Two Portsmouth Warships Return Home For Christmas

Two Portsmouth warships which have been operating in opposite parts of the globe have returned home for Christmas.

Type 42 destroyer HMS Southampton and minehunter HMS Middleton returned to the Naval Base today.  Southampton has been protecting the UK’s interests in the South Atlantic for eight months while Middleton has spent four and-a-half months as part of a Nato force across northern Europe.

During regular patrols around the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, Southampton provided reassurance to inhabitants of the UK overseas territories. She visited 14 foreign ports during the deployment and took part in large-scale exercises with forces from Chile, the United States, France and Argentina.

Southampton also trained with UK troops in the Falklands and conducted a disaster relief exercise in South Georgia, linking up with British forces and scientists from the British Antarctic Survey.

Her journey home via West Africa has included port visits to Cape Town, Lobito in Angola and Lagos, Nigeria. Commanding Officer, Commander Richard Morris, said: “The technical, logistical and human factors of operating a warship thousands of miles way from the UK for eight months are considerable.

“The successful conclusion of the deployment is a credit to the professionalism and dedication of the men and women who serve as Southampton’s ship’s company.”
Middleton meanwhile has spent most of her deployment on mine clearance operations in the eastern Baltic. She worked alongside 21 other ships from 11 nations clearing mines from both world wars off the coasts of Estonia and Lithuania and visited St Petersburg to further Nato and Russian relations.

In October the group worked in the more exposed waters of the English Channel, carrying out mine clearance in the Bay de Seine. The deployment was rounded off with exercises off Germany and the fjords of Norway.

The task group also acted as NATO’s immediate reaction force, on call to deploy anywhere in the region at short notice.

Middleton’s Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Steve Holloway, said: “Having worked with a multinational force for four months, we are confident in our ability to clear vital areas from historic ordnance that still presents a danger to today’s mariners.

“We have also proven we can turn our hand to most situations through a developed understanding of one another’s methods. It has been a busy but rewarding deployment.”