"Huge sense of achievement" as HMS Stirling Castle welcomed to her Portsmouth home for the first time

HMS Stirling Castle, formerly in the hands of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, sailed past The Round Tower in Old Portsmouth on November 3. She carried the White Ensign with pride as she sailed alongside HMNB Portsmouth after being greeted by family and friends of the 55-strong ship’s company.

The former merchant vessel, overhauled to provide cutting-edge mine-hunting capabilities and be a mother ship for drones, recently completed her first period of sea trials. Petty Officer (Mine Warfare) Kieron Walledge, born in Portsmouth, said: “It’s a huge sense of achievement, finally arriving in our homeport after several months of intense work.

“Arriving in Portsmouth will allow my family and friends to finally have an insight into the project that has required enormous dedication and kept me away from them. Although much is yet to be discovered in Stirling Castle, it is an achievement I am really proud of and I cannot wait to see the festive period through with my wife, now that the ship is based in Portsmouth.”

Commanding Officer Commander Phil Harper praised the efforts of those who oversaw Stirling Castle’s transfer to the Royal Navy, making sure she was ready for sea and operations. He added: “This is quite a landmark. Behind us lie six months of intense work to get this ship out of lay-up, to train and to get to sea. Ahead of us lie many more months of building our knowledge, developing tactics and techniques and delivering 21st-Century mine hunting from our deck. My team can take great pleasure in their success so far – they have wildly exceeded expectations.”

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The ship left Birkenhead in Merseyside last month to conduct training off the west coast of England and Scotland. Several aspects of HMS Stirling Castle were tested, including her propulsion, power generation, and heavy lift crane, as well as medical and damage control capabilities to ensure she meets demanding standards.

Part of her new role will be to protect critical undersea infrastructure from various threats, alongside her main duties of dealing with mines and unexploded ordnances. She will be operated by personnel in the Royal Navy’s Mine Threat Exploitation Group. The vessel has joined Portsmouth’s Mine Countermeasure Squadron 2, whose sailors are more used to operating smaller Hunt-class vessels to deal with threats in UK and Middle East waters.

HMS Stirling Castle will play host to various high profile visits in Portsmouth, as well as further crew training, before returning to sea.