The Royal Navy has assumed command of Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 following a handover ceremony at Portsmouth Naval Base.
Commodore Maryla Ingham has taken the helm of the task group from Spanish Navy Rear Admiral Joaquín Ruiz Escagedo, who led SNMG1 through a four-month deployment that saw the group operate across the Baltic Sea and, for the first time in its history, the Arctic.
Royal Navy Vice Admiral Robert Pedre, Commander of Allied Maritime Command, presided over the ceremony on 10 April.
Under Spanish command, SNMG1 conducted sustained operations as part of Baltic Sentry, maintaining a persistent naval presence in the Baltic Sea focused on monitoring critical sea lanes and protecting undersea infrastructure including pipelines and cables. The group also deployed in support of Arctic Sentry, NATO’s high-vigilance mission in the High North, in what was described as a significant milestone for the task group.
The task group participated in several major exercises during the Spanish-led deployment, including Dynamic Mariner 2026, Steadfast Dart 2026, Cold Response, and Arctic Dolphin. These involved integrated air and missile defence, anti-submarine warfare, live-fire serials, and support for amphibious operations in both temperate and extreme cold-weather conditions alongside French, German, and Spanish forces.
Rear Admiral Escagedo said: “Collaboration between our nations is essential to ensure regional stability, strengthen NATO’s deterrence, and maintain security across the Baltic and Arctic regions.”
He added: “The Spanish Navy, through its active participation in SNMG1, plays a key role in these efforts, contributing to maritime security, reinforcing NATO’s deterrence posture, and demonstrating our firm commitment to collective defence in the region.”
Commodore Ingham and her staff will command the task group from the German frigate FGS Sachsen, pairing British maritime leadership with one of the German Navy’s most capable air defence vessels. She said: “I am delighted to formally assume command of the task force. Embarking with the Royal Navy Battle Staff in Sachsen, we look forward to working closely alongside our Allies to support our common goals.”
SNMG1 is one of four standing NATO maritime groups providing continuous naval presence and readiness across peacetime, crisis, and conflict.
Utterly embarrassing, now we need the German Navy to go to sea on. What a joke.
The Germans drive on the right.
Just saying like.
So do ships, in the UK!
Command but no ships. 61,000 civil servants in MOD for just 12 frigates and destroyers and 150 FJ. The £3bn costs on top of nuclear and pensions and AFG resettlement no wonder there’s no money for conventional. Conventional spend should be ring fenced
You’re right, we should go back to having expensive, hard to recruit military personnel doing typing and laundry.
Much better system
😀
I am right as every serving member will also tell you. Too many civvies and too many Legads. Try getting a military driving licence, try JPA, try Modnet. Inefficiencies in all but the tip of the spear which is currently very thin and short
Wasn’t hat the point of private contracts, difference being private sector pensions are far cheaper that gold plated CS pensions 🙂 and the private sector have to work to 70 🙂
I believe this was the role that Dragon was to be assigned to before being sent to the eastern Med. Things with the destroyers are still pretty s**t however it’s the one bright spot in the next year or two with even Daring coming back to the fleet that we are likely to see the T45 become the work horse of the fleet, while we wait for the T31 and T26 to enter service.
The nonsense reporting in the British press of Dragon “breaking down” is helping no one other than Russia. She hasn’t broke down, she has a minor fault in her water desalination plant.
Shit like that happens all the time on ships but now every little fault has to be broadcast for click bate and sowing political narratives.
Indeed these things do happen in complex systems, which of course why you need sufficient numbers to compensate. This seems to have gained more coverage than an ‘elite’ US carrier popping into port to repair a serious laundry fire that had crew sleeping on the floors wherever they could lay their heads. But then these ‘papers’ make their money from online US advertisers now so easier to slag off Britain to their delight than publish embarrassing technical issues with their big beautiful boats that aren’t toys at all unlike the one he wanted from us to deputise.
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Not sure why the UK gets to command when we have no ships available. It’s going to take years to recover from the current fleet issues combined and personnel shortages.
Perhaps we should use the opportunity to charge tolls for the Straight of Gibraltar, quick calculation on the volume of vessels and charging 2m a go is up to £200 billion OK we’d need to carve out a bit for Morocco and Spain and brown envelope for Donald. Lets say we could make 60-70 billion after pay offs and double the size of our armed services with the proceeds.
Ok you know I’m not serious …… or am I 🙂
Why didn’t they send HMS Duncan?