Navy News
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‘Ingenuity and determination’ daily – Surface Flotilla rewards the best of the best
18 December 2025
Unstinting efforts on the front line – or to ready Royal Navy ships for active duties – in 2025 have been recognised with the Surface Fleet’s ‘Excellence Awards’.
In home waters, or the Indo-Pacific, monitoring Russian naval activity or making UK shores safer by updating charts for mariners, the awards acknowledge work sung – and more often unsung – by surface ships and specialist diving/survey units.
Previously known as the Fleet Efficiency/Effectiveness Awards, beyond bragging rights, the awards permit winners to hoist a pennant featuring the symbol of the Surface Flotilla, two hippocampi (mythological sea horses).
The awards don’t merely single out ships/units for being the best in their respective class/category, but also recognises departments, individuals in particular specialist fields (notably intelligence), or ships for specific aspects of naval warfare.
Commander of the Surface Flotilla, Commodore Ian Feasey, and his staff – based in both Portsmouth and Plymouth – have pored over citations and reports from across the Fleet.
“During a time of ever-increasing challenges and external threats, these awards highlight the ingenuity and determination of the men and women of the Surface Flotilla,” Cdre Feasey said.
“Their work, whether on the front line or behind the scenes, ensures the Royal Navy remains a force for stability and security across the globe.”
The premier title, the Naval Capability Award, presented to the men and women who’ve made an outstanding contribution to the effectiveness of the Fleet, goes to new minehunting ‘mother ship’ HMS Stirling Castle.
The ship was transferred from the RFA to the Royal Navy in July – and given a goal of returning to sea by October.
The rapid turn-around was deemed essential to ensure the Navy’s Mine Hunting Capability programme – embracing autonomous systems and craft to find, identify and ultimately neutralise underwater explosive devices – remains firmly on track.
It gave Crew 6 from Portsmouth’s 2nd Mine Countermeasures Squadron – assisted by the ship’s outgoing RFA crew – just three months to learn how to maintain and operate equipment and systems most alien to the Royal Navy (Stirling Castle started life as a Norwegian commercial offshore support ship).
As such, the 55-strong ship’s company – used to operating Hunt-class minehunters – have had to adapt ways of working (and thinking) to safely run Stirling Castle.
Eighteen weeks after beginning the conversion, the Royal Navy crew sailed HMS Stirling Castle under the White Ensign for the first time and brought her into Portsmouth a few days later – a “phenomenal generation process,” in the words of Commanding Officer Commander Phil Harper.Every success we deliver comes down to the professionalism, resilience and teamwork of our tight group who give their all, every day
HMS Prince of Wales is named the top capital ship for her achievements leading the Carrier Strike Group deployment, while her escorting destroyer HMS Dauntless picks up four trophies (best destroyer, above water and electronic warfare, and seamanship).
Having spent eight months of 2025 on Operation Ceto, monitoring potential hostile submarine activity in the North Atlantic, HMS Somerset takes the best frigate title.
Whether taking part in operations, NATO exercises or synthetic training, the Type 23’s ops room team consistently demonstrated their prowess in hunting and tracking submarines – either on her own or working with allies.
Just for good measure, she demonstrated her abilities above the waves too with the first firing of the Naval Strike Missile on ranges in Norway, giving RN warships the ability to deal a blow to surface and land targets.
The Gibraltar Squadron – fast patrol boats HMS Cutlass and Dagger plus four new Arctic RIBs – are at very short notice to respond to incidents in territorial waters in Gibraltar.
By the end of 2025, they’ll have conducted more than 1,250 patrols around the Rock, from routine daily activity to escorting every British/friendly warship visiting the overseas territory.
“This award highlights our successful year, our consistent operational output and the squadron’s ability to innovate and adapt to a fast-changing world,” said its Commanding Officer Lieutenant Commander Cam Walters.
“Above all, it is recognition of our people. Every success we deliver, whether on the water, alongside, or in support of our partners, comes down to the professionalism, resilience and teamwork of our tight group who give their all, every day.”
The awards are not all about the crunchy end of warfighting; you cannot fight, for example, if you have no power. Scooping the engineering trophy are MCM2’s Crew 7 marine/weapons engineering departments assigned to first HMS Cattistock in home waters and HMS Middleton operating in the Gulf – in challenging conditions in both cases.
Cattistock was called upon to protect critical national infrastructure in the Western Approaches and monitor Russian activity in the Channel at the beginning of the year, while arriving in Bahrain at the height of summer, the engineers kept Middleton running in punishing temperatures, then guided her through a demanding maintenance period.
The small team demonstrated “unwavering stoicism, cheerfulness and rigorous commitment to the highest engineering standards across two ships and two theatres”.
The full list of winners:
Naval Capability Trophy: HMS Stirling Castle
Capital Ship Trophy and Pennant: HMS Prince of Wales
Destroyer Trophy and Pennant: HMS Dauntless
Frigate Trophy and Pennant: HMS Somerset
Batch 1 Offshore Patrol Vessel Trophy and Pennant: HMS Tyne
Batch 2 Offshore Patrol Vessel Trophy and Pennant: HMS Forth
Mine Countermeasures Trophy and Pennant: MTXG X-Ray
Hydrography and Meteorology Trophy and Pennant HMS Magpie
Inshore Patrol Vessel Trophy and Pennant: Gibraltar Squadron
Diving Unit Trophy: DTXG Delta Sqn
Above Water Warfare Trophy, Electronic Warfare Trophy, Seamanship Trophy: HMS Dauntless
Under Water Warfare Trophy: HMS St Albans
Fleet Intelligence Trophy: HMS Prince of Wales N2 Team
Fleet Intelligence Trophy (Individual): Sub Lt F Tyne (UKMCC N2)
Maritime Signals Intelligence Trophy: HMS Richmond CESM Team
Maritime Signals Intelligence Trophy (Individual): LH(CT) McGreavy-Gill
Engineering Trophy: MCM 2, Crew 7 ME & WE Depts
Rulers of the Road Pennant: HMS Portland (96.7%)
The Safe Guardian (new award focusing on safety/safe practices): MCM2 Crew 8