HMS Portland F79

HMS Portland

HMS Portland is a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy. She is the eighth ship to bear the name and is the fifteenth and penultimate ship of the 'Duke' class frigates.  The ship was accepted into service by the Royal Navy on 15 December 2000 and was commissioned on 3 May the following year.

She is the first major warship in the Royal Navy to be commanded by a woman; Lieutenant-Commander Sarah West assumed command of HMS Portland on 21 May 2012.

Hms Portland has recently completed a £20 million refit, upgrade and maintenance programme at Babcock's Rosyth dockyard in the UK.

The upgrade was aimed at maintaining the ship at peak effectiveness and follows the recent successful refits on other Type 23 frigates including HMS Kent.

The frigate also underwent structural repairs, and maintenance of all systems and equipment, including renewal of the hull coatings.

The 133m-long HMS Portland has a displacement capacity of 4,900t, is capable of cruising at speeds of 30.8 knots, can accommodate a crew of 185, and can be equipped with Harpoon and Seawolf missile systems, guns and anti-submarine torpedoes.

She is seen here departing Rosyth on Thursday 13^th December 2012 for the last time before heading back home to Plymouth after over a year’s absence.

 

 

 

HMS Queen Elizabeth Lower Block 04

A huge section of hull for Hms Queen Elizabeth is seen here sailing under The Forth Rail Bridge on Sunday 11th November 2012. 

She is the first of two new aircraft carriers being built for the UK Royal Navy, she left BAE Systems’ shipyard at Govan on November 4 to embark on a 1500-mile journey to Rosyth.

The large sea-going barge AMT Trader was carrying the 11,300 tonne aft section of hull, known as Lower Block 04, was towed from the company’s yard on the Clyde to begin her seven-day journey to the east coast.

Since moving the block out of the company’s shipbuilding hall on the 21st October, final preparatory work, including sea fastening, was undertaken by workers to prepare the block for her departure. The team had also monitored weather forecasts to time the block’s departure to ensure a smoother journey to the east coast.

Equating to around twenty per cent of the overall weight of the ship, Lower Block 04 is the largest hull section of Hms Queen Elizabeth. The block will now be floated off the specialist barge and moved into position in dry dock, ready to join the other sections already in place. Additionally, around 250 employees from the Clyde followed the block to Rosyth where they will work in partnership with Babcock to complete the assembly phase.

Bns's Lobelia and Primula

Bns Lobelia and Bns Primula

Bns Lobelia (M 921) and Bns Primula (M 924) are two of 6 Tripartite class minehunters in service for the Belgian navy.

Lobelia entered service in 1989 and Primula in 1991.  They displace 595 tons and are 52 meters long.  This class usually has a crew of around 40. 

All six of the class have recently completed a Capability Upkeep Program (CUP) to keep them in service until 2020.

This is a very popular class of ship as several nations have them in service, Bulgaria, Netherlands, France, Latvia, Pakistan to name but a few.

Both ships are seen at the Forth Bridges on Friday 19^th October 2012 heading to Rosyth for fuel before sailing home to Belgium.

Bns Lobelia

Bns Primula

Knm Utvær

Knm Utvær

Knm Utvær (S 303) is one of six Ula class diesel electric submarines in service with the Norwegian navy.  She entered service in 1990.   Only four of the class are in service at at one time as the other two are in refit.

She displaces 940 tons surfaced and 1,150 tons submerged; she is 59 meters long and can travel on the surface at 11 knots and 23 knots submerged.  The ships company can total 20 at any one time.

She is seen here arriving in Leith on the 12^th October 2012.

Fs Latouché Trevillé

French Destroyer Latouché Trevillé (D646) is a Georges Leygues Class (F70) class destroyer; she was commissioned into service in 1990.

She displaces 4,010 tons and is 140 meters long, 235 crew members make up the ships company. 

Latouché Trevillé was built in Brest and fitted out at Lorient Dockyard.  She has had a modified sensor and the pilothouse played one deck higher.  She is based at Brest.

She is expected to remain in service until around 2017 without significant modernisation.

She is seen here arriving in Leith on the 12^th October 2012.

Fs Latouché Trevillé

HrMs Scheidam and HrMs Vlaardingen

HrMs Scheidam (M860) and HrMs Vlaardingen (M863)

These two Tripartite Class minesweepers arrived in the reverse lock of the NATO group.

For more info on the class click HERE

HRMS VLAARDINGEN

HRMS SCHEIDAM