Royal Navy Veteran destroyer HMS Edinburgh and giant helicopter carrier HMS Illustrious brought London to a halt on Wednesday as they glided down the River Thames. HMS Edinburgh is the last of the Type 42 destroyers and is on her first stop on a round-Britain farewell tour which ends nearly 30 years of service.
Edinburgh, the Royal Navy's last remaining Type 42 destroyer, returned to Portsmouth from her final deployment last week. The 30 year old warship has spent the past 6 months patrolling the Atlantic and over the years has been in several assignments in the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.
The Royal Navy frigate HMS Argyll left on Monday from Devonport for the West African region and the South Atlantic to undertake a range of tasks in support of British interests worldwide. She replaces in her South Atlantic tour HMS Edinburgh, ‘Fortress of the Seas’ which is to be decommissioned next June.
Known as the ‘Fortress of the Sea’, HMS Edinburgh is the largest and the last Type 42 destroyer to serve in the Royal Navy. She finished her six month tour of the South Atlantic Islands this week and is due to be decommissioned in June, but before heading north again Falkland Islands residents were given the opportunity to have a peek on board.
After a six-month deployment to the South Atlantic, including a patrol and exercises in the Falkland Islands, the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dauntless has returned to her home port in Portsmouth, southern England.
The Royal Navy’s destroyer HMS Edinburgh left on Monday Portsmouth on her final planned deployment. It marks a historic milestone for both the ship and the Royal Navy as it will be the last time a Type 42 destroyer deploys on operations as they make way for the new-generation Type 45 destroyers.
The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence’s Disposal Services Authority has put the Royal Navy ship HMS Edinburgh, also known as the “Fortress of the Sea” and another Type 42 destroyer, HMS York, have been put up for sale on its website.
Families and friends of sailors serving on board HMS Edinburgh and HMS St Albans gathered at Portsmouth Naval Base on Friday, 2 December, to greet their loved ones returning from overseas deployments in the South Atlantic and the Gulf.
United States Secret Service agents told HMS Edinburgh, which is currently patrolling the Falkland Islands, to stop pointing its missiles at Michelle Obama’s hotel room while sailors were holding a ceremony to mark the death of a colleague.
HMS Edinburgh following a two-week maintenance stop in Cape Town, South Africa, is again crossing the South Atlantic to the Falkland Islands. This is the third crossing since the Type 42 destroyer left the UK.