HMS Medway, HMS Spey and HMS Tamar have met up in the Carribean.

HMS Spey and Tamar both recently left Portsmouth as they sailed on a mission which will see them deployed from the eastern shores of Africa to the west coast of the USA over the next five years.

The two ships will arrive in the Pacific on the back of the maiden deployment by HMS Queen Elizabeth and her Carrier Strike Group.

“The new ships will act as the eyes and ears of the navy in the region, working alongside Britain’s allies, carrying out security patrols to deal with drug-running, smuggling, terrorism and other illegal activities, joining in exercises with other navies and armed forces, and flying the flag for Global Britain. No permanent home has been assigned to the pair as they will instead make use of bases and ports in the Pacific region. Their patrol area embraces both the Indian and Pacific oceans, extending as far north as the Bering Sea and south to the foot of Tasmania and New Zealand.”

Tamar and Spey are currently sailing across the Atlantic before heading into the Pacific via the Panama Canal.

HMS Medway, along with RFA Wave Knight, is deployed as part of the UK’s Caribbean Task Group.

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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34 COMMENTS

  1. “They need a bigger gun..57mm would be great…and two 30mm “

    Just the obligatory “UpGun” the OPV’s comment 😁, they did receive 50cals though didn’t they?

    I do wish they weren’t all painted the same scheme though, kinda boring who ever planned that , one with the zebra type camo would have been amazing …and maybe one pure black or dark grey, one can dream…

    Anyways, Fair Winds and GodSpeed👍🇬🇧

    • I know eh ? How will they defeat the China High Seas Fleet with those ‘popguns’…..

      Might as well get them in early eh mate.

    • Don’t forget SAm and AShM
      Thought they’d got lost seeing article firsts says East Coast of Africa!! taking the LONG route !!

          • nope i think 64 strike length Mk41’s (32 Tomahawk / 24 RIM-174 & 32 (quad pack) ESSM) should be just enough but wouldn’t hurt to have a 127mm on front and couple 30mm and CIWS 🤔

          • No I think Andy has a valid point there except he didn’t specify whether missiles were to be V Ls or railed launched sorry getting very silly Steve

          • We’ve not even started on the unmanned stuff yet, or hoofing big sonars. Still plenty mileage in this yet……

          • You might need to glue a fuselage to the wing to make it useful. 😂

            In all seriousness, a Scheibal or a pair of them operating out of an embarked ISO container (yes, a hangar!) would be the best upgrade these could have in the short term. In the longer term, I could see the 30mm being swapped out for a 40mm when T31 is active, with the 30mm guns being shifted to the bridge wings. Maybe some form of martlet launcher could be added as well as a standalone thing. But honestly, armament upgrades would add to the maintenance, reduce the time they could spend on operations and add an extra cost.

            I honestly see T26,T31/32 and RB2 as an adapted C1/C2/C3 concept. We could debate the armament of all of them over and over – and some of us have! I’m honestly fine with what’s being proposed so far and what could be added in the future – particularly regarding T31.

            HOWEVER… uncle Lusty has a feeling deep down that someone might see the chance to upgrade the B2 Rivers while replacing the B1 ships as a chance to increase the escort fleet. It has a political spin to it, doesn’t it? 6 T45+8 T26 + 10 T31/32 + 8 B2/B3(?) Rivers = 32.

            Will it happen? No, probably not. But at the same time, I wouldn’t be surprised.

          • I’d jump at that, yipee back to post 1997 SDSR levels when Sheffield ( I think ) went, reducing to 31. As long as the RB1 is not retired in exchange for more stuff on the RB2, as their needed.

            “Uncle Lusty’s Crystal Ball” Could be a new weekly article here?

          • Yes! There’s more spin in it than a washing machine. Boris can claim he’s reversing historic Labour cuts to the escort fleet which “damaged British shipbuilding and our technological industries”. He could go on to say that eight up-gunned RB2 ships demonstrate “our steadfast commitment to defending overseas territories and engaging with international partners while supporting UK shipbuilding”. Part of said plan would be to order a fleet of cutters for the RN and BF, built at Appledore – thus replacing the current cutters and adding another layer of replacement for the B1 ships.

            God, I just realised I could write this spin for a living. Maybe I should make the crystal ball an article or podcast!

          • “Maybe I should make the crystal ball an article or podcast!”

            YES YES YES!!!! I will subscribe at once!

          • Daniele Now that an idea worth looking into a Psychic branch ,would it be for all or just Officers , Jnr Rates would probably be a no no far too devious for their own good .And still isn’t a branch in todays Navy of 2035

          • Lusty good evening just flicked through your ,and your suggestion of 30mm being placed on the bridgewings of the T31s Hoe big are the Bridgewings ? Having maintained and operated both Single and twin 30s apart from weight,vibration ,stripping in situ RUs Lockers polar arcs Inc elevation,and Depression crew of 3 Aimer ,armer, doubling as Loader and another Loader greasing and linking would there be sufficient room ? Sorry for being a pain

          • I agree, and I think its likely, via one of these PODS (Thales has tested one with the Watchkeeper’s I-Master radar in maritime mode, and I suspect Leonardo will pitch a version of Hero). I suspect the OPVs will mostly be engaged in monitoring and keeping Chinese fishing vessels out of territorial waters (I suspect we will see them doing that off Pitcairn and BIOT in the coming years), and counter piracy, counter-narcotics, CT and defence engagement/training.

    • When these two ships were ordered in 2016 it was expected that they would spend most their careers pottering around UK waters on fishery protection and EEZ duties. Extraordinarily, they are now effectively partial replacements for the Hong Kong based Peacock’s, which in the 1980-90’s often visited other counties in the region and flew the flag.

      The Peacock’s had an OTO Melara 76 mm cannon. It may have been unserviceable half the time, but the important thing was that it looked impressive on such small (700 tons) vessels. Stick a mock-up of a 4.5″ Mk 8 MCG on the front of these 2000 tones OPV’s and it would be far more effective than a functional 30mm!

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