Tsar turn of the year for Defender escorting Russian carrier around UK
9 January 2014
HMS Defender returned to Portsmouth today after spending Christmas and the New Year observing a Russian carrier battle group.
The Type 45 destroyer met up with the Admiral Kuznetsov and her five escorts off the tip of Scotland just before Christmas and remained with the Russians for much of the festive period.
Pictures: LA(Phots) Ian Simpson and Dave Jenkins
RUSSIAN bear, meet Albion’s lion.
HMS Defender executes the signature turn of a Type 45 destroyer as she escorts a Russian carrier group off the coast of the UK.
Just as HMS York did a couple of years ago when the Admiral Kuznetsov sailed on her winter deployment, Defender left the shelter of the Solent to meet up with the Russian leviathan – named after a wartime Soviet naval leader.
And just like two years ago, the carrier group – half a dozen warships/support vessels – sheltered from winter storms in the Moray Forth.
That was after Defender had sailed 700 miles from her base in Portsmouth through those rough seas to meet the six-ship task group north of the Scottish mainland.
As the Fleet Ready Escort – the Royal Navy warship at immediate notice to sail for duties in home waters – Defender’s festive season was spent at sea, sailing six days before Christmas and returning to base today.
Although holiday plans of the 190 or so sailors aboard were rather scuppered, the air defence ship’s Commanding Officer, Cdr Phil Nash, said all aboard rose to the challenge.
“I am extremely proud of each and every one of my sailors; they have tackled this mission with utter professionalism and dedication to duty, whilst also being separated from their families at short notice over Christmas and New Year,” he said.
“As a maritime nation the security of the seas around our coastline remain vital to our national interests. This tasking has demonstrated the Royal Navy’s enduring commitment in home waters and readiness to undertake tasking at any time of the year.”
After the storms abated somewhat, the Kuznetsov group continued their passage down the east coast of the UK.
As a sign of the friendship between the two navies, goodwill messages were exchanged between the ships on New Year’s Eve.
HMS Defender returned to Portsmouth today after spending Christmas and the New Year observing a Russian carrier battle group.
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