Royal Navy: Spanish war ships leave Portsmouth Naval base ahead of Nato mission

The ESPS Patino, a replenishment oiler, left Portsmouth Harbour at 7.00am this morning.

The vessel arrived in the Solent on Monday, February 19, and was escorted into Portsmouth Harbour at 8.30am. She was followed in the evening by ESPS Álvaro de Bazán, an air defence frigate, who will be escorted in at 9.20pm. ESPS Santa Maria, which arrived on Wednesday, February 21, left the city at 10.30am, ESPS Álvaro de Bazán departed at 12.30pm this afternoon, while ESPS Reina Sophia is due to set sail at 2.30pm.

Naval vessels from several countries including Spain, Italy and the USA, have all stopped off in Portsmouth as part of a trip to the North Sea. 

It comes as an international parade of ships use Portsmouth as a stopping off point before heading off the Exercise Steadfast Defender with the UK Carrier Strike Group, the largest Nato mission since the Cold War. The Spanish ships follow hot on the heels of the Italian ships the ITS Giuseppe Garibaldi and ITS San Giorgio as well as the American ship the USS Gunston Hall who have all come in and out of Portsmouth throughout the week.