'Proud day' for Falklands ship as HMS Medway gets new Commanding Officer after Argentina World Cup stunt

It’s a ‘proud day’ for the Falklands guard ship as a new Commanding Officer has been appointed.

Commander Craig Clark will take charge of HMS Medway and will replace Commander James Tibbitts MBE. A social media announcement was made on Thursday (July 16).

It said: “A proud day for HMS Medway as command passed from Cdr James Tibbitts MBE to Cdr Craig Clark. We thank Cdr Tibbitts for his outstanding leadership and wish Cdr Clark every success as he takes command of the Royal Navy's South Atlantic Islands Patrol Ship.”

The River-class offshore patrol vessel has been operating in the South Atlantic and around the Falkland Islands over the past several months. Her ship’s company supported the British Antarctic Survey, conducted a remembrance service at the site of the HMS Sheffield - 44 years since she was sunk by an Argentine Exocet missiles during the Falklands War on May 4, 1982 - and maintained a vital presence in the region.

HMS Medway’s core tasks include fishery protection, sovereignty patrols and maritime security drills around the archipelago. She recently sailed from the Falklands and headed to the port of Punta Arenas in Chile, traversing through the coast of Argentina near Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego.

Specialist publication Navy Lookout said she arrived for her first call to the Chilean port on July 5, and left three days later. The Chilean Navy has described the visit as a logistical call falling within existing bilateral cooperation on Antarctic matters.

A UK Foreign Office delegation also visited the ship. England crashing out of the World Cup in the semi finals after a late 2-1 defeat to Argentina prompted hysteria on the pitch and in Buenos Aires. Agrentine players held up a derogatory banner after the final whistle which read “Las Malvinas son Argentinas”, which translates to “The Falkland Islands are Argentinian”.

Foreign minister Pablo Quirno and the country’s foreign ministry then proceeded to claim HMS Medway’s recent patrol was a “military incursion”, with the ship “illegally stationed in the Falkland Islands”.

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Downing Street said the UK notified Argentina’s government of HMS Medway’s movements following the accusations of journeying through waters without permission. A No 10 spokeswoman told reporters: “The facts here are that we notified the Argentinian government in advance of HMS Medway undertaking a routine logistics visit to Chile between 5 and 8 July to support British Antarctic survey operations, which will deliver essential stores and supplies to sustain scientific research in Antarctica.

“The Royal Navy always operates in full compliance with international law, and the transit from the Falkland Islands to Chile was carried out via the most direct practical route, considering operational safety and weather factors to ensure timely delivery.”

The Falklands government said it was disappointed by the banner, though regrettably not surprised. “It is hardly news to anyone that the people of the Islands were victims of an aggressive invasion in 1982, which left many traumatised,” they said.

“The banner displayed by Argentina last night, therefore, was particularly insensitive for many people in the Falklands. It is the avowed policy of the Falkland Islands Government that we do not wish to see politics being brought into sport. Nor do we wish the Islands and their people to be used as a political football in every conversation about England and Argentina. We welcome the UK government’s supportive statement.”