Where is HMS Dragon? When did she arrive in Gibraltar? When did she leave Portsmouth? When will she arrive off Cyprus for Iran conflict deployment?
HMS Dragon has been the focus of the country’s attention since being named as the Royal Navy’s ship for a Mediterranean deployment amid the war between the US and Israel, and Iran.
While early reports from naval sources suggested that HMS Duncan was the chosen Type 45, her sister Dragon got the nod and was supplied in Portsmouth Harbour before her departure.
The Type 45 destroyer has made a logistical stop at Gibraltar today (Tuesday) on her way to Cyprus. She is an air-defence warship and will be tasked with providing the sovereign base at Akrotiri in Cyprus with air defences against drones from Iran.
While in Gibraltar, she is expected to take on fuel and supplies before heading into the Mediterranean.
There was controversy over the length of time it took Dragon to be readied. Her deployment was announced on Tuesday, March 3 by defence secretary John Healey, and she sailed out of Portsmouth a week later on Tuesday, March 10.
Where is HMS Dragon now?
HMS Dragon has been making her way to Cyprus, and has taken a week to reach Gibraltar.
She had been visible in the middle of Portsmouth Harbour, at the Upper Harbour Ammunition Facility. This jetty, about 800m offshore, cost £18m and was opened in 2012 for the six Daring-class Type 45 frigates, of which HMS Dragon is one.
Dragon was there from the night of Tuesday, March 3until late on Friday afternoon, and was then moved back to the naval base proper. She was then back at the ammunition jetty before sailing. Defence minister Al Carns has said that she had been fitted out for a different mission, and needed welding with weapons removed and reinstalled.
When did HMS Dragon leave for Cyprus?
Dragon first left the ammunition jetty on Friday, March 6, but not for the Mediterranean - her destination was the naval base, where she was alongside for several days, before her return to the ammunition jetty.
The Ministry of Defence said that “the Royal Navy are working as fast as possible to prepare HMS Dragon for deployment, including resupplying her air defence missiles”.
How long will it take HMS Dragon to get to Cyprus?
Cyprus is just over 3,000 nautical miles from Portsmouth. Sailing at top speed, a Type 45 could get there in seven days, but it would be unusual for a frigate to sustain that speed consistently for so long, and so a much more likely estimate was more than a week. Dragon has taken a week to reach Gibraltar, which marks almost the halfway point of the journey to the eastern Mediterranean, so she is likely to arrive roughly on Tuesday next week.
She will be positioned in the waters off Akrotiri. Type 45s tend to be at their most effective in open water with a clear radar, and will want to have as much time as possible to deploy Sea Viper missiles in the event of a drone attack on the RAF base.