HMS Medway (P223)

HMS Medway on sea trials in 2018
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Medway
OrderedAugust 2014
BuilderBAE Systems Naval Ships
Laid down8 June 2015 (Steel cut)
Launched23 August 2017
Sponsored byWendy Fallon
Christened20 October 2017
Commissioned19 September 2019
HomeportHMNB Portsmouth (forward deployed to the Caribbean)
Identification
StatusIn service
Badge
General characteristics
Class and typeBatch 2 River-class patrol vessel
Displacement2,000 tonnes
Length90.5 m (296 ft 11 in)
Beam13 m (42 ft 8 in)
Draught3.8 m (12 ft 6 in)
Speed25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Range5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi)
Endurance35 days
Boats & landing
craft carried
2 × rigid-hulled inflatable boats
Troopsup to 50
Crew34–45
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Kelvin Hughes Ltd SharpEye navigation radar
  • Terma Scanter 4100 2D radar
  • BAE CMS-1
  • Shared Infrastructure operating system
Armament
Aviation facilitiesMerlin-capable flight deck
NotesFit with 16-tonne crane

HMS Medway is a Batch 2 River-class offshore patrol vessel for the Royal Navy. Named after the River Medway in Kent, she was the second Batch 2 River-class vessel to be commissioned and is assigned long-term as Royal Navy guardship in the Caribbean.

Construction

On 6 November 2013, it was announced that the Royal Navy had signed an agreement in principle to build three new offshore patrol vessels based on the River-class design (more specifically, the larger Amazonas-class corvette derivative) at a fixed price of £348 million, including spares and support. In August 2014, BAE Systems signed a contract to build the ships on the River Clyde. The ships, which were designated Batch 2 of the River-class, were to be globally-deployable and capable of carrying out constabulary tasks, such as counter-terrorism, counter-piracy and anti-smuggling. As the second ship of the new batch, Medway included some 29 modifications and enhancements over the baseline Amazonas design.

HMS Medway before her sea trials.

Steel was cut, marking the start of construction of Medway, on 8 June 2015 at BAE Systems Govan shipyard in Glasgow. Rather than being launched in the traditional manner, Medway was rolled onto a semi-submersible barge and lowered into the water on 23 August 2017 and was officially named a few weeks later on 20 October 2017. Builder's sea trials began on 9 November 2018 and were completed by 11 December 2018. Her sea trials were completed in only 75 days, a record not seen since World War II. She was then transferred to the Royal Navy on 5 March 2019.

Operational history

Medway was commissioned into the Royal Navy on 19 September 2019. Arriving via her namesake river, her commissioning ceremony took place at the former Royal Navy Chatham Dockyard in Kent with her sponsor, Lady Fallon, the wife of former Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon in attendance. In the following month, her first operational tasking saw her escorting a Russian Navy cruiser through the English Channel.

Caribbean

Medway conducting an exercise with a Merlin HC4 from 845 Naval Air Squadron off the coast of Curaçao

In January 2020, Medway embarked on her first overseas deployment, assigned to Atlantic Patrol Task (North) on long-term guardship duties in the Caribbean. She made a stop for final supplies and fuel in Gibraltar in what was her first visit to the territory. After arriving in the Caribbean, Medway joined Royal Fleet Auxiliary support ship RFA Argus to form a task group, offering nearby British Overseas Territories a range of support from disaster relief during the hurricane season to tackling all forms of illicit trafficking. The deployment also coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and both ships were reported to be on standby to offer any support, if required. The Governor of the British Virgin Islands subsequently requested the assistance of Medway in securing the territory's borders in an effort to control the spread of the virus in late September. Mid-September also saw the involvement of Medway in a large counter-narcotics operation in conjunction with Argus, 47 Commando (Raiding Group) Royal Marines and the United States Coast Guard. The operation led to the seizure of cocaine with a UK street value of £81 million, according to the National Crime Agency.

In October 2022, Medway was involved in another drug seizure. She captured more than 400 kg (880 lb) of cocaine worth an estimated £24m. Three smugglers were detained and the vessel was destroyed. On 6 January 2023, Medway rescued five people from an ocean-going tug in strong winds near Sint Maarten after receiving an SOS message; the tug later sank.

Falklands deployment 2023

In January 2023, Medway temporarily deployed to the Falkland Islands to take over the role of guardship there whilst her sister ship HMS Forth underwent maintenance. In April, the patrol vessel was operating in the waters off South Georgia on sovereignty protection tasks. As of May 2023, the destroyer HMS Dauntless temporarily replaced Medway on her normal Caribbean tasking.

In September, Medway conducted a search and rescue exercise with civilian-manned helicopters from Bristow Helicopters operating in the Falkland Islands. The ship also exercised with soldiers from 2nd Battalion, the Rifles, comprising the roulement infantry company stationed in the islands. In November, with the return of HMS Forth to the South Atlantic, Medway began transit to Gibraltar for a maintenance period at the Gibraltar dockyard prior to resuming her patrol duties in the Caribbean. Given the departure of HMS Dauntless from the Caribbean, she was temporarily replaced as Caribbean guardship by her sister ship, HMS Trent.


This page was last updated at 2023-12-31 11:33 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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