Royal Navy drug buster HMS Argyll has formally handed over the reins to HMS Severn as the two ships met up in the North Atlantic ocean.
The Type 23 frigate is on her way home for Christmas while HMS Severn will spend the next six months tackling drug smugglers, assisting in the event of natural disasters and engaging with and providing reassurance to overseas territories.
The two ships rendezvoused as part of the official handover, sailing in close proximity and using HMS Argyll’s Lynx helicopter to transfer stores and key Command Team personnel for briefings in HMS Severn.
Though the meeting of the two ships was brief it provided a poignant moment of the meeting of two crews, one celebrating a ‘job well done’ and looking forward to getting back to friends and family, and the other keen to start operations in the Caribbean.
Commanding Officer of HMS Severn, Lieutenant Commander Steve Banfield said:
Today marks the culmination of months of preparation and training to get the ship ready for success on operations.
My ship’s company and I are very much looking forward to commencing the varied and complex task ahead of us and are very proud to be given the opportunity to show the Royal Navy as a continued force for good in the region.
HMS Severn is a Portsmouth-based River Class Offshore Patrol Vessel which will be stationed in the Caribbean and surrounding region until July 2015.
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Press release, Image: UK Navy