'Fair winds' for HMS St Albans Commanding Officer as he passes on duties following Russia spy submarine op
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Gugi spy submarines were monitored for nearly a month before retreating
A new Commanding Officer has been assigned to a Royal Navy frigate that stalked Russian spy submarines for a month.
Commander Oli Ayers has taken charge of the Duke-class Type 23 frigate, replacing Commander Matthew Teare. The appointment was confirmed in a social media statement.
It read: “Devonport based HMS St Albans welcomes Cdr Oli Ayers RN as their new Commanding Officer as the ship continues it's regeneration and preparations for its next OP CETO, and bids Cdr Matthew Teare RN Fair Winds and following Seas.”
Operation Ceto is the UK’s standing operations to protect Britain’s strategic deterrence and monitoring potential submarine activity in the North Atlantic. Duties have currently been handed over to HMS St Albans’ sister ship, HMS Somerset.
Commanding Officer Commander Matt Millyard previously said: “Since returning from operations in December 2025, an incredible amount of work has gone into preparing HMS Somerset to reassume the Op Ceto duty again and I am very proud of the crew for achieving so much in such little time. The months ahead promise to be a complex mix of tasking for the ship but we are ready and look forward to the challenge.”
HMS St Albans, alongside naval helicopters and RFA Tidespring, were the Royal Navy’s eyes and ears when reporting on the movements of Vladimir Putin’s Gugi spy submarines. The surveillance submersibles, alongside an Akula-class nuclear-powered attack submarine, were spotted loitering over British undersea cables in the North Atlantic.
They were monitored for a month before they retreated, defence secretary John Healey previously said. He added: “We see your activity over our cables and our pipelines, and you should know that any attempt to damage them will not be tolerated and will have serious consequences.”
He said the Russian capabilities were monitored 24/7. The Labour MP added: “The Akula submarine subsequently retreated home, having been closely tracked throughout and we continued to monitor the two Gugi submarines in and around wider UK waters. Our armed forces left them in no doubt that they were being monitored, that their movements were not covert, as President Putin planned, and that their attempted secret operation had been exposed.”