HMS Duncan leaves home for Red Sea
A Portsmouth-based warship is back on deployment to protect vital trade routes in the Red Sea.
HMS Duncan sailed from HMNB Portsmouth on Monday and will relieve HMS Diamond. Crowds of well-wishers gathered at The Round Tower in Old Portsmouth to watch the Type 45 destroyer leave the harbour.
The 200 men and women aboard will be tasked with protecting shipping lanes and merchant vessels travelling near Yemen, around the Gulf of Aden and elsewhere.
Commander Dan Lee, said: “I am immensely proud of the work the ship’s company have done to ready HMS Duncan for this important deployment.
HMS Duncan will be ready to deliver on operations around the clock as we join efforts to protect trade routes from Houthi attacks, continuing the excellent work of
HMS Diamond and HMS Richmond in the region.
“It is a privilege to serve on the Royal Navy’s ‘last and best’ Type 45 destroyer and I have every confidence that the ship and our people will succeed on operations and support stability where tasked.”
The vessel is a like-forlike replacement for HMS Diamond, armed with similar weaponry and radar systems. She had been deployed in the area since Christmas and has shot down nine drones operated by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels - using one of her Sea Viper missiles.
HMS Duncan previously spent spent five months leading NATO’S premier task group in the Mediterranean Sea last year. HMS Duncan was the head of several allied task forces, before handing over command to the Italian navy. The destroyer has been prepared for 22 weeks, and will be deployed with 60 new crew members.
Able Rating Charles Henderson, 18, is on his first deployment. “I am immensely excited to be deploying but I’m highly focused on the operations ahead and ready to put all my training into practice,” he said.
Before heading through the Suez canal, specific weapons, damage control and survival training will be carried out.
I am immensely excited to be deploying but highly focused on the operations ahead