Royal Navy warship saved from scrapyard is called to shadow four Russian warships in the Channel

Patrol vessel HMS Severn – which was brought back into naval service last month after being decommissioned in 2018 – joined sister ship HMS Tyne to track the fleet of Russian warships.

The foreign task group, made up of destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov, corvette Vasily Bykov and two support vessels, were intercepted on the edge of UK waters.

It comes just a fortnight after Portsmouth-based frigate HMS Westminster was deployed to monitor the late Soviet-era warship Vice Admiral Kulakov.

Portsmouth-based Severn and Tyne followed the quartet of Russians vessels as they sailed through the Channel, passed the Dover Straits and into the North Sea where the Belgian Navy took over the shadowing operation.

The submarine-hunting Kulakov is based with the Russian Northern Fleet on the Kola Peninsula, while the Bykov had sailed all the way from the home of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea.

James Heappy, armed forces minister said: ‘The Royal Navy’s offshore patrol vessels are proving their worth with yet another successful operation in defence of our home waters.

‘These highly capable ships and their crews are always on watch protecting our nation’s interests all year round.’

The monitoring mission came on the back of a circumnavigation of the UK by Tyne, training Royal Navy navigators.

Young navigators were put through their paces in the challenging waters of the Western Isles, passing under the Skye Bridge and through the turbulent Gulf of Corryvreckan and its infamous whirlpools, ending around the Isles of Scilly.

‘Once again River-class offshore patrol vessels have demonstrated their versatility,’ said Tyne’s skipper Lieutenant Commander Richard Skelton.

‘We have quickly transitioned from maritime security operations to internal navigation training and then to shadowing Russian warships – all of which is designed to ensure our nation’s security.

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‘This pace and level of activity is common for Tyne; during our last patrol the ship intercepted Russian warships soon after completing an exercise with our Irish counterparts.’

As reported, HMS Severn was brought back into naval service last month - almost three years after being decommissioned from the fleet.

The patrol ship was saved from the scrapyard by former defence secretary Gavin Williamson in November, 2018.

It was part of a project to help boost the navy’s patrol presence after Brexit.

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