Royal Navy's HMS Dragon returns home to Portsmouth after two months in the Mediterranean and Black Sea

The city-based Type 45 left UK waters in early September and has been part of the Littoral Readiness Group (Experimentation), which also includes HMS Albion and RFA Lyme Bay.

She has been in the eastern Mediterranean and also spent nearly a month patrolling the Black Sea and training with Ukrainian, Georgian and Romanian vessels in the region.

The navy said that HMS Dragon applied ‘stringent’ protection measures to ensure that coronavirus did not hinder from conducting operations.

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During her deployment she took part in war games with the Egyptian navy, during which the Egyptians staged a mock attack with F-16 Fighting Falcon jets.

She also docked at the Georgian port of Batumi, in what analysts said would have been treated as a provocative act by Russia, which said it was tracking the warship. The Black Sea has been a tense area since Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014.

Commanding Officer, Commander Giles Palin, said: ‘It speaks for volumes for the UK that, despite the challenges wrought by Covid-19, the Royal Navy is still able to provide a reassuring presence to our partners and allies in the Black Sea and eastern Mediterranean.

‘HMS Dragon has seen first-hand how favourably our friends in Ukraine, Georgia and Romania view our presence in the region during what is a difficult time given the on-going pandemic.

‘But HMS Dragon’s actions to preserve of freedom of navigation, and deterring any adversaries that would challenge, have been felt much further than regional partners: they are just as crucial to both UK and European security.’

HMS Dragon is about to commence a maintenance period before starting sea training in order to remain ready for tasking in 2021.