'Time for home': Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dragon leaves Gibraltar on return to Portsmouth after Middle East op
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The Type 45 destroyer has conducted various drills and tasks since being deployed from Portsmouth in March
Hard-working sailors who left Portsmouth in March for an extensive deployment are heading closer to home.
HMS Dragon left Gibraltar over the weekend and is believed to be returning to her home port. The Type 45 destroyer was seen transferring munitions alongside the British Overseas Territory, before departing on Saturday morning (October 3).
A HMS Dragon social media statement issued this morning (October 6) expressed excitement about sailors returning to their families. They said: “After a long deployment, HMS Dragon has sailed from Gibraltar and is finally heading for Portsmouth.
“From a successful visit to Malta, to completing a first-of-class de-ammunition serial in Gib — now it’s time for home, family and Pompey. The Dragon is coming home.”
The warship was in Malta in September, with members of the ship’s company conducting a diplomatic engagement. Commanding Officer Commander Graeme Hazelwood, who took the helm of the ship in the summer, hosted a visit of British High Commissioner Vic Busby.
A social media statement said the event brought together senior representatives from government, defence, and diplomacy, to strengthen the UK’s partnership with Malta.
HMS Dragon originally left HMNB Portsmouth on March 10. Large crowds of families waved goodbye to their loved ones after the Type 45 destroyer headed out to the eastern Mediterranean. Sailors prepared the ship by completing six weeks worth of work in six days, after she was originally due to be in charge of Nato’s Standing Maritime Group One.
She was placed on operation following the escalation of war in the Middle East. A US-Israeli coalition and Iran exchanged various air strikes. After originally heading to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus after the base was hit by a Shahed kamikaze drone - believed to have been fired by a pro-Iranian militia in Iraq - the destroyer headed through the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea.
Various training drills took place to prepare the weapons systems and ship’s company for any scenario. The Daring-class destroyer was joined by RFA Lyme Bay after the auxiliary dock landing ship was equipped with a suite of mine-hunting drones and other equipment.
Both were placed on standby as part of a Nato operation, primarily led by France, to keep the Strait of Hormuz open once a peace deal had been fully agreed between the US-Israeli coalition and Iran. The strategic waterway, where 20 per cent of the world’s oil passes through, has been heavily disrupted by Iran with minimal traffic passing through.
Mines and underwater explosives have been laid in the region. With an enshrined peace deal failing to materialise, HMS Dragon left the region.
Due to an ongoing threat to the freedom of navigation in the Middle East, it’s highly likely that she’ll be replaced there. There is no confirmed time or date for when the destroyer will sail home.