Type 23 frigate HMS Lancaster sailed from her home in Portsmouth last week for a routine nine-month Atlantic patrol tasking, which includes the Falklands and South Georgia. She is the first ship in the Royal Navy to deploy with the new Wildcat helicopter, and her crew are wearing the newest naval uniform in 70 years.
There is a permanent reminder of the Royal Navy's HMS Dragon’s first visit to South Africa as the destroyer upheld a 90-year-old tradition. A large painting of the ship’s badge, featuring her namesake mythical beast, adorns the wall of the cavernous dry dock where the Portsmouth-based warship spent her mid-deployment break, receiving some TLC after a four-month battering from the Pacific and Atlantic.
The Royal Navy's Atlantic Patrol Tasking HMS Dragon called at Tristan da Cunha, one of the most remote islands on the planet, on the latest stage of her Atlantic deployment. There is no land to the west for more than 2,000 miles, South Africa is 1,750 miles to the east and the nearest inhabited locality is another British Overseas Territory 1,510 miles away.
HMS Dragon made her first visit to South Georgia over Christmas, reports the South Georgia newsletter in its December edition. The Type 45 air defense destroyer had a Westland Lynx helicopter on board which was used to survey the Barff Peninsula for any remaining reindeer ahead of the arrival of the Norwegian SNO marksmen.
The UK showed its commitment to the UK/Chile defense relationship by sending a Royal Naval ship and the First Sea Lord to Exponaval 2014. The Type 45 Destroyer, HMS Dragon, made its first visit to Chile since commissioning and this was an opportune time for both navies to discuss their future modernization plans and acknowledge the important historic and enduring links between the two Services.
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.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) confirmed Wednesday that the entrapped Antarctic ships, the Akademik Shokalskiy and the Xue Long (Snow Dragon), have broken free from the ice in Antarctica and are no longer in need of assistance.
She is normally known as quite a large warship, but HMS Dragon was dwarfed by seven liners in the Solent. The Type 45 destroyer’s crew stood in ceremonial uniform as the full P&O cruise fleet passed them as they marked the company’s 175th anniversary.