Last exercise of 2025 in "one of the most spectacular places" on earth as Royal Navy joins Army and RAF
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Military personnel from across the tri-service joined forces for an exercise in “one of the most spectacular places on the planet”.
Royal Navy, Army and RAF personnel took to South Georgia in the South Atlantic to round off 2025. The ship’s company from the Portsmouth-based patrol vessel HMS Forth, currently deployed to the Falkland Islands, were among the contingent.
It’s currently high summer in the South Atlantic, with temperatures of 10-12C in the island chain, which lies about 900 miles from the Falklands. The waters around South Georgia are a mere 6 Celsius and the proximity of Antarctica mean bergs of various sizes are commonplace, while the upper slopes of mountains which rise above 9,000ft are snow covered.
Personnel were taking part in Operation Southern Sovereignty, with HMS Forth acting as the flagship in which Commander British Forces South Atlantic Islands, Brigadier Charlie Harmer, and his staff directed activities in the air, on land, and at sea.
A detachment from the Royal Irish Regiment, the current Roulement Infantry Company in the Falklands, was embarked on the operation alongside air support courtesy of RAF Typhoon and an A400M transporter from Mount Pleasant Complex - with another RIC detachment deployed to Ascension Island.
Beyond a test of logistics and operational objectives, UK forces supported a critical development project for the South Georgia government, helping to move stores from Maiviken Cove to the ‘capital’ Grytviken – a distance of under two miles. Personnel trekked across rough terrain with no roads.
With help from the island’s government and British Antarctic Survey, HMS Forth’s crew got ashore at Grytviken, explored the abandoned whaling station, and paid their respects at the grave of legendary Edwardian polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton.
Commanding Officer Commander Grahame Graham-Flint, who took the helm of the vessel in mid-December, said: “It’s one of the most spectacular places on the planet. We visited Possession Bay, anchored in Stromness Harbour and came alongside at King Edward Point, surrounded by icebergs, fur seals, and snow-covered mountains - a truly spectacular place.”
Brigadier Harmer added: “Southern Sovereignty enabled me to test our ability to project power across the Joint Operational Area and in the sea, land and air domains concurrently. Whilst it reassures the population, ultimately it contributes to my mission to deter aggression in the South Atlantic Islands and demonstrates UK sovereignty in action.”