Royal Navy: Two more Spanish ships ESPS Reina Sofia and ESPS Santa Maria to visit Portsmouth before Nato task

Two Spanish frigates, ESPS Reina Sofia and ESPS Santa Maria, are set to sail into HMNB Portsmouth tomorrow (February 21). According to King's Harbour Master shipping movements, the vessels will sail past The Round Tower in the morning. ESPS Reina Sofia is due to sail towards Fountain Lake Jetty at 8am, with ESPS Santa Maria scheduled to be off the coast of Portsmouth by 9.30am.

The Spanish replenishment oiler ESPS Patino was seen in the Solent this morning, with ESPS Álvaro de Bazán also due to be in the North Corner Jetty (East) this evening at roughly 9.20pm. Last week, the Italian aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi and warship IS San Giorgio caused a stir when they were greeted in the Naval Base, with residents looking to catch a glimpse of them.

The ships are sailing towards to the North Sea to take part in Exercise Steadfast Defender - Nato's largest mission since The Cold War. More than 40 vessels are due to take part in the maritime portion of the deployment, with all 31 of the Nato allied nations taking part. ESPS Santa Maria is the lead ship of six Santa Maria-class guided missile frigates. She was constructed in 1982, launched two years later and is armed with a Mk 13 missile launcher.

The frigate was previously involved in Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 in 2019. ESPS Reina Sofia is also a Santa Maria-class frigate and was launched in 1989. She was involved in the 200th anniversary commemorations of the Battle of Trafalgar in 2005, participating in a procession alongside HMS Chatham and other ships. Last year, she was deployed to off the coast of East Africa where her crew helped evacuate civilians from Sudan after violence escalated in the country.