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HMS Spey and HMAS Sydney seize Korea opportunity
5 June 2025
G’day, Spey.
One of the Royal Navy’s two warships permanently on patrol in the Indo-Pacific, HMS Spey, joined forces with the Royal Australian Navy for a mid-ocean link-up.
One of the Royal Navy’s two warships permanently on patrol in the Indo-Pacific, HMS Spey, joined forces with the Royal Australian Navy for a mid-ocean link-up.
Spey – based in Portsmouth on the rare occasions she’s been in UK waters – met up with Australian destroyer HMAS Sydney off the Korean peninsula for some combined training on the latest legs of their respective deployments.
Sydney, based in her namesake city, is just over two months into her latest deployment in the western Pacific.
And Spey – in partnership with her older River-class sister HMS Tamar – is nearly four years into her long-term mission working with our allies from India to the western Pacific rim and acting as a roaming ambassador for the UK in a part of the world which is assuming ever-greater significance to the nation’s security and prosperity.
The two Commonwealth navies’ path crossed in the East China Sea ahead of a visit to the South Korean port of Busan.
The exercises focused on training bridge teams on both vessels, including close quarters manoeuvring, tactical communications and replenishment at sea – skills which are the building blocks of more complex naval operations.
“Good working relationships are a key part of building interoperability with our allies,” said Commander Paul Caddy, HMS Spey’s Commanding Officer.
“This exercise gave an opportunity to exchange members of the crew by sea boat between the two ships.
“Members of the ship’s companies from both ships, from a range of roles, took the chance to learn more about how each ship operates and understand each other’s capabilities.”
The exchange of crew also allowed an unexpected reunion as HMS Spey’s weapon engineering officer Lieutenant Hannah Beckett met up with Lieutenant Commander Simone Macintosh, the Executive Officer of HMAS Sydney.
They had both served together on frigate HMS Kent in 2022 when Lieutenant Commander Macintosh was attached to the Royal Navy on an exchange programme as a principal warfare officer.
“This exercise shows how close we are as allies, and how easily we can operate together anywhere in the world,” said Lieutenant Beckett.
“Meeting up with an old friend from the other side of the world shows just how close our working relationship is with the Royal Australian Navy and it was the icing on the cake for a great exercise.”
It’s the second time in two months Spey and Sydney’s paths have crossed; the pair were involved in the regional Bersama Shield exercises off the Malay peninsula with the other three members of the Five Powers Defence Agreement – Singapore, New Zealand and Malaysia – in April.
Spey has now continued on to the Japanese naval base at Sasebo on Kyūshū, after working with a Japanese maritime patrol aircraft in the Sea of Japan.