Royal Navy frigate HMS Somerset returned home to Plymouth

Sailors from the submarine hunter were reunited with friends and family when she sailed back into His Majesty’s Naval Base Devonport after operations in the North Atlantic. Somerset’s 200-strong ship’s company has made a tangible difference in delivering UK national security objectives and reinforcing NATO’s mission of collective security, unity, and deterrence. During this time HMS Somerset has sailed over 18,500 nautical miles and achieved a great deal both alone and alongside Navies from Germany, Norway, Canada and France. She has also operated with the Norwegian and Irish Coastguards. 

Commander Matt Millyard, Commanding Officer of the Type 23, proudly said: “This deployment rounds off a very busy year for HMS Somerset, with a total of eight months spent away from our home port on operations in the North Atlantic. From the publicised firing of the first Naval Strike Missile, and the tracking of the Russian spy ship Yantar, to the more covert operations involving tracking numerous submarines that posed a threat to the integrity of UK waters and undersea infrastructure.  The ship and crew have delivered everything that has been asked of them, and more. It’s a proud moment to return home after such success on operations, topped off by being able to come home for Christmas.”

In November, employing a range of powerful sensors and radars, HMS Somerset shadowed Russian research ship Yantar in the North Sea and kept watch round-the-clock for eight days as the vessel sailed northwards towards the Faroe Islands.