The Type-23 Frigate was decommissioned at Portsmouth Naval Base on April 17 in front of a crowd of invited guests and crew members past and present. Her flag was handed to Malcolm Rifkind, the husband of the ship’s original sponsor Lady Edith Rifkind, who died in 2019.
MORE LIKE THIS: HMS Montrose decommissioned in Portsmouth, Royal Navy warship HMS Montrose seizes huge £19m haul of drugs
HMS was launched on July 31, 1992, and commissioned on June 2, 1994. She was the first of her class to be forward deployed and is best known for her daring missions against those who threaten national security and huge drug busts.
This included seizing tonnes of narcotics of all different classes with a street value numbering in the millions. Commanding Officer Commander Claire Thompson OBE said the ship was ‘incredibly operationally successful’ throughout her time.
Here are nine key moments in HMS Montrose’s history.
1. Protection of British Heritage merchant ship against Iranian vessels
In July 2019, HMS Montrose staved off three Iranian boats which tried to intercept a British oil tanker in the Gulf. The Home Office said the commercial vessel British Heritage was threatened in the Strait of Hormuz, with HMS Montrose having to position herself in between the merchant and Iranian vessels and make verbal threats. Photo: Sarah Standing
2. Huge £19m raid in the Gulf of Oman
On January 15, 2022, 1,041kg of narcotics was seized by HMS Montrose sailors. This included 663kg of heroin, 87kg of methamphetamine and 291kg of hashish and marijuana worth a combined US street value estimated at $26m - just over £19m at the time. Photo: Alexander Cox
3. £8m drugs raid in the Gulf of Oman
On January 24, 2022, more than a tonne of illegal narcotics were seized and destroyed by the crews aboard HMS Montrose in the Gulf of Oman. The ship’s boarding team of sailors and Royal Marines of 42 commando recovered 150 kilogrammes of heroin, 250 kilogrammes of methamphetamine and 665 kilogrammes of hashish -depriving terrorist networks of vital funding. The narcotics were seized from a Dhow in a nine hour operation. Photo: Alexander Cox
4. HMS Montrose scores cannabis bust worth £6.5m in Middle East Royal Marines operation
HMS Montrose pounced on a suspect dhow in a dawn raid – and five hours later Montrose’s sailors and Royal Marines had bagged 6 and half tonnes of hashish, the heaviest haul of drugs seized by allied warships in the Middle East in a decade. HMS Montrose was deployed as part of the international Combined Task Force 150, which tackles terrorism and criminal activity in the region. Photo: Royal Navy