The Royal Navy’s latest specialist minehunting ship HMS Stirling Castle was welcomed to her new Portsmouth home today ahead of spearheading underwater operations.
The distinctive blue-and-white warship sailed into His Majesty’s Naval Base Portsmouth for the first time under the White Ensign after a period of sea trials.
She was greeted by families and friends of her 55-strong ship’s company, plus well-wishers, who gathered to celebrate the culmination of months of dedication and teamwork.
“It’s a huge sense of achievement, finally arriving in our homeport after several months of intense work,” said Portsmouth-born Petty Officer (Mine Warfare) Kieron Walledge.
“Arriving in Portsmouth will allow my family and friends to finally have an insight into the project that has required enormous dedication and kept me away from them.
“Although much is yet to be discovered in Stirling Castle, it is an achievement I am really proud of and I cannot wait to see the festive period through with my wife, now that the ship is based in Portsmouth.”
Commander Phil Harper, the ship’s Commanding Officer, praised the efforts by everyone to oversee Stirling Castle’s transfer from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary to the Royal Navy and ready her for sea and operations.
He said: “This is quite a landmark. Behind us lie six months of intense work to get this ship out of lay-up, to train and to get to sea. Ahead of us lie many more months of building our knowledge, developing tactics and techniques and delivering 21st-Century mine hunting from our deck.
“My team can take great pleasure in their success so far – they have wildly exceeded expectations.”
The ship left Birkenhead last month to conduct sea trials and some training off the west coast of England and Scotland as she begins her journey to front-line operations safeguarding home waters.
HMS Stirling Castle will serve as the floating command ship for remotely-operated and autonomous systems operated by the Royal Navy’s Mine Threat Exploitation Group which will find and neutralize mines and unexploded ordnance beneath the waves.
Her presence around the UK will also contribute to wider maritime security operations.
The ship joins the Portsmouth-based Mine Countermeasure Squadron 2, whose sailors are more used to operating much smaller Hunt-class minehunters to deal with threats in UK and Middle East waters.
The trials phase tested Stirling Castle’s propulsion, power generation, heavy lift crane, medical and damage-control capabilities, ensuring the ship meets the demanding standards.
Stirling Castle will now enjoy a short period alongside involving a number of high-level visits and further crew training in Portsmouth before returning to sea to continue the journey towards full capability.