The RN’s traveling man
As a frequent visitor to the Chalmette Battlefield, site of the 1815 defeat of British Maj. Gen. Sir Edward Pakenham’s elite regulars and Highlanders by a plucky band of largely irregular Americans under Andrew Jackson, just Southeast of New Orleans, I made sure to head to the Crescent City for The War of 1812 Bicentennial Commemoration a few years back.
During a Fleet Week style event during the Bicentennial, the Royal Navy Type 23 (Duke-class) frigate HMS Montrose (F236) was on hand as a noted guest of honor. Then the RN’s West Indies Station Ship, the 18-year-old frigate had seen much of the world to include a number of Falkland patrol assignments and lots of duty in the Persian Gulf. As I toured the ship and talked to the Tars aboard, I was struck by their professionalism and their vessel’s highly maintained appearance. Brightwork doesn’t get that way without a continuous effort.
Now, fast forward seven years, and a now 25-year-old Montrose is still a globetrotter– recently sailing the “wrong way” around the world via the Pacific– and she just got assigned to Bahrain in the Persian Gulf for a three-year three-year stint :
After an epic six-month, 47,000-mile journey from her home in Plymouth, the frigate sailed into the Navy’s new support facility in the Gulf kingdom, the hub of Britain’s naval operations east of Suez.
From there she will conduct regular patrols dealing with drug trafficking in the Indian Ocean – where HMS Dragon scored a record-breaking eight busts over the winter – supporting counter-terrorism and counter-smuggling operations, and work with Middle East and allied navies to ensure the safety and security of this key region.
Instead of returning home to the UK after a six to nine-month deployment, Montrose is being stationed in Bahrain until 2022 to ensure a permanent presence and spare warships the lengthy passage to and from Britain, time which could be spent on patrol in the Middle East.
