Royal Navy frigate escorts Chinese Type 052C destroyer through English Channel

Royal Navy frigate HMS Westminster escorted a Chinese Type 052C destroyer through the English Channel as it was returning from Russia’s annual Navy Days event in St Petersburg.

Fresh from a five-month patrol with NATO in the waters of northern Europe, Portsmouth-based HMS Westminster was activated to monitor the progress of the destroyer Xian.

The destroyer transited the English Channel into the Baltic Sea three weeks earlier and was shadowed by Royal Navy frigate HMS St Albans during that transit.

“The Royal Navy routinely monitors other country’s warships through territorial waters as part of our ongoing mission in support of the defence of the UK,” said Commander Will Paston, HMS Westminster’s commanding officer.

“The Xian conducted herself in a safe and professional manner throughout.”

Westminster has been attached to a NATO task group since March and, most recently, has been honing her anti-submarine warfare skills off the west coast of Norway inside the Arctic Circle, as well as patrolling UK waters.