MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands’ veteran HMS York under command of possibly her last captain

HMS York during one of her several tours of the South Atlantic

The man who may be Royal Navy’s Falklands’ veteran HMS York’s last naval captain has taken the helm of the Type 42 destroyer. Commander Rex Cox took over from Commander Simon Staley as the warship undergoes maintenance at Portsmouth, reports The Press from York.

HMS York is due to leave the Royal Navy next year and has just completed a 26,500 mile round trip to the Falkland Islands and back including an emergency trip to the Mediterranean during the Libyan crisis, rounding Cape Horn and sailing through the Panama Canal.

The new captain commanded sister ship HMS Manchester in the run-up to her decommissioning in February this year.

“It is a privilege to take command of HMS York” said Commander Cox. “The ship has a first class reputation and I look forward to the challenges that lie ahead in the final phase of her life prior to her decommissioning next year.”

During his short time in command, Commander Staley, who comes from Doncaster, twice took HMS York to the Falklands Islands where she mounted patrols for months at a time, visiting South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands, as well as going to the aid of a Pacific Island fisherman who fell ill at sea.

Her arrival on her second trip was delayed when she was diverted to the Libyan coast to provide humanitarian aid and take part in other operations in the initial stages of the rebellion against Colonel Gaddafi.

On her first trip, she made international headlines when she had an encounter with an Argentine warship in the South Atlantic as tensions rose between the two countries over oil drilling tests off the Falkland Islands in early 2010.

Commander Staley was also in charge when HMS York celebrated her 25th birthday last year.

He will now head the Royal Navy Presentation Team. Commander Cox’s previous commands include HMS Severn, a fishery protection vessel.