Royal Navy frigates return from Trident Juncture, Westlant deployments

Royal Navy Type 23 frigates HMS Westminster and HMS Monmouth returned to their homeports in Portsmouth and Devonport, respectively, on December 14.

Westminster returned after an eight-week stint in the North and Baltic Sea where she trained with other NATO and ally ships as part of NATO’s largest exercise Trident Juncture.

Returning to Portsmouth, the frigate sported a blue nose which indicates that the ship operated above the Arctic Circle.

After the intensive period of multi-national exercises, HMS Westminster visited Oslo, Riga, Stockholm and Gdynia; hosting high profile visitors such as the Swedish defense minister Peter Hultqvist.

The ship was present in Riga for the 100th anniversary of Latvian Independence, in which the Royal Navy played a key role, and was fully incorporated within the celebrations.

HMS Monmouth returned to Devonport following a US East Coast deployment with the UK’s newest aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth.

The Type-23 frigate has operated as part of the carrier strike group since the ships sailed in August on the Westlant 2018 deployment.

Her role has been to provide security at sea for the strike group as the carrier conducted first of class trials with the F35B jets. During her deployment, she traveled over 20,000 miles, celebrated the ship’s 25th birthday and narrowly avoided two hurricanes.

During the deployment, HMS Monmouth represented the UK at Maryland Fleet Week in Baltimore, where she hosted thousands of visitors whilst she was open to the public.

Another Type 23 frigate expected to arrive home before December 25 is HMS St. Albans which got underway from the Estonian capital of Tallinn on Sunday after maritime security work in the Baltic.