HMS PORTLAND

HMS PORTLAND bound for major international exercise
Busy warship gears up in Scottish waters...

Devonport based Type 23 Frigate HMS Portland will take part in a major multi national exercise later this month following her recent return from a highly successful deployment to the Caribbean.

In December Portland returned home from a 6 and a half month deployment during which the Ship’s Company assisted in Belize during the aftermath of Hurricane Dean, intercepted and seized a suspicious-looking vessel found to have 3.5 tonnes of cocaine onboard and took part in an exercise involving ships from France, Russia and the USA.

Since returning to the UK, Portland has been extremely busy. She paid a 4-day visit to her namesake town in an effort to raise the public profile of the RN and to re-establish affiliations between the Ship and local community. During the visit, Portland hosted affiliates including the RNLI, HM Coastguard and the Police, as well as local schoolchildren and Sea Cadets. The ship was opened to members of the public and 350 people braved the cold weather to take a chance to see the Ship close up.

Following the visit, and while undergoing a short but intensive maintenance period, the ship played host to several high profile visitors, the most notable of whom was the Under Secretary of State for Defence, Mr Derek Twigg MP, who launched an armed forces veterans campaign. During his 3 hour visit to the ship he presented ‘HM Armed Forces Veteran’ badges to 8 local people, including the Lord Mayor of Plymouth. The ceremony in HMS Portland launched a 2-week campaign to raise awareness of support services provided for veterans by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency. Other visitors included Commander Operations (COMOPS) Rear-Admiral D J Cooke MBE RN, Deputy Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) Commodore Lambert, and the First Sea Lord Sir Admiral Jonathon Band KCB ADC, who spent time onboard chatting to members of the Ship’s Company.

In early April, Portland set sail for the west of Scotland, with a brief but enjoyable stop in Liverpool that coincided with a visit by HMS Mersey. The visit firmly put the RN in the public eye and the Ship’s Company were able to enjoy themselves in a vibrant city that had come alive during The Grand National weekend. On the final day of the visit, Portland was opened to the public and the opportunity to tour the ship was seized by 600 members of the public, despite the snow, hail and icy winds that marked the day.
As part of the build up to the forthcoming exercise Portland will be operating in the Scottish Exercise Areas. Following the exercise the ship will undergo further maintenance and trials before training begins for the next operational deployment scheduled for the end of the year.

Commanding Officer, Commander Mike Utley Royal Navy, said ‘This exercise will provide a challenging scenario that will allow us to build as a team while consolidating our warfare skills in a variety of disciplines. This type of training is invaluable in enabling us to remain at our peak in terms of Operational Capability’.