Chilean foreign minister Jorge Burgos revealed this week that the presence of HMS Dragon in Valparaiso was authorized after having consulted with Argentina, and underlined that Chile strictly abides with what was agreed regarding the passage of British vessels through Chilean waters.
UK ambassador in Chile Fiona Clouder underlined the values and qualities of the Royal Navy and Chilean Navy during a reception on HMS Dragon, which called at Valparaíso for the week long Exponaval 2014, considered the most important naval, maritime and ports' exhibition in the southern hemisphere.
Argentine media is reporting that HMS Dragon, Type 45 destroyer and one of the most modern vessels in the Royal Navy is currently in Valparaiso, Chile attending the Exponaval 2014, one of the main naval and maritime exhibition events in the Southern hemisphere.
Argentine opposition lawmakers expressed concern about alleged logistic support from Brazil and Chile to British warships and other auxiliary vessels in the South Atlantic and demanded the government of president Cristina Fernández report to Congress on the matter.
UK described recent combined military exercises in and around the Falkland Islands as part of regular routine training. The statement follows on Thursday's strong Argentine protest, (which claims sovereignty over the (Malvinas) Islands), and called the military exercises a “new provocation”.
The second-oldest vessel in the Naval Service, veteran tanker RFA Black Rover, a well known presence in the Falkland Islands, has completed her penultimate deployment, a marathon of 17 months in the Atlantic. No Royal Navy vessel can carry out a patrol in the Southern Hemisphere without the support of a Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker – a duty performed in recent years by a Rover-class vessel.
Falkland Islands guardian HMS Clyde braved spring storms to pay her first visit of the Austral summer to the wildlife paradise of South Georgia. The patrol ship crossed 850 miles of ocean to reach the remote island – part of its domain as the Royal Navy’s permanent presence in the Falklands – to work with British Antarctic Survey scientists and generally fly the flag for the UK.
British and German Embassies in Santiago organized a commemoration event to mark the 100 years of the Battle of Coronel, off the coast of Chile. A hundred years ago November first 1914, one of the first Naval battles of the First World War between the Royal Navy and the German Navy took place 50 miles off the coast of Coronel.
London's Daily Mirror had taken on the Royal Navy arguing that the shrunken service now has nearly twice as many admirals as surface warships. In effect despite destroyers and frigates being cut to a paltry 19, the Senior Service still boasts 33 admirals on £100,000 a year.
September and early October has been a busy five weeks for the smallest ship in the Royal Navy with a flight deck. HMS Clyde is tasked with patrolling the Falkland Islands whilst also monitoring the airspace that covers the wider area, and routinely visits the many small settlements that feature around the Islands.