When can I see HMS Dragon? Royal Navy ship to sail into base with loving families watching on - when, times
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The Type 45 warship originally left HMNB Portsmouth to protect British interests in the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East
A Royal Navy destroyer will be given a heart-warming welcome home to Portsmouth after being away for several months.
HMS Dragon will be sailing back to HMNB Portsmouth after lengthy operations in the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. According to the King’s Harbour Master shipping movements, the Type 45 warship will be passing The Round Tower in Old Portsmouth at roughly 11.50am. She can be seen in the Solent from roughly 11am.
Being escorted by Bountiful, Indulgent, and Independent, she will make her way to HMNB Portsmouth where proud families will be waiting patiently to be reunited with their loved ones. Large crowds are expected along the Hot Walls to greet the ship’s company aboard the Daring-class warship. The ship originally left Portsmouth on March 10.
She is currently in British waters for the first time in nearly seven months, seen at anchor in Plymouth Sound this morning (October 8). It was officially confirmed earlier this week that HMS Dragon would be returning home, with the personnel excited about the return.
A social media statement 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 destroyer was deployed after a British base in Cyprus, RAF Akrotiri, was hit by a kamikaze drone. Believed to be a Shahed style aircraft fired by a pro-Iranian militia in Iraq, HMS Dragon was sent to protect British air space. Conflict escalated between Iran and a US-Israeli coalition. Bombing raids were commonplace with both sides exchanging air strikes.
Controversy surrounded the operation to ready her. She was originally earmarked to take charge of Nato’s Standing Maritime Group One, so was expected to remain alongside the naval base. Despite tireless personnel completing six weeks worth of work in six days, it was more than a fortnight after the attack that the Daring-class warship reached the region.
HMS Dragon proceeded through the Red Sea and into the Middle East for various workup drills, preparing the ship’s company for any scenario. One of these involved joining forces with the huge French aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle.
British forces in the region were bolstered by RFA Lyme Bay, a Landing Ship Dock bristling with autonomous mine-hunting technology and drones. Both ships were assigned to join a Nato taskforce which would keep the Strait of Hormuz open once the war had ended. Tehran had laid mines and ordnances in the region, with commercial vessels also being attacked.
With US President Donald Trump failing to secure an official ceasefire, and talks dragging on for months, HMS Dragon was removed from the Middle East and proceeded home. The warship stopped at Malta and Gibraltar while sailing home.