ships at a Greek shipyard.
Given how busy the Straits of Hormuz are, escorting only 112 vessels, seems a bit on the low side !
I think a zero might have gone stray?
I think the question the public will be asking is:”how many double decker buses worth of tea did the crew brew?”
public relations seems intent on making life in the RN seem even more mundane than civilian life.
BZ Oppos, Good Effort 🥃 Up Spirits. 🇬🇧🌍Salute ⚓
Wow that’s why they won’t come back.
Seized over 6½ tonnes of illegal narcotics (734kg heroin, 500kg meth, 5,533kg hash)
1000 days of party time 🥳
Snorkers … good-oh!
For most of the time out in the Gulf, Montrose has proven to be in a good condition. The Hull is sound. 2x new/refurbed fwd DG Sets installed. New radar turning unit, worn steel replaced when it’s required, decks and superstructure painted and maintained.
I wouldn’t be surprised if she is asked to continue on for a little longer than planned to fill in doing the GP role ( manpower dependent)
Lancaster will take over later in the year.
Sssssh
That is positive common sense stuff. Won’t be welcome to all ears!
I could see that given the delays to getting T45’s through the PIP program.
She is credible and she works.
We where working on her before Christmas for a 4 week alongside maintenance period. She remained at 47 hours notice for see and had a lot of survey and corrective maintenance done, just as she would if alongside in GUZ.
She will probably get one more alongside maintenance period before heading home later on in the year.
The keel must need some attention at this stage !