After more than half a year in the Mediterranean and Middle East fending off drones and missiles Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon has returned home.
The warship sailed back into her homeport of Portsmouth at the end of last week after seven months protecting U.K. bases in Cyprus, and working with allies conducting maritime security patrols across the Middle East.
First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff General Sir Gwyn Jenkins said the warship, having been deployed at short notice, had shown the Royal Navy at its best.
He added: “They have operated in some of the world’s most dangerous waters with skill and professionalism. Every member of Dragon’s crew should return home proud.”
In early March when British bases started coming under attack HMS Dragon was tasked at short notice to sail to the Mediterranean.
As per an RN statement, she had been undergoing a maintenance period but was taken out of dry dock and made ready to sail in just a week.
After an initial stint in the waters off Cyprus providing air defences, she sailed east of Suez in readiness to join a potential international mission to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Her transit took her through the Bab el Mandeb Strait, where since 2023 ships have regularly come under missile and drone attack from Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The destroyer also carried out Indian Ocean security patrols and for a period sailed with French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle as part of France’s Carrier Strike Group.
- You can read more details on the Royal Navy website
