HMS Montrose began her refit in 2014 and she has been fitted with the newly developed Sea Ceptor missile system, an Artisan radar and other new systems.
The Commanding Officer of the ship, Cdr Conor O’Neill said:
“Sailing today is the culmination of years of hard work by all the partners in this project, both Naval and Industrial, and is the start of our journey back to the operational fleet.
Everyone onboard has been looking forward to this moment, and it is a proud day for all of us.”
Other work carried out included stripping the ship back to bare metal and inserting over 1000 patches of new steel to replace worn out areas after her 25 years of service, since her launch in 1992.
Babcock Marine has used over 750,000 man hours of labour working on the hull as well as power generation, a new galley, improvements to living quarters and with over 10Km of electrical wiring and 5Km of piping replaced.
The ship leaves Plymouth to commence a period of trials and training in which the ship’s equipment and personnel will be tested, proving all the work carried out during the refit.
It will be followed by a period of Operational Sea Training, which will ensure that the ship and people are fully trained and ready to deploy in support of operations anywhere in the world.
Overall, £36 million has been invested in maintaining the capability offered by Montrose, keeping her up to date until she is replaced by the Type 26 frigates, the initial order for which was made at the start of July.
Blimey, I didn’t realise she was 25 years old
Photo of her post refit here.
http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2017/july/11/170711-hms-montrose-sails-for-first-time-in-three-years
No harpoons SSM canisters fitted, 2* type 911 radars removed and type 996 radar. replaced by Artisan 3D.
The supports for them seem to be still in place though.
https://twitter.com/navylookout/status/797043593135456258
Yep that’s why I said cannisters.
Same type 45 recent photos
Sorry, my mistake.
No problems richard
Shh, don’t mention the fact that she can’t engage other warships and expect to keep floating.
Why?
Nick Bowman .What ???
I think what Nick is trying to say is keep it quiet that once harpoon is retired from service (without replacement) our warships will be unable to sink enemy warships at anything beyond 20 miles using their 4.5inch deck gun.
They need sea ceptor to intercept all the antiship missiles that will be fired at the type 23 as it dashes in to close the range on an enemy warship.
we need the Norwegian anti ship missile now!
Is that 1000 patches of UK steel or foreign steel?