The Portsmouth-based Type 42 warship was
acting as Fleet Escort as she followed a carrier-led Russian task group
from the Channel off south-west England to the seas off south west
Ireland.
Liverpool’s Commanding Officer, Commander Colin Williams, said:
“As an island nation it is essential for the UK to maintain a military presence in our waters.
“HMS Liverpool is well-placed to carry out this duty after her
extremely successful Operation Ellamy and NATO contributions off Libya
last year.”
In December the Portsmouth-based
destroyer HMS York was sent to shadow the Kuznetsov group as it sailed
south from Russia – the closest that a Russian naval task group had been
to the United Kingdom in 20 years.
After a handover from the French
warship Le Henaff, Liverpool established her position between the UK and
the Russian Task Group, shadowing them as they progressed north past
Land’s End, then Ireland. The Task Group of two warships and five
support ships are making their way home to the Northern and Baltic
Fleets of the Russian Navy.
Liverpool is due to decommission at
the end of March but has already gone through a maintenance period in
Portsmouth and a visit to London, where thousands of members of the
public stepped aboard. On leaving London she was activated as Fleet
Ready Escort.
When her escort duty finishes HMS
Liverpool will conduct training exercises in the UK and Norway, before a
final visit to her home town of Liverpool. She decommissions on March
30 in Portsmouth.* Notícia publicada al web de la Royal Navy. Creiem important compartir la notícia del retor de l'esquadra russa al seu port base després de la missió al Mediterrani.
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