Royal Navy crew praised for turning UK's newest anti-terror vessel into 'capable warship' in record time

It took just a matter of months for the men and women of HMS Trent to prepare the ship for her maiden mission to the Mediterranean.

The 295ft ship, designed for operations including counter-terrorism, anti-piracy and counter-narcotics, set off from Portsmouth on Monday afternoon – just hours after being commissioned into the navy.

And as the ship makes her voyage to the Med to join a Nato operation in the region, her crew has reflected on becoming Britain’s newest operational warship in record time.

Lieutenant Commander James Wallington-Smith, Trent’s commanding officer, said: ‘The exceptional progress we’ve made over the last eight months has demonstrated what my ship’s company and the ship are capable of, and I couldn’t have hoped for a better start to her service career.

‘While many of our colleagues across the Armed Forces have been actively assisting with the Government’s response to the Covid-19 epidemic through the last four months, we’ve been no less busy patrolling UK waters and making sure we’re able to take HMS Trent into any situation we might face.’

The 65-strong ship’s company has already carried out training drills, from boarding suspect vessels and evacuating civilians to countering air or surface threats from helicopters or other ships.

Engineering Technician Bradley Hammersley, 20, who is one of the ship’s junior marine engineers, said: ‘Whilst the buildup in training has been tough, it has been rewarding to see how we have improved as a ship.’

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For a lot of the ship’s company, it will be their first experience of operations on a deployed Royal Navy vessel.

Engineering Technician Robson Gelder, 18, is one of the junior weapon engineers and the youngest member of the crew, having previously been a part of aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth’s crew.

He said: ‘I’m looking forward to deploying overseas, it will be a great experience and I will be doing things that most people my age group could only imagine doing.’

The 1,800-tonne patrol ship has 65 ratings and officers with around two-thirds of them crewing the vessel at any time in a three-watch system.

While two watches are on board, the third can take leave or conduct training.

Watch rotations will take place within ports visited by HMS Trent which helps to keep the ship at sea for about 320 days of the year.

As well as her crew, HMS Trent also has space for up to 50 troops or Royal Marines and her flight deck can hold Wildcat and Merlin helicopters.

A Royal Navy spokesman added: ‘HMS Trent is making her way to the Mediterranean for her first operational overseas deployment having generated from newly constructed vessel to capable warship faster than any other in the Royal Navy’s recent memory.’

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