Watch: Prince William's Royal Navy frigate HMS Iron Duke towed to Portsmouth as she faces being scrapped
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HMS Iron Duke will join her sister ship HMS Richmond at HMNB Portsmouth
A decommissioned Royal Navy frigate has been brought to Portsmouth as she faces the prospect of being scrapped.
HMS Iron Duke was towed past The Round Tower in Old Portsmouth at around 2pm this afternoon (October 20). She appeared in reasonable condition as she was brought to the Victory Jetty amid grey skies and persistent showers.
Personnel on the frigate waved at onlookers taking pictures of the retired Type 23 warship. The vessel was towed by the tug boat EN Avant 10, Bountiful and Indulgent.
HMS Iron Duke will be joining her sister ship HMS Richmond in HMNB Portsmouth. The Royal Navy previously confirmed that the latter vessel is being prepared for disposal. It’s expected that HMS Iron Duke will also be scrapped.
Other ships of the same class have had the same fate. HMS Westminster, HMS Montrose, HMS Monmouth and HMS Northumberland have all been towed away from Portsmouth to be disposed of at shipyards in Turkey. Pressure is mounting on the government to replace these ships.
Advanced Type 26 and 31 counterparts are being built in Glasgow, but are not expected imminently. The earliest frigate is scheduled to be part of the fleet in 2028, with the majority being rolled out in the 2030s. The Royal Navy currently has just five frigates.
HMS Iron Duke was commissioned into the Royal Navy fleet in 1993 and was officially retired in July this year due as a cost cutting measure. His Royal Highness Prince William spent some time on the Duke-class ship in the summer of 2008 while serving on an attachment.
His period onboard ship included a five-week deployment to the Caribbean and North Atlantic, participating in various day-to-day operations including keeping, ship-driving, weapons and logistics planning, and disaster-relief preparation. Next in line to success King Charles III, Prince William was not given special treatment at the time: he shared a four-berth junior officers cabin and was on a standard routine.
Just four weeks into the deployment, His Royal Highness flew on a Lynx helicopter as an observer during a £40m cocaine drug bust. A speedboat was intercepted northeast of the Barbados containing around 900kg of narcotics.