Future of "unseaworthy" decommissioned Royal Navy frigate HMS Northumberland still in doubt amid scrap rumours

Type 23 frigate HMS Northumberland was brought into HMNB Portsmouth on May 29 at 10.18am. Sailors operating the Camperdown tug boat pulled the Duke-class ship past The Round Tower in Old Portsmouth, with the vessels SD Christina and Independent sailing alongside her.

Naval enthusiasts gathered to catch a glimpse of the ship for what could be her last visit to Portsmouth. The prevailing feeling among defence commentators is that she will be scrapped to generate funds for more modern capabilities. The Type 82 destroyer HMS Bristol is due to leave the city tomorrow, bound for a Turkish recycling plant.

When approached by The News, a Royal Navy spokeswoman said: “We do not comment on the material state of our ships. No decision has been made about the future of HMS Northumberland.”

Why was HMS Northumberland decommissioned?

Defence secretary John Healey announced in parliament on November 20 last year that HMS Northumberland would retired from the Royal Navy fleet. In a recently released list of planned retirement dates, all Duke-class frigates are earmarked to be replaced by 2035. Type 31 Inspiration-class frigates - due to be based in Portsmouth - are currently being built as their replacements alongside Type 26 City-class mine-hunting ships.

Mr Healey said other ships would be retired alongside HMS Northumberland. These include both Landing Platform Docks, HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, as well as two Wave-class tankers and other capabilities. The Labour MP for Rawmarsh and Conisbrough described the frigate as having “structural damage” which made her “uneconomical to repair”.

Summarising the decision to retire the military assets, he added: “I recognise these will mean a lot to many who have sailed and flown in them during their deployments around the world. They have provided a valuable capability over the years, but their work is done and we must look now to the future.”

Lieutenant General Sir Robert Magowan KCB CBE echoed the politician’s decision in a defence select committee meeting in December. He said: “In terms of the six retirements, the secretary of state outlined to the house the implications of that.

“Three of those involved vessels that were no longer seaworthy, so we were spending money against capabilities that were never going to be used operationally. There was a pretty strong case with regards to those three classes of ship.”