HMS Diamond has sailed from Portsmouth for the Mediterranean where the ship will provide ‘reassurance to allies in the region’ say the Ministry of Defence.
Commander Ben Keith, the Commanding Officer of HMS Diamond, said:
“I’m thrilled that HMS Diamond is once again at sea on operations to keep our nation safe. I am proud of every single sailor in this ship for the work they have put in to get us ready for this mission. I also want to pay tribute to our families as none of what we do could be achieved without their support while we are away from home.”
HMS Diamond recently returned from a visit to the Polish port of Gdynia, and had previously been involved in monitoring Russian warship activity in areas of UK interest.
Lieutenant Commander Oliver Clark, the ship’s Logistics Officer, said:
“After a busy summer we are ready to get back to work for our next mission, having spent a short period alongside to get ready. This is going to be a challenging deployment for everyone on board, but pressure is what makes a Diamond shine.”
The biggest question on the navy’s mind right now, must be how are we going to balance the requirement set by the government to have ships all over the planet and at the same time being asked to cut hulls.
I assume the answer will be to use OPV’s in a corvette style role and keep the larger ships to the higher risk roles / carrier escort.
Or just arm the tugs that accompany the T45s…
I’ve got a couple of kayaks, I’ll take care of the North sea.
The rugs are busy providing escort for the t45s, so can’t be deployed on their own.
More seriously, considering they were using enterprise as a frigate, i doubt it will be long before they call the tugs war ships and out doing some policing roles
Is it just me or is there not an increasing operational tempo for the armed forces? Is something in the air?
The mini SDSR, I suspect is what is in the air. The Navy is trying to show how useful it is, to push cuts on the other services
At the expense of the troops and sailors. Morale is rock bottom.
An interesting post by Helions in another thread,
“This doesn’t bode well either…”
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-30/us-naval-blockade-russian-energy-exports-option-interior-secretary
This is also interesting and a little disturbing, I mentioned that this could be a possibility in a past thread and it appears to be the case?
https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/russia-moves-s300-missiles-jamming-gear-to-syria-amid-threats-to-shoot-down-attackers/news-story/38d0f23d3fe343842b92849f9b378c47
This just shows why we need the T31s. Sending a T45 is just massive overkill, save them for carrier protection.
Agree.
We have escorts for the carriers.
But they are sent chasing pirates drug smugglers and flag waving.
Ridiculous.
We need more River types and T31 sharpish.
Silly situation when the RN has to justify its existence by sending its best assets on constabulary roles in order to try and stave off cuts. For me the T31 is the answer, River2 would be if it had a hangar.
There is a Type 45 offshore where I live in Ventnor Isle of Wight right now, I can see her from my balcony, I’m guessing its her? She does not have harpoon fitted.
Personally, I think we are sending the right ship with the right message. A Type 23 would have been a good choice as well.
August 29
“Russian defense officials could not be reached for comment. At least eight ships, including a missile cruiser and two missile-carrying submarines, have joined the Russian flotilla over the past three weeks. Russian media reports indicate there are around 15 Russian navy vessels in the Mediterranean overall.
Moscow has repeatedly alleged that Syrian rebels are preparing a chemical weapons attack in Idlib as a provocation to bring a Western attack on Syrian forces.”
https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/2018/08/29/russias-navy-building-up-in-mediterranean-nato-says/