HMS Diamond returns home

Families and friends of sailors on board HMS Diamond have welcomed back their loved ones as they returned to Portsmouth Naval Base.

The Type 45 Destroyer returned to her home port on Friday 1 December following three months in the Mediterranean.

She was due to head to the Gulf for a nine-month deployment but returned to her home port early after experiencing technical issues.

During her time away, the ship’s company had a demanding and diverse programme of events – taking command of NATO Standing Maritime Group 2 in the Mediterranean when HMS Ocean was retasked to deliver disaster relief in the Caribbean - as well as participating in a two-week NATO exercise called Brilliant Mariner.

Commanding Officer, Commander Ben Keith said: “While it is earlier than planned, it was fantastic to see all of our families waiting here for us on the jetty; everyone on board was incredibly excited.

“We had a rapid change of programme not long after we deployed by taking on the command of NATO Standing Maritime Group 2 in the Med where we completed two months of tasking conducting maritime security with our NATO partners and reassuring our Allies of our commitment to NATO.”

HMS Diamond joined the task force in Montenegro – the first Royal Navy ship to visit the country since it joined NATO - sailing with the French frigate FS Lafayette, Greek vessel HS Limnos, Turkish ship TGS Barbaros and Spanish frigate ESPS Blas de Lezo.

Working as part of an integrated force exercised the skills required by the ship’s company for operating in a task force – vital in the years ahead as HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales sail for their first deployments.

The ship then took part in Exercise Brilliant Mariner alongside 27 NATO warships participating in high end navigation and warfare training. This helped to test Diamond’s ability to direct the activities of a large group of ships and how the navies work together.

“We’ve done a lot of very high level engagement while we have been away,” added Cdr Keith. “I am really proud of my ship’s company who have really worked hard and consistently delivered in support of the UK’s interests while in the Mediterranean.”