Royal Navy: HMS Monmouth sails from Portsmouth for the last time as Type 23 frigate to be scrapped in Turkey

Duke-class frigate HMS Monmouth left HMNB Portsmouth this morning (April 3). The Type 23 vessel was seen sailing past The Round Tower in Old Portsmouth at roughly 8.30am.

She was towed by the PROTUG 87 tug boat and also joined by vessels Bountiful and Indulgent for an assist. A Royal Navy spokesman confirmed she is due to be scrapped after being sold to a Turkish firm earlier this year.

He said: “HMS Monmouth has been sold for recycling and her departure from Portsmouth Naval Base is scheduled to take place on Thursday (April 3).”

Why was HMS Monmouth scrapped?

The Type 23 frigate was originally put up for tender alongside three other retired vessels. HMS Walney, a Sandown-class minehunter, was also listed alongside HMS Bristol and HMS Montrose. They were deemed as being surplus to requirements due to their material state.

A Royal Navy spokesperson previously said: “Both HMS Monmouth and HMS Walney were put up for sale as they were beyond their intended lifespan, uneconomical to repair, and both would have required a time-consuming and costly refit to remain in service.”

Turkish naval scrapyard companies, Leyal Gemi Sokum Sanayi Ve Ticaret Ltd Sti and Sok Denizcilik Ve Tic. Ltd. Sti, both submitted bids for HMS Monmouth and HMS Bristol. The frigate is the first of its class to be disposed of.

New and advanced Type 26 and Type 31 counterparts are being built as their replacements, though they are years away from joining the fleet. HMS Monmouth will head towards the Leyal scrapyard at Aliaga on Turkey’s Aegean Coast, where many Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships have been disposed of in the past.

History of HMS Monmouth

The frigate was launched by Lady Eaton in 1991 and was commissioned two years later. She has been deployed around the world, including the Antarctic in 2004, a circumnavigation across the globe in 2007, the Persian Gulf in 2009, the Indian Ocean in 2011 and elsewhere.

Her last major deployment was when she accompanied HMS Queen Elizabeth to the USA in 2018. The Queen Elizabeth-class carrier took part in Exercise Westlant 18 on the eastern seaboard of the United States. HMS Monmouth’s HMA2 helicopter, nicknamed Blackjack, was the first aircraft of its type to land on HMS Queen Elizabeth in September 3, 2018.

She was decommissioned on June 30, 2021, and stripped of all her weapons, sensors, and other equipment. The frigate was not part of the life extension programme, which many of her sister ships undertook to keep them available for the fleet.