Royal Navy warship from Portsmouth prepares for three-year mission to the Gulf

Minehunter HMS Chiddingfold has entered the dry dock in Portsmouth Naval Base ahead of her next major deployment.

Mine Counter Measures 2 Crew 1 – known as the Fighting Aces – are currently based on the ship, which is manned by a rotating crew.

They will be responsible for getting veteran warship, affectionately called the Cheery Chid, ready for operations having spent time on her sister ship, HMS Ledbury in the Gulf last year.

Chiddingfold will be sailed to the Middle East by a different crew and will stationed at the UK Naval Support Facility in Bahrain – the first time she has visited the region since 2017.

Her mission will see her relieving Ledbury to become one of four minehunters in the region.

When she sails, MCM2 Crew 1 will move onto HMS Cattistock where they will conduct operational sea training before deploying.

Lieutenant Commander Mark Heward, Chiddingfold’s captain, said: ‘Entering service in the 1980s, the Hunt class remains a great capability delivering valued support around the world despite recently entering their fifth decade of active service.

‘With the challenge of our own generation to come, it is great that Crew 1 will be re-joining the ‘Mighty Chid’ when we arrive in theatre ourselves later this year.’